I keep wondering when the public is going to wake up and
realize what’s happening.
I’m starting to believe it either won’t, or it has and
doesn’t care. It’s possible we just haven’t reached a
tipping point yet, and when we do all Hell is going to break loose.
I think we’re hurtling toward a cliff. In fact, I believe we are accelerating toward
it now. Every day we get closer to the
abyss. Or to a revolution.
There is a point when the elasticity goes out of a
population. There ceases to be a
flexibility to roll with the punches, to turn the other cheek, to absorb and
not retaliate in kind.
It happens most often when predictability and stability are
in flux. That’s because people prefer
predictability and stability; the alternative is chaos and chaos always makes
people uneasy.
When institutions start acting unpredictably they are like
the canary in the coal mine; anxiety rises that chaos is imminent. If government starts acting erratically,
anxiety goes up. When banks can no
longer be trusted to keep your money safe, anxiety goes up. When government starts being seen more as a
corrupter than a protector of values, anxiety goes up.
When established norms – like enforcement of laws,
punishment of lawbreakers, protection of civil liberties, and the right to free
speech – are no longer the norm, anxiety also goes up.
In short, anxiety goes up whenever the foundations upon
which we build our daily lives – and are at the heart of our core belief
systems – are shaken. People often don’t
recognize it for what it is. They have a
feeling that something’s wrong, something’s out of balance, but they can’t put
their finger on precisely what it is often because it’s so many things.
Little things start to add up. Then the hits keep on coming.
When there’s enough anxiety among enough people, they will
attack the source of chaos in an effort to restore normalcy. Because that’s what most people really want –
they want consistency and predictability; in other words “normalcy.” They can get used to some changes over time, but
not sudden shifts in the tectonic plates of their reality.
That’s where we are now.
A large part of society wants to overturn what are essentially bedrock
American values.
Like self-reliance.
The work ethic. The value of a
good education. The dignity of supporting
yourself and your family. Being
responsible. Leading the free world. Maintaining peace through strength.
And being a nation where the rule of law is more important
than the rule of man.
America is still the land of opportunity, which is why so
many other people in the world want to come here. Those immigrants – legal or otherwise – still
believe in the American Dream: if you
work hard, you can succeed.
Too bad so many citizens here no longer believe that. Too bad so many of them want to destroy our
basic values to make themselves feel better.
Maybe they want to lessen their guilt for failing to take
advantage of the opportunities this great nation has always provided. I suppose it’s easier for them to change the
rules and blame others instead of sucking it up for their own lack of ambition
to change their lot in life.
The bigger problem is that so many of them now no longer
believe in democracy, maintaining the balance of power in our government, and
protecting our basic rights to free speech, assembly, and to worship how and
where we please.
Many Americans clearly prefer a simpler authoritarian style
of government. Which is great, as long
as whoever is leading that government is doing what you want.
When an authoritarian government ceases to do what you want
and starts doing things you don’t want, then it’s not so great.
In fact, you start thinking of it in different terms. Like oppressive. Dictatorial.
Tyrannical.
So you see, it’s often a matter of perspective. Right now, a lot of Americans are all in on the
power grabs by the Democrats and Obama; they don’t see anything wrong with it. To them, it’s a way to get what they want
without the bother of following the Constitution or established law.
Which is all fine and good – for them, for now. But if a Republican as far right as Obama is
far left – say Rick Santorum – gained the same power and started using it just
as cavalierly, they’d be outraged.
Let’s say Santorum decided to make prayer in school
mandatory. Suppose he decided to start
channeling big chunks of Federal money to the Catholic Church, and decided his
DOJ should instruct state Attorneys General to no longer prosecute pedophile
priests. What if he decided to use an Executive Order to wipe out health insurance
for everybody but Roman Catholics? What if he pushed through appointments to
the Federal bench of only conservative Catholic men who shared his views on
contraception, abortion and the role of women?
Some people – especially Catholic conservatives – would cheer
him on. Others would be horrified. But really, what’s the fundamental difference
between all that and what Obama has done?
Not much.
It’s abuse of power.
It’s just a question of who is abusing it.
There’s a reason why the founders insisted on a balance of
power among three equal branches of government.
Specifically, it was to prevent this from happening.
Right now Obama and Democrats are tipping the scales too
hard. Public anxiety is rising.
ObamaCare alone would be enough to have many wondering what
the Hell is going on. We’ve lost our leadership
of the free world and now have to look to Russia to solve diplomatic
problems. Our enemies no longer fear us,
and yet the Administration is opening promoting scaling back our military to
pre-WWII levels. AG Holder did instruct
state Attorneys General recently that they didn’t have to enforce laws they
didn’t agree with. VP Biden was quoted recently as saying how great it is that
single mothers can quit their jobs to spend more time with their kids because
they don’t have to rely on a job anymore to get healthcare.
WTF.
It’s getting too crazy.
And irrational. And that’s the
breeding ground for revolution.
