By Allen B. Gates, Stevensville
America is divided by political polarization and cultural turmoil!
Not since the Civil War has there been such polarization and cultural turmoil. The causes are:
1. The hollowing out of the middle class. Job losses caused by increases in productivity, outsourcing, and changes in the nature of work have impacted feelings of self-worth. Frustration caused by the time and money it takes to acquire new skills and the opportunity to apply those skills. Agricultural jobs fell from 41% of Americans in 1900 to 2% of Americans in 2000. Jobs in manufacturing decreased from 30% at the end WWII to around 10% today.
2. Migration from rural areas to urban areas that has destroyed many small communities and lifestyles.
3. The increasing concentration of wealth in the top one percent of the population.
4. Frustration by the lower level classes by the difficulty of upward mobility.
5. The dissatisfaction and increasing lack of trust in institutions. Congressional approval ratings are in the 10 to 15% range. Mainstream media poll ratings have been declining and are at their lowest level (mid-fifties to mid-thirties). Mainstream media trust levels are lowest among Republicans. Churches/organized religions are in the 30%-45% range. Banks are in the 20%-30% range.
6. Bigotry and racism still significant elements of our culture. Voter suppression efforts are still present. White nationalism organizations and activities are increasing in numbers. Anti-Semitic hate crimes are increasing. Minorities are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system.
7. Pipe bombs have been mailed to anti-Trump former officials and politicians.
8. Immigration and the “browning” of America are flash points for many.
9. Cable news networks’ need to feed a 24-hour news cycle. Partisanship is present in many of the news networks. Such partisanship contributes to polarization and cultural turmoil.
President Trump is inciting political polarization and cultural turmoil!
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” –Abraham Lincoln, 1858
We have never had a president who intentionally divides us! He admires strongmen and dictators. His divide and conquer intent is to destroy our democratic institutions and make the entire government, all three branches, subservient to him! His extreme narcissism dooms him to an obsession with winning—at all costs! He is incapable of empathy.
His winning at all costs mentality drives an extreme end-justifies-the -means approach! His approach is grounded in centuries old concepts.
• “The end excuses any evil.” –Sophocles, Greek Playwright, 409 B.C.
• “The result justifies the deed.” –Ovid Roman Poet, 10 B.C.
• “The ends justify the means.” –Saint Jerome, 393/394 B.C. (Often erroneously attributed to Niccol`o Machiavelli, 16th Century political writer and the father of modern political science.)
The end is to make all three branches of government subservient to him! An incomplete listing of his means follows:
1. He makes up “facts” as convenient, misrepresents facts, and lies pathologically.
2. He has convinced lower- and middle-class people that he is “one of them.” He’s using anger and fear to create a mentality that it’s himself and his supporters against all others.
3. He’s using a principle that strongmen and dictators use to consolidate power. The principle is to place friends and family in high places.
4. He’s using another principle that strongmen and dictators use to consolidate power. The principle is to annihilate the opposition. He is trying to destroy the free press, one of the foundations of a democracy. He urges violence against reporters. He’s offered to pay the legal costs of anyone accused of violence against reporters. He has applauded a congressional representative who body slammed a reporter. He viciously attacks anyone who is critical of him. His attacks are frequently rude, crude, and vulgar. He attacks the Attorney General he appointed. He attacks the Department of Justice and FBI. He throws up roadblocks to impede the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. He claims he can override the Constitution by Executive Order!
5. He claims that no one has more respect for women than he does. However, he brags about sexually assaulting women. He insults women. He uses terms like “horse face”, “who would vote for a face like that”, “she’s bleeding from wherever”, and “fat pig.” He viciously degraded a woman who accused a Supreme Court Justice nominee of sexual assault.
The central question: Do the ends justify the means?
The answer to this question indicates the type of country in which we want to live, raise our children, and raise our grandchildren. Each of us has our own set of ends we would like to achieve. Each of us has our own means that we would like to use. The collective ends to which we aspire and collective means that we use define what kind of country we want.
The key questions that we individually and collectively need to answer are:
1. Do we want to live in a thriving democratic Republic where we believe and demonstrate that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness?”
2. Do we believe and demonstrate that “We People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
3. If the individual and collective answers to Questions One and Two are yes, do we recognize and accept that in a democratic Republic (as defined in the Constitution) the interests of the minorities must be protected from the excesses of the majority?
4. If the individual and collective answers to Question Three is yes, are we committed to electing and appointing officials whose words and deeds demonstrate yes answers to Questions One and Two?
5. If the answer to Question Three is yes, do we recognize and accept that the elected and appointed officials need to be empowered to act in pursuit of the common good, recognizing that compromise is essential to achieve the common good?
6. If the answer to Question Five is yes, do we want to live with one another and raise our children and grandchildren with low moral and ethical standards? Do we want to teach our sons and daughters that it’s OK to:
a. Sexually assault and be sexually assaulted?
b. Make up facts, misrepresent facts and outright lie?
c. Be rude, crude and vulgar in word and deed?
d. Bully anyone?
e. Believe the end justifies the means regardless of moral or ethical considerations?
If the answer to Question Six is no, make your voice heard. Act morally and ethically yourself! Teach your children and grandchildren the difference between right and wrong! Contact your elected representatives! Vote!
In the long run, every organization takes on the characteristics of its leader. Do you want America to take on Trump’s characteristics? I don’t!