Undermined Values

Most of those born in this country are fortunate to have no idea what real poverty, persecution and repression really are all about- and most of us born in this country have no idea how sophisticated those who resent us and despise the freedom democracy brings, really are, or what lengths they will go to in order or thwart the spread of democracy.

The threat America poses to much of the world is neither economic or even social, really. America represents ideas that have changed the world. In fact, no nation has helped nurture more people and more societies escape the bonds of repression and persecution than America. This nation remains the destination of choice for most of the world’s immigrants.

America remains the destination of choice for most of the world’s immigrants (have you seen any long lines at the Syrian embassy for visa applications?). The vast majority of those immigrants understand that American greatness is not just about economic opportunity or offering a safe haven from repressive and tyrannical regimes. What sets America apart are the possibilities that originate with the freedom top dream and the freedom to explore the possibilities.

While it is true that oppressed people the world over dream about finding the relief and respite from persecution, it is even more true that immigrants come to these shores with even bigger dreams and hopes. One can contain the tyranny of persecution by ‘towing the party line.’ Hopes and dreams are not so easily corralled.

America is the only country in the world where so many immigrants have come and had their dreams realized. Millions upon millions have succeeded and still, the possibilities of this nation have barely been tapped. It is for that reason that so many millions more want to come to these shores. Unlike the various gold rushes, no one already here or waiting to get here, are too late or have ‘missed the boat.’ Every hour of every day, there is the opportunity to strike it rich.

There is a question that has to be asked, and it is really quite simple: How is possible, that so many Americans, the children of privilege and raised in freedoms that are the envy of people all over the world, have come to hate the very values they claim to love?

How is it possible that there are those here that would make real freedom conditional? Agree with us, they say, or else expect to be insulted, disrespected and excoriated for your beliefs? In some instances, violence in the name of ‘peace’ or ‘the people’ (or the animals or vegans or plants ) is the order of the day? There is no debate, no discussion and no negotiation. Many citizens citizens have come to believe their ideas are not subject to debateand that theu have the right to impose their ideas, values and will on others. This is not different from the proponents of Nazi and other repressive ideologies.

Of course, what is played out and is acceptable in the political arena is the result of what has become played out and acceptable in other parts of our lives. There is a whole generation of abu Hamza’s, the radical Islamic cleric from the UK who stated with confidence, ‘We will use your democracy to destroy you.’  He openly spoke of radical Islam assuming control by exploiting the freedoms that were available to him.

What is acceptable in politics has it’s origins in a changing culture. On the home front, women, men and children are being abused in ever increasing numbers. In the post feminist era, marriages are broken before they begin and families are destined to self destruct, with no chance of roots ever taking hold.

People are driven to hate and violence when they realize they cannot control others or their beliefs without resorting to violence. In resorting to violence, hate or intolerance, they highlight the the reality that they cannot control themselves. They want what they want, when they want it and woe unto anyone who gets in their way. They are in a constant state of crisis, with the accompanying paranoia and delusions (Contrary to what much of the Muslim world believes, Christians and Jews do not awake each morning, conspire with each other and devote their entire day to the eradication of Islam and Muslims, at the expense of focusing on making a living or educating their children. Many Muslims would be dismayed to realize that virtually all Christians and Jews don’t give a damn about Muslims at all). We wrote,

We do not need to assure Muslims that we are caring. We do not need to bestow a status upon Islam that we not bestow upon other religions and other faiths. Muslims are not special and they are not deserving of special status.

Why? Because in a free society, we don’t care about your beliefs. We do care about your actions and behavior. You are free to integrate and to assimilate into our society in whole or in part. We really don’t care. Do not tell us we need to care about your beliefs and your concerns above all else and above our own beliefs. If you do try to make that assertion, you will soon be surprised at how easily you will be marginalized and resented- not for your beliefs, but rather, for your attempt to jump to the head of line. You are not more important than anyone else.

The same applies to voters. We don’t care who you vote for and we don’t care what political party you belong to.

Because it makes for good drama, the media and popular culture extol those that excel at the excesses. From religion to politics to advertising, the objective is to ‘push the envelope’- as if real values were temporal and pop culture were substantive. Translated, that means Britney Spears is a prophetess and MTV broadcasts the Sermon on the Mount, daily.

Of course, there is a ‘middle ground reality.’ In the end, the number of people pushing either side of the envelope is barely a blip compared to the number of people who refuse to push the envelope. The vast majority of voters are middle ground realists, to the chagrin of the extremists. They do not share the extremism and would not want to live next door to the political extremists of either political party (imagine the kind of people they might bring into your neighborhood).

Naturally, the envelope pushers hate that reality because reality deflates the message that we are in a massive crisis. Politics, adverstising and to some extent, religion, are all geared to promoting the notion that we are in crisis. Of course, they each purport to have the answers and an action plan- all crises demand action and the greater the crises, the less likely you are to think. The agendistas need that sense of crisis, because if there is no crisis, we will find a way to compromise.

Everyday, the message is ‘crisis.’ Religious influence represents a ‘crisis’ (unless of course the religion is Wicca, Paganism, Vampirism or Cerealism (the worship of Rice Krispies)  that must be eradicated. Because the psychology of imminent crisis is so great, there are those that are immediately driven to blind hate and violence at the slightest provocation, as we saw with ‘flushed Quran’ violence and the ‘cartoon riots.’

The latest election, we were told, was a response to a ‘crisis’- and thus, we can expect little in the way of compromise and accomadation.

When hate is so easily accessed and tolerated, the values of freedom and democracy are easily undermined. This is a lesson easily understood by those that have lived under tyranny- and a lesson too often ignored by those who know not the cost of that hate.