To suggest that traditional American institutions are under attack is a considerable understatement. The things that have long been accepted as the foundation of what it means to be an American have been constantly under siege by forces of change since the early 1960’s. Whether right or wrong, societies and cultural perceptions have always fallen to the slow alterations of those who were not content with the status quo. It is inevitable that things change over time, and if we wait long enough, they change back again to where they started and the cycle begins again. The adage that history repeats itself is no accident. It is a factual observation of human nature.
In our modern times, we can easily see the forces of change beating down the walls of tradition around us. Things such as gay marriage and legalized marijuana were far beyond the fringe of acceptable notions even as recently as fifteen years ago. In times such as these, it is difficult for the majority of those who believe in tradition to accept the forces of change. They see it as an assault on their beliefs and the things they hold dear. Those who affect the change have the opposite reaction. They no longer want to wear the mark of societal outsider or be forced to dwell on the outskirts of what is considered normal and acceptable. When one group advances, the other side is pushed closer to marginalization. After a time, the tables turn again. This battle for majority acceptance has been raging since men drew pictures on rocks, and it will never cease.
For those who stand as the gatekeepers to tradition, the creeping marginalization of their beliefs in the face of changing world views tends to lead to animosity and conflict. It’s difficult for people to watch their cherished beliefs torn down before them or slowly cast aside by a shift in national attitudes, especially when these supposed attitudinal changes are manufactured and manipulated by the forces that seek change for their own benefit. The problem is that the forces of change do not believe their ideas can co-exist with the traditions and founding principles that made America what it is. They believe that the only way for their beliefs to move out of the shadows of marginalization is to destroy the prevailing notions and traditions that have long been the acceptable norm. This, in turn, creates a situation where the traditional majority, which is usually silent, is presented as intolerable of any changes that affect their beliefs. When the voices of tradition finally speak out, they are immediately marginalized as racist, sexist, homophobic, regressive, and archaic by the agitators that seek their demise and wish to place them into the very shadows the agitators are trying so desperately to emerge from.
This struggle is constantly playing out across the country as those who wish to change America battle against those who wish to keep her the same. These battles are being waged across America and will continue to do so without any clear end in sight. Political and cultural notions play heavily into which side one chooses to be on, but more often than not, those in the middle who worry more about getting on with their day-to-day life are caught up in the fray. They cannot afford to take sides or put forth a flag in this battle because the reality of life supersedes the fantasy world of political and social posturing. The point to all this is that while our institutions and traditions are seemingly attacked by an aggressive movement bent on tearing them down, these traditions and institutions are actually in no danger at all.
The great lie to our current American condition is that there is such a massive polarization of the population that civil war seems imminent at any moment. The sides have been drawn and the nation will soon burn as liberals and conservatives and greens and libertarians and independents seek to destroy each other. However, nothing could be further from the truth. What is true is that there is a conspiracy occurring that is hiding in plain sight right in front of us. The myth of American tradition coming under attack and the myth of the massive cultural and social wars that are currently brewing out of control are being perpetrated by the politicians, bankers, corporate barons, pollsters, and media elite who constantly manipulate the playing field to their own advantage. The way these entities win is to divide the American people and prevent them from focusing on the real and true issues that threaten them. When the American people unite together in support of something or against something, there is absolutely nothing that can stand against them; not the government, not the banks, not the corporations, not even the sky-is-falling knee jerk media. A united America is what the elites fear more than anything.
The American people, regardless of their political leanings or social status, believe in America. The absolute crazies on the far sides of the political and social spectrums who take up the lion share of the media coverage and headlines are such a tiny minority of the actual way real Americans think that they are completely irrelevant outside of the media bubble created especially for them. This media bubble is designed to project a great divide in American attitudes and promote the idea of a divided populace aching to turn on itself at any moment. They take those talking heads capable of the sharpest rhetoric and prone to the ugliest sentiments and project them out onto decent Americans as a representation of their political party. Whatever you believe in is thus projected back at you as insane and out of touch by a rival political portion of America that either doesn’t actually exist or exists in such small numbers as to be statistically irrelevant. The elite want you to believe in a divided American and a world of difficult and nearly unsolvable problems because it takes your attention away from the true problems that exist and that can actually be fixed at the inevitable cost of the elites’ hold on power. And that is their mission – to maintain power and control at any cost, even if it means destroying America in the process, because a weakened or broken America can be manipulated even easier.
The simple fact is this: the power elite are terrified of a united American populace. That’s why all news is bad news. Blacks are pitted against whites, whites oppress blacks, no one likes illegal immigrants, gays are evil, Democrats and Republicans want to kill each other, everyone is racist, and any other mindless droning negativity that can fill the news cycle. Good news and feel good stories are ultra rare and usually run as a fluff piece at the end of the news. They want Americans feeling bad about things, especially about each other, because then their attention is on how bad things are and not on the actual people who are causing the problems: the elite. There is always a distraction, always an issue that takes front stage on the news, and the truth suffers. People do not live on the Internet; they live in communities and neighborhoods with other people who they don’t always agree with. But they don’t tear each other apart, they learn to live together. Imagine if reality took over the fantasy world that we see on television and the Internet. Imagine if we all stood together for a short while and turned against those who manipulate our lives. Imagine if we dusted off the pitchforks and began to march on the elites in massive protest. Imagine if Americans told their controllers that they were no longer in control, and it was time to do what is best for American citizens. Not what is best for politicians, not for special interest groups, not for political donors, not for media ratings, not for the rich and influential, and definitely not for a political party. Imagine the moment the elite realize that we no longer will buy into their version of America and together as Americans, we are going to change it. Imagine that.
Changing the way things are in America does not call for a revolution, it calls for Americans of all races and political affiliations to simply stand up for themselves and their fellow Americans and make the elite’ understand who really is in control. It took the elite’ decades to set the system up so they could game it and profit obscenely from it. It would take the American people less than a week to burn it all down and start fresh again. Maybe elitists should think about that.
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