WILLING TO BE RESCUED?
Prudence has noted in the past that 2020 seemed to be the year that the globalist, anti-American far left determined that it could overthrow the American system. The manufactured “pandemic” surrounding COVID-19 and resulting destruction of civil liberties, social structure and logic following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, seemed to be making the long-planned destruction of America possible. The primary tool to make such a profound change in the direction of history, is managed hatred.
The largest hatreds over the millennia are spiritual, if not identifiably religious. This is sad, in many ways, but also understandable given the nature of non-compromise at the heart of most organized religions. The power lies in belief. Shared belief is the strongest human force. Rare are they who can listen to alternative beliefs and subsequently change their own. Beliefs direct the actions of individuals, even to the point of destroying those with opposing beliefs. When added to “mob” coherence, shared beliefs account for more deaths than any other social circumstance.
To a great degree, religions are – or began as – tribal belief systems, and in the earliest periods they had few alternative ideas to resist. This fact makes the interesting similarities among early origin stories and beliefs about gods and an afterlife, even more remarkable. However, fairly small differences between belief systems can spark enormous conflict, like that between Protestants and Catholics or between Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. The religious differences translate readily into political and military differences, but at their core, they tend to be conflicts between which humans are in charge of the “religions,” not the deep principles underlying the beliefs.
Sadly, some belief systems are based in hatred, such that no form of compromise will permit even suspicious co-existence: the premise of one system being the elimination of the other system. If success appears to find the “destroyer” system, that system prepares to take on the next system it opposes. We can see this pattern with Marxism/Communism. Its basic opposition to private property is enabled by its fundamental opposition to religion of any form. However, one of the most hateful systems appears to be Islam, the premise of which is that the entire world must become Muslim; there is no workable form of co-respect or co-existence with other religions. We have become a world governed by competing hatreds.
In a Prudent view, that is not the way any God of humanity would have wanted mankind to develop.
Regardless of the scale of the groups toward whom hate is directed, the act of hating is still a very personal one. Pressures to convince large groups to direct their hatred at certain targets – politically in purpose and effect – can be successful only if lots of individuals are personally convinced of the “legitimacy” of that hatred. It’s not the same as “following orders” issued by authoritative leaders. And it’s not the same as “hating” those who are simply different from oneself – different sounding, looking, acting – which is closer to fear rather than actual hate. It is fairly easy to learn to stop fearing others, to gain understanding of those differences, to eventually become neutral toward the different and, perhaps, friendly. Soon, we’re marrying one another and blending our differences in beautiful children who will be less fearful than we used to be.
But to become hateful of particular others is a commitment with oneself. It’s hard to casually hate, but relatively easier if one can be convinced to do so, whereupon he or she becomes more comfortable in hatred if he or she convinces him- or her-self that hatred is part of a belief system to which he or she is committed. Soon, the haters are not being led to it, but are pushing for increased purity of hatred, often punishing or rejecting those leaders who seek compromise. Hatred is an awful way to guide or lead people. But, it’s cheap and effective.
America was once described as a melting pot. Ostensibly, people from all places could “become” Americans. Without offering multiple forms of welfare and help – including taxpayer-financed attorneys – in multiple languages and multi-lingual public education, people came only because freedom was offered. Everyone learned English and agreed to live within our legal system, one of the most honest… not perfect, but fairly evenly applied under the Constitution. “Melting pot” was not the most accurate description: “salad bowl” is probably better. America invited the best of the world to join us. Despite our mistakes, particularly with slavery, we learned to respect everyone who was willing to make and pay his or her own way. Things have changed. American “representation” has, in the past 30 years or so, become the politics of competing hatreds. From the Clintonian “politics of personal destruction,” we have devolved to the “politics of social and familial disintegration.”
There is a certain ease of slipping into hatred, for most humans, not all. Hating some one else or millions of someones else, requires justification. If a person can find justification for hatred, no matter how flimsy, additional scraps of justification will stick to that hate like double-sided carpet-tape, bonding it just as tightly to one’s beliefs – perhaps to one’s soul. Add in the power of group (mob) psychology and soon a novice hater is leading the charge. Somewhere or somewhen along the spectrum from distrust to embedded hatred, every individual must decide to continue in that direction or to take another. Every person, regardless of justifications, is responsible for his or her actions – including hatred.
Every person can choose from evil, which hatred certainly is, whether political or something else. Every one of us can make that choice. In spite of decades of public indoctrination, our ability to choose to be responsible still exists. We are Americans, still able to lead, including ourselves.