(Note: One of my primary goals with this Blog is to be positive and inclusive. Since this is my opinion, there will be times when our opinions will not be in sync with one another. I want you to know that even though we may have opposing view points we are not enemies. I am striving to find common ground, sew up divisions and communicate with you.)
One of the reasons that I decided to make my journal writing public in this Blog, are the strong feelings that I have for my Country, Democracy and Truth. Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United Sates has done his best to weaken or destroy all three.
Before I go on about Mr. Trump, I acknowledge that The United States of America is flawed, deeply flawed. We, the privileged European-based Americans have treated the non-European based Americans of our country with disrespect since our arrival in the 17th Century. We have confused our economic system (Capitalism) with our political system (Democracy). We have often used our global influence for not-so-good ends. We have functioned throughout our history on the thin edge between government of the people (Democracy) with government of the wealthy business class under the thin veneer that we, the common folks, actually get to choose how our affairs are governed (Oligarchy). Weaknesses aside, we have a system worth fighting for and one that can improve if we put in the energy required to make it better.
Our fragility has been exposed by Mr. Trump. His O+ D strategy over the past four years has been intended to subvert, weaken or destroy the foundational institutions of the United States, our Democracy and Truth. I’ve heard it described as a “soft coup.”
His weapons have not been guns and bombs. Rather, he (and whoever is behind his puppet presidency), have attacked our institutions through language and the dissemination of that language. The written word and the spoken word have been used with the goal of obstructing (O) the real words and intentions of our founding fathers in the Constitution and using those words to widen the ethnic, racial and economic divisions (D) that are among our collective national flaws.
Words are powerful. Authoritarian-style tyrants like Mussolini, Hitler, Castro, Karadzic and Authoritarian wannabees like Donald Trump, among many others in the 20th Century, have learned that to gain, hold power and exert their will, that they need to control the message to their people. Words are strung together in sequences designed to train us to believe and follow messages that we know deep down are wrong. Good people can be trained to do bad things or to do nothing at all by leaders with bad intentions. But, they/we become helpless to resist the words when under the influence of tyrants.
Those words are then used to compel good people to do unspeakable acts of bad. And, they can also be used to hide the truth from average citizens who honestly don’t know what’s going on because they are not being told the truth by these leaders. As Ivan Pavlov did with his techniques to train dogs, so have authoritarian rulers learned to use words and sounds to train people to listen to and follow their evil deeds. Hitler and his Nazi wordsmith Joseph Goebbels used words to create the depths of human depravity in 1930’s-40’s Germany. The vast majority of Germans really didn’t know what they were agreeing to through their silence because they didn’t know what was going on in their country in their name.
Words are powerful and minds are malleable. The two together can be used for extraordinary evil or powerful good. The evils of the recent past are happening again right here and right now. Country, Democracy and Truth are under attack.
Words are the weapons.
Be vigilant.
And respond.
Not sure whose puppet Trump was when he was able to defeat the Republican establishment and every major donor including the Koch Brothers to get elected in 2016. He was able to convince enough people to vote for him because he spoke to their fears and offered solutions that millions of mostly blue collar voters have been talking about for years and will continue to talk about for the next four years until he runs again in 2024. As a fiscal conservative in the George Will mode I would prefer someone like Mike Pence, Ted Cruz or John Kasich from the establishment who would try and control the costs of existing programs and live within our means but I expect we will be beat down again in the primaries and Trump will lock up the nomination early. That seems so far away right now. I will give Joe Biden time to reach bipartisan solutions with the GOP until then.
Following the recent developments in the United States I’m so happy that the dark years of Trumpism finally came to an end. Your blog is a wonderful one and just goes to show that reason prevails.