“Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness.”
-Thomas Paine
Democrats wish for everyone to forget their past sins including, but certainly not limited to, slavery, lynchings and, especially, their own longstanding history of disenfranchisement. Yet, they also demand that all of us collectively pay the consequences for their guilt, through such means as obfuscation and projection rather than self-flagellation. Question that really needs to be asked - what exactly does your party stand for, President Joe Biden? Denigration, inflation, misinformation, stagnation, victimization, to name a few. With poll numbers lower than any president in recent memory in only their first year in office, it almost seems disrespectful and insulting, even if pertinent, to compare the Biden administration to the last one-term Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. Almost.
Another idea Democrats stand for is fundamental transformation to “save our democracy.” Couched in such language, it subtly reveals their entire misunderstanding of our established system of government for one they want to truly implement. As repeatedly must be reminded, the United States is a constitutional republic and not a democracy. For this reason, they have zero qualms concerning their incessant quest to dismantle certain safeguards (Electoral College, filibuster) aimed at maintaining the former over simple majority, e.g. “mob,” rule that a democracy invites and feared by the Founders. When the French Revolution erupted not long after American independence, those fears were validated by the actions of France’s revolutionary leaders once in power.
In an era of arbitrary pronouns to assign desired non-biological genders, segregation deemed appropriate supposedly to educate about racism and enhance diversity, and burger and chicken joints selling plant-based “burgers” and “chicken,” it is little wonder that the twisting of language is at the forefront to propagandize and mainstream controversial ideas. This has warped the very fabric of society to the point that a majority of individuals have no clue that they are being fooled and sent hurdling into catastrophic folly. In no other instance can this be better illuminated than during the global pandemic, definitions of “immunity” and “vaccinated” changing daily as power over the world’s population broadens and wanes. As George Carlin eloquently stated, echoing Orwell, “government wants to control information and control language because that’s the way you control thought, and basically that’s the game they’re in.”
Recently watching Netflix’s Munich: The Edge of War, the movie unexpectedly, and startlingly, brought current events into prescient focus. A doddering, aloof leader engaging in high-level diplomacy and negotiations with a determined, charismatic one in the attempt to stop the latter’s aggression and avert war - the former naively believing they have the wits to match. One could be forgiven for failing to distinguish between the dealings of Neville Chamberlain and Adolph Hitler with those of Joseph Biden and Vladimir Putin (or any other world leader, for that matter). As has been the situation for decades, inexhaustible threats from hostile adversaries continue to loom throughout the globe. Yet, the gravest danger lies with an American president unable to coherently recite from prepared notes to undemanding questions from a prearranged cadre of reporters, while simultaneously failing to adhere to their sworn Constitutional duties with policies not only undermining national sovereignty but also endangering allies.
An overarching theme in Alan Moore’s influential graphic comic series, Watchmen, is the forewarning to anyone who willingly sacrifices personal responsibility by placing their faith in those entrusted to guard - whether by consensus or self-anointment - the world's fate. To some characters, establishing themselves as god-like saviors, the ends justify the means to rescue humanity from itself; for others, even in the context of an increasingly secular and nihilistic worldview, compromising morals to attain such goals is objectionable if not contradictory. In the end, those who proclaim themselves to be acting for the “greater good,” no matter the unforeseen consequences of their actions, not only must be held accountable but also never allowed to hold such a position again. Failing to do so is nothing less than complicity.
©2022 Steve Sagarra