JULY 15, 2020 – In the days after 9/11, America was united, right, wrong, or indifferent—except at the time, no one was indifferent. Flags flew high. Pride stood tall. We all were “in this together.” In fact, for a short, precious time, the world was united, as reflected by the French president’s famous quip, “We’re all Americans now.”
We were united against a group of criminals who happened to be Islamic extremists. In unison our leaders cried for revenge and security at any cost in blood, treasure or principle. Fightin’ men and women “joined up” and military service was glorified ahead of all other crucial contributions to productive society. At the other end of the nightmare nearly a generation later: the longest conflict in our nation’s history, trillions of dollars in resources blown to the winds, millions of lives disrupted and destroyed, and . . . a nihilist cult called ISIS.
Remember?
But at least for a time we stood united.
Now look at us. Yes. Look at us. We have lost our hearts, our minds, our souls, our country. And not to extremist Muslims, but to disproportionately powerful, extremist Christians who would impose their will on the majority; to ill-educated people who deny science, know nothing of history, and lack the skill to think beyond a diet of venomous disinformation; to 18th century minds demanding unfettered access to 21st century assault weapons; to millions who confuse “socialism” with any government program, or more precisely, who gladly accept government largesse but label pejoratively, benefits other people receive; to a “cotton candy” culture addicted to hedonism; to a public that lives by the twin mantras of “MeNow” and “Don’t Tread on Me.” Yes—we have lost our hearts, minds, souls and country, not to foreign aggressors or invaders but to fellow Americans.
And the epitome of our ills, the symbol of our decadence, the standard-bearer for all that afflicts us is, most befittingly, a grand buffoon; a “leader” without leadership; an empty vessel—one without heart, mind or soul. A man who, in the end, will have no country.
What’s far more troubling than the man himself, however, is the parade of his sycophants, enablers, apologists, and supporters; and most troubling of all, the people who won’t vote for Biden because as purists from the upper decks of the Titanic, they refuse to dirty their tuxedos and evening gowns by boarding an open-air lifeboat in need of new paint.
If the virus is our drowning sea, then our history, our culture, our immaturity are the weights and chains that will drag us under. Already shunned by the rest of the world, we are now left to our own, inadequate flotation devices—the flotsam of rugged individualism randomly strewn by uninhibited consumerism fabricated by open-ended commercialism.
Humanity will survive. America as we are now constituted will not. November 3 will come too late, not for the rest of the world but for us.
United in our predicament, we can no longer stand.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
