generalspeaking

A Country Divided

President-elect Barack Obama presented himself as a conciliator, a bridge in the divide between the two polarized factions in the United States; one who would bring his adversaries on board in the greater interests of securing a better future for America and for the world at large. He has done anything but. He did extend a hand of co-operation from the Democratic Party to the Republicans, but they refused to co-operate, in accepting his brand, his vision and his version of where, why and how the country should be headed.

This is not entirely his fault, since it just is not possible for one man, one administration, one political party to be all things to all people. Particularly a diverse population flung over a large part of the North American continent with too-often heterodox points of view of what the United States constitutes; for many a stable environment where a social-liberal population comprised of people from many backgrounds live in harmony; for others a rigidly self-interested, hard-right, arms-carrying nation.

This, in a background of religious devotion heavy on the fundamental right of the spectrum itself. So it can hardly be surprising, in a country where the latest Pew Research Center survey found that a mere 22% of the population trust their government to do the right thing for the nation, where 1 of three Americans view their government as a "major threat" to their freedoms, where 4 out of 5 feel Washington cannot solve their problems.

A dangerous right-wing nutbar current runs through American society, where proponents of "freedom" want government to opt out of their lives and leave them to pursue their goals, most often running counter to those of good civil government. Where covert militias arm themselves and once in a while assemble a faithful following who agree to violently confront their government. Where right-wing talk radio and television personalities speak sedition.

And where now, the nation's first biracial president is held to be a "socialist", a "Marxist", a "Muslim", an artificial American, and a "Nazi", for forcing his vision of a fair and just society on a huge whack of Americans who like their society just like it is. President Barack Obama signed off on legislation legalizing the right of Americans to carry loaded guns in national parks. Peculiarly enough: What could he have been thinking?

The result is that gun-lovers and weapons-activists now proudly carry revolvers on their hips when entering family fast-food outlets and restaurants, sling rifles over their shoulders and gather to protest their defiance of this new president whose agenda, they are firmly convinced, will ultimately succeed in denying them their freedoms, vastly inclusive of carrying loaded firearms in public in the near future.

This is their greatest fear, that their new President Obama and the Democratic Congress will conspire to deny them their Second Amendment rights enshrined in the American Constitution, enabling Americans their 'right' to bear arms. First health care legislation was shoved down their unwilling throats, proving how relentlessly socialist the president is, then he bailed out Big Business.

Now the U.S. is on the cusp of totalitarianism. Truth and reality are often confusing to those who recognize other truths, and often enough delusions of perception reflect the only truth that will be recognized.

Labels: Human Relations, Security, Social-Cultural Deviations, United States

posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, April 20, 2010