The "Normalcy" of America Today
According to some self-described conservatives I've recently been sparring with, there is nothing wrong with the state of our nation, everything is hunky-dory and above all else, everything in this country is "normal." I'm not sure how they're defining normal and quite obviously, I heartily disagree, but it did get me thinking about how life in this country has changed. Because rest assured, it has.
Most of the changes in this country since 2000 aren't easily quantifiable. We all still get up every day, go to work, pay our bills and carry on with our day to day routines. On the surface, it seems that little has changed. And in the minds of some, if it's not overt and in-your-face, everything is normal and there's nothing to worry about. What they either fail to grasp or are willingly ignorant to is the fact that the changes that occur below the surface, out of sight, can be far more insidious and far more damaging. Everyday life carries the veneer of normalcy and sadly for many of us and for the state of this nation, that is enough for them.
I know that most people don't trust the government and haven't for a good, long time. And for good reason. Politicians, liberal and conservative alike, for the most part are only out for themselves and could care very little for we, the little people. It's a perception that's been fostered for decades and one that is not without merit. But the problems that have arisen over these last 6 years go well beyond fat-cat politicians looking to line their own pockets at our expense.
How many of us truly believed that we'd ever get to a point where we had to actually fear our government? Did we ever believe that we'd see a time when our government sought to destroy the very foundations of this country while some amongst us applauded and encouraged it? Did we ever truly believe that we'd see so many people willingly acquiesce to the erosion of our rights, the very freedoms and liberties that are the bedrock of this country?
This "president" has expanded the power of his office in ways the Framers had never intended and the Constitution specifically forbids. He has trampled over our rights and our freedoms with impunity and an imperial attitude that can be called nothing other than un-American. The government is free to open our mail, to listen in on our telephone conversations, read our emails, access our medical, financial, even our library records or enter our homes without our consent. Saying the wrong thing or belonging to the "wrong" group can land you on some nebulous governmental "watch list" or even a "no-fly" list. This goverment believes that it can do whatever it deems necessary to "protect" us, the Bill of Rights be damned. And instead of speaking out, instead of vehemently opposing this, there are millions of us throughout the country that see nothing wrong with it. Millions of our countrymen are willing, even eager to sacrifice our freedoms and our liberties for the illusion of safety. And illusion is precisely what it is. If we couldn't stop one man with tuberculosis from entering this country, knowing that he was coming, how can we really believe that we could stop a group of terrorists determined to strike us? Yet the fearful and the cowardly that would trade in everything that made this country what it was, believe just that.
The cowardly among us continue to deny, rationalize and justify the radical abuses of power this Administration is guilty of. They insist that in this post-9/11 world, everything has changed and the president can and should have limitless, unchecked power to do what he needs to do to protect the country. But as has been said, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." And we are indeed, seeing that in action today. And we are not one iota safer today than we were before 9/11.
There is a sickness spreading throughout this country. It is slow, it is creeping and insidious. But it is persistent and it is deliberate. It slithers along, under the surface and out of sight, like some leviathan that will one day swallow us whole. My biggest fear is that our rights and freedoms will continue to be eroded, will continue to be stripped from us while they justify it by claiming they are protecting us. Millions throughout the country will continue to live in fear and continue believing the intentions of the government are noble and honorable when they are anything but. I fear that one day, we will wake up and totalitarianism will somehow come to be accepted. I fear that one day, fascism will be deemed "normal."
Things in this country are most definitely not "normal" right now. And no matter how much these people want to believe it to be otherwise, they're just plain wrong.
~Kevin S.
Most of the changes in this country since 2000 aren't easily quantifiable. We all still get up every day, go to work, pay our bills and carry on with our day to day routines. On the surface, it seems that little has changed. And in the minds of some, if it's not overt and in-your-face, everything is normal and there's nothing to worry about. What they either fail to grasp or are willingly ignorant to is the fact that the changes that occur below the surface, out of sight, can be far more insidious and far more damaging. Everyday life carries the veneer of normalcy and sadly for many of us and for the state of this nation, that is enough for them.
I know that most people don't trust the government and haven't for a good, long time. And for good reason. Politicians, liberal and conservative alike, for the most part are only out for themselves and could care very little for we, the little people. It's a perception that's been fostered for decades and one that is not without merit. But the problems that have arisen over these last 6 years go well beyond fat-cat politicians looking to line their own pockets at our expense.
How many of us truly believed that we'd ever get to a point where we had to actually fear our government? Did we ever believe that we'd see a time when our government sought to destroy the very foundations of this country while some amongst us applauded and encouraged it? Did we ever truly believe that we'd see so many people willingly acquiesce to the erosion of our rights, the very freedoms and liberties that are the bedrock of this country?
This "president" has expanded the power of his office in ways the Framers had never intended and the Constitution specifically forbids. He has trampled over our rights and our freedoms with impunity and an imperial attitude that can be called nothing other than un-American. The government is free to open our mail, to listen in on our telephone conversations, read our emails, access our medical, financial, even our library records or enter our homes without our consent. Saying the wrong thing or belonging to the "wrong" group can land you on some nebulous governmental "watch list" or even a "no-fly" list. This goverment believes that it can do whatever it deems necessary to "protect" us, the Bill of Rights be damned. And instead of speaking out, instead of vehemently opposing this, there are millions of us throughout the country that see nothing wrong with it. Millions of our countrymen are willing, even eager to sacrifice our freedoms and our liberties for the illusion of safety. And illusion is precisely what it is. If we couldn't stop one man with tuberculosis from entering this country, knowing that he was coming, how can we really believe that we could stop a group of terrorists determined to strike us? Yet the fearful and the cowardly that would trade in everything that made this country what it was, believe just that.
The cowardly among us continue to deny, rationalize and justify the radical abuses of power this Administration is guilty of. They insist that in this post-9/11 world, everything has changed and the president can and should have limitless, unchecked power to do what he needs to do to protect the country. But as has been said, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." And we are indeed, seeing that in action today. And we are not one iota safer today than we were before 9/11.
There is a sickness spreading throughout this country. It is slow, it is creeping and insidious. But it is persistent and it is deliberate. It slithers along, under the surface and out of sight, like some leviathan that will one day swallow us whole. My biggest fear is that our rights and freedoms will continue to be eroded, will continue to be stripped from us while they justify it by claiming they are protecting us. Millions throughout the country will continue to live in fear and continue believing the intentions of the government are noble and honorable when they are anything but. I fear that one day, we will wake up and totalitarianism will somehow come to be accepted. I fear that one day, fascism will be deemed "normal."
Things in this country are most definitely not "normal" right now. And no matter how much these people want to believe it to be otherwise, they're just plain wrong.
~Kevin S.
posted by Lila Schow at
8:58 AM
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