Mental Musings from
The Marginatrix
...because sometimes I just need to share my thoughts.
I’m just a regular person. I’m not a history expert, particularly when it comes to war, but I fervently believe in the concept of standing together, presenting a united front, especially when autocratic leaders of pugilistic countries are committed to the destruction of such alliances. And perhaps it goes without saying that recent actions of United States leadership display a stunning ignorance of the necessity both to be and to have allies.
Although war with a foreign entity is still a concern and we must remain vigilant, I don’t believe the destruction of our country will come in the usual way. After all, why not simply pit people against one another in their own backyard? Split apart families and friends and shake the very foundations upon which we have come to rely for our very sanity and sense of self. It’s difficult to worry about a war in the conventional sense when engaged in war with our friends and neighbors, when we can’t even understand our own families anymore. Considering current events, it’s difficult not to be drawn into making comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984. There will always be those who crave power and will pursue it by whatever means necessary. Sometimes it is obvious, but more often than not, the threat is insidious and not immediately recognized. A nuclear warhead headed toward our shores would certainly be cause for concern as an obvious act of war, but in today’s environment, a cyber attack should be just as frightening. When a foreign power is suspected of interfering in our democracy, that should set off all kinds of alarm bells. Unfortunately, that act must be renounced by those in the highest levels of our government. Failure to recognize the seriousness of such an attack and subsequent failure to act upon that knowledge is possibly more concerning than the attack itself. It has the potential to cause people to question the loyalties of those in charge and whether power is more important than country. But managed properly by the authorities, fear and distrust of the other team will lead a portion of the population to defend the indefensible and blind them to the actions of those who do not have their best interests in mind. Power is its own reward and George Orwell predicted this, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.” Perhaps we are behind Orwell’s schedules, but who can blame him? I’m sure at the time when he wrote his novel, 1984 seemed like a lifetime away and I imagine he hoped that his cautionary tale might prevent its realization. Sadly, the ignorant masses are all too eager to forget the past. They consider themselves too smart to fall for trickery and rationalize their choices by blaming others. And it’s so easy to forget and to deny what is right in front of us. Our enemies, both internal and external, have wisely chosen to prey upon our basest instincts and fears. They use deceit, fear, misdirection, sleight of hand, loyalty to our “team,” mistrust, propaganda, anger, dehumanization, and vengeance. They divide and conquer, placing us on opposing teams fighting a zero sum game of war between ourselves. They convince us that the “other” is evil and deserving of our disdain, even hatred, and must not be allowed to win no matter the cost. As Orwell presciently stated, “The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.” What’s frightening is that this statement from Orwell has become a truth in today’s world, and it has been twisted to present the “foreigner” not only as someone from another country, but also as someone who thinks differently. “If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate. It is therefore realized on all sides that however often Persia, or Egypt, or Java, or Ceylon may change hands, the main frontiers must never be crossed by anything except bombs.” It has reached the point where bullets and bombs are traded on a regular basis within our borders by our own citizens, the two minutes of hate cleverly replaced with Trump rallies where enemies are demonized and insulted, the press branded as “enemies of the people” for failing to regurgitate the party line. We have become the enemies. We are called to action and the response has been frightening. We have been played. While we should be fighting the powers that be, we have been instructed to fight one another, and we have fallen for it. While those in power become richer and more powerful, the masses are masterfully turned against one another. We forget that nobody wins when we fight ourselves. We are all part of one body. Deciding that the left arm needs to be amputated because it does something with which the right arm disagrees fails to recognize that it is the brain causing the action. The brain directs the various parts of the body and the brain can be fooled. Just like an autoimmune disease causes the body to fight itself, politicians have caused citizens to fight one another. We rant and rave and paint the “other” as the enemy as the real enemy grows ever stronger. The enemy knows that sometimes the best way to bring down a foe is by fostering reactions that will cause your foe to tear itself apart. Meanwhile, the enemy sits back and watches, adopting a face of earnest concern, while he or she continues to feed more lies and fear to the conflict to foment anger and further drive a wedge between people. If it distracts from the corruption and pillaging, that’s a bonus. The United States spends a huge amount of money to ensure its military superiority over all other countries. But I fear that our armed forces may not be able to help us in this war. Orwell admonished, “Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” It is essential that we become conscious of the destruction that has been wrought upon us, often with our own consent. We must join together to repel the enemy who seeks to tear us apart. Orwell said, "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." President Trump told us, "Just remember what you’re seeing and what you're reading is not what’s happening." Setting aside the grammatical error in his statement, perhaps it’s worth considering that he is not seeking to serve the needs of the people, but rather his own desires for wealth and power. Maybe we should believe what we are seeing. He speaks the words his followers long to hear, and despite his failure to follow through on his promises, they continue to believe him because to question him would cause them to question their own judgment and that could be catastrophic. They ignore the lies because he feeds their fears and fear is a powerful motivator. It may be time to take a step back. Can we return to a time when the United States stood for a body united? Can we give people the benefit of the doubt? Is being right so important that we’re willing to give up being connected to those we love? I propose that it is long past time to seek common ground. President Trump and the GOP will not save us. In fact, the very idea is contrary to their best interests. Likewise, the Democratic party hasn’t the strength or motivation to reclaim power for the citizens. It is naive to think anyone will save us. Remember, the purpose of power is power and those who have power will not willingly concede. We need to purge our government of politicians and create something that truly represents the will of the majority, not just those with the means to impose their will. I don’t believe the armed forces can do this for us, but I hope they will not prevent it. I hope they will remain true to their purpose, to defend our democracy, and will refuse to follow the commands of a corrupted leadership that seeks to control and which may well attempt to weaponize this force against the people. November 14, 2018
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Elizabeth J. Connor
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