Our American Democracy is based on people. “We, the People”. “We” decide our fate. “We” chose our leaders ...who in turn make our laws and formulate our foreign and domestic policies. Doctrine. “We” give them the power, authority, and the responsibility to make our laws and policies. Policies on foreign aid, trade, military intervention, gun control, healthcare, education, entitlement programs, etc. Virtually every aspect of our lives as citizens of this country is decided by We the People. It all boils down to our individual and collective vote, and who you, “We”, vote for.
So why does it seem that many of our “leaders” are either under suspicion or actual investigation, even indictment, for a wide variety of malfeasance and assorted criminal and moral mischief?
And then there’s incompetence ...
Be that as it may, “We” all have opinions on these important law and policy issues, some of us more outspoken than others, some more passionate than others. So, you’d think that, collectively, “We” would take our vote more seriously, as sacrosanct, and not for granted. Yet, only about half of us, We the People, even bother to vote at all.
What’s up with that?
You hear these same politicians, administrators and public officials say things like, “What the American people want ...”, ”The American people are smart ...”, ”The American people deserve to know ...”, ”The American people are strong ...brave ...have integrity ...character ...etc...” I question these patronizing statements both for their validity and sentiment.
How smart can “The American People” be? Just look around and consider the current fiasco in the White House. We the People elected ‘Goldfinger‘ to be our president! We voted him in! We voted them all in.
Consider the intellectual level of advertising communication in the television commercials we watch. These idiotic messages that are wedged between 24 hr. news and entertainment programming are targeted to draw the attention and reaction of someone with an impaired intelligence or questionable understanding.
There’s a reason for this and I don’t dare say it out loud, but I suggest that maybe we’re not as “smart” as these crooked, ambitious, patronizing politicians tell us we are.
I’m calling this the “Credibility Gap”, and I ask the question ...are “We” collectively, as “The American People”, credible? Are we, collectively, many of us ‘President Goldfinger’ supporters, deserving of the freedoms we have? Do we take freedom for granted? Are we smart enough to vote for credible leadership? Do we understand the importance and the vulnerability of our freedom? Or are we deserving of the grief we have brought down on ourselves, and America generally, by our vote or lack thereof?
I think this is the basis of our problem. “We,” the People. Us. ‘I have seen the enemy and it is us’. Even Abraham Lincoln recognized from early on that America’s downfall would not be from outside or from foreign sources, but that it would come from within. I think we are witnessing this now as our government unravels in graft, corruption, incompetence ...utter turmoil.
I wrote an op-ed several month ago called ‘The Great Divide’. http://sentinelnews.net/article/14-8-2019/great-divide#.XZP5TyMrJol I suggested that America is a divided nation more now than ever before ...
“... We’ve always been a nation divided. Divided by race, education, political party affiliation, intellect (there is a big difference between education and intellect), religion, ethnicity, economic and social status, our basic values ...sports even ...divided by our very freedoms, our constitutional freedoms to tote guns, speak freely, and to be as lazy or productive as we choose ...”
The op-ed goes on to suggest that it’s called ‘Diversity’ and that it’s a good thing and what America is all about. However, it cites President Trump (Goldfinger) as a major catalyst and accelerant for the Country’s current condition of turmoil and corruption by turning the best of Diversity into the worst of Division. Into his own narcissistic reality show. Entertaining, but at the same time, troubling. Dangerous. Whether he’s doing this haphazardly or by design, it doesn’t matter. Either way, I would question both his intentions and intellect.
So, let’s focus on ‘Intellect’. Intellect is not necessarily a function of education ...
(Education: the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.)
(Intellect: the faculty of reasoning and understanding objectively, especially with regard to abstract or academic matters.)
Have we become so stupid and lazy, inept ...complacent, uninterested ...that we can’t hold our blunted attention span long enough to consider the consequences of corrupt leadership? Have our entertainment and consumerized days of cake and circuses finally caught up with us? Why do the ‘bad guys‘ always end up running things? Why? Because “We” vote for them! We fall for their sales pitch and promises. We’re not paying attention. They are.
Harsh words, I know, but there's a point in there somewhere.
Other countries, many autocratic, produce people who are generally smarter and sharper than most Americans, because they have to be in order to survive. They come, escape, to America seeking freedom and opportunity (“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”) and they excel in the sciences, engineering, medicine, etc. leaving their American counterparts in the dust. They excel at hard labor jobs as well, because many Americans feel these jobs are beneath them. They understand freedom. They understand pride, and dignity of hard work.
One of America’s ‘founding fathers’, Alexander Hamilton, is credited with saying, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. That statement is relevant to America and Americans more today than ever before. More even than in 1776.
Stand for something ...and don’t fall into the Credibility Gap.
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah
