0 comment Wednesday, October 8, 2014 | admin
American Denial is the title of a piece at American Thinker.
The subject of denial is one that comes up here on this blog with some regularity, but in general when we discuss it here, it has to do with the denial of certain politically incorrect truths that are at the root of many of our current problems and crises.
Steven McCann's perception of American denial concerns the unwillingness of many Americans to believe that ''the worst'' could occur in our country. It is true that many Americans are happy to continue to believe that our country is immune to many of the woes and dangers that exist elsewhere. Many Americans do believe that somehow, because we have heretofore not known the kind of devastation and want that many other nations have known, it is unthinkable that such things could possibly occur here.
The description of the woman in Revelation 18:7 comes to mind.
"I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."
McCann's piece continues:
''While this characteristic is found across all political and economic strata, it is particularly rampant among the current ruling class in the United States, who by their control of the culture and education, have ingrained that sort of thinking into the psyche of the vast majority of Americans.''
Do our ruling classes believe this, or do theyteach us this? Maybe, but do they believe it? I am sure they are confident that they themselves will never experience ''the worst''; they will be insulated from any such suffering themselves. They probably have reasons for their smugness. But if they teach us to be unduly secure about our future, it is only to lull us into complacency and to assuage any misgivings or fears we have about our 'leaders.'
''Overwhelming peace and prosperity, over the past many decades, has sown the seeds that will lead to rapid erosion in the American way of life. As the United States has not experienced a major national catastrophe in over 146 years, coupled with no significant economic hardships since 1940, the view across the landscape as far as the mind's eye chooses to see is of never-ending affluence and freedom from strife. ''
Have we been free from national catastrophes for 146 years? What about Pearl Harbor, or 9/11? Those things were pretty traumatic for many Americans. Regardless of what we think about the real story behind 9/11, the fact is, it was an event that changed our country in some ways forever, though not perhaps enough. Who would have imagined on, say, September 12, 2001, that 10 years later we would still have wide-open borders, lax immigration policies, and especially more Moslem immigration? The fact that there is still relatively little outcry about these things shows that nothing was learned on 9/11 about multiculturalism, mass immigration, and about the folly of blind 'tolerance.'
As far as our lack of economic hardships, I think more Americans, every day, have the conviction that we are in fact in a depression, and that things may never be as they were even a few years ago. Only this last week I've heard a couple of heartbreaking stories about people in dire economic straits, formerly middle-class people who are now officially homeless, living with relatives or friends, or people with serious illnesses and a bleak future. Most of us are aware that we are in hard times, though as always, there are some who are prospering in spite of (or perhaps profiting from) others' losses.
I don't know what circles Mr. McCann moves in, but there are many people out there who no longer have unbounded confidence in our prosperity or our system. Many people have shed their illusions, however comforting those illusions may have been for a while.
Here is where McCann really loses me:
''The United States is unique among nations because of its founding principles, geography and mix of cultures and races. Those factors enabled the country to overcome a myriad of tribulations in its early years and develop an atmosphere conducive to an overwhelming barrage of creativity, ingenuity and individual advancement. But those days are rapidly receding into the pages of history as the oppressive hand of government, now encroached into the day-to-day lives of all Americans, has nearly made that nation a relic of the past.''
I feel certain my readers will notice that first sentence, and take exception to it. The United States is unique, but not because of its 'mix of cultures and races.' First of all, for the first couple of hundred years, there was little mixture of cultures and races. There was not any large-scale immigration until the 19th century, when various European immigrants began to arrive in large numbers. Even then, most of the immigrants, at first anyway, were of a very compatible type, being closely related to the founding stock.
I should not even have to point this out, but America was a remarkable country before all the immigrants started to arrive in vast numbers. It was remarkable even when it was populated mostly by the descendants of the original colonists, else why would so many of the later arrivals have found this country so attractive, such a desirable destination?
I can't count the number of times I've heard how 'immigrants built America' or 'immigration made this country great' and so on. This might be flattering to the immigrants and their descendants, but flattery is often based on exaggerations or falsehoods, meant to mollify or manipulate.
The fact is America was great because of those who founded it. Later arrivals may have contributed certain non-essential things, but if this country had remained a mostly Anglo-Saxon/northwest European country by origin, it would not have been any less great. In fact, if such had been the case, we would not have many of the problems that plague us so today. We would not have ''political correctness'' stifling our speech, as we strive not to slight someone or hurt delicate feelings. We would not, in fact, likely have the whole cultural Marxist system which is in large part the reason for the overbearing 'big government' apparatus which McCann laments.
If we had no mass immigration (legal as well as illegal) and no wide-open southern 'border', we would have no need for the Patriot Act, and the many encroachments on our freedoms associated with the 'war on terror'.
If we had had no mass immigration from certain countries, we would not be committed to exorbitant amounts of 'foreign aid' doled out to certain countries. Our ties to many nations by virtue of the presence of large numbers of their people living in our country would not be nearly so oppressive and demanding.
And perhaps we would be more inclined to non-intervention, as our Founding Fathers intended for us to be, rather than involving ourselves in many wars to 'bring democracy' to people incapable of it.
Instead of scattering our wealth abroad, we might put it to better use at home, and not be subject to being taxed so onerously to be the world's sugar daddy.
If Americans are in denial, which I've often said we are, as a people, then perhaps the fact that our current multicultural regime requires us to 'live by lies' may have much to do with it. I believe many Americans have learned that they have to acquiesce in a great many lies (all men are equal; there is no such thing as race; gender is irrelevant;America is founded on ideas, not kinship)in order to be accepted, and to get along in this disintegrating society.
I think a great many Americans feel helpless, because they know we can't discuss many things openly in public, so they choose to be silent, keep a low profile, focus on trivial and materialistic things. When the ruling ideology is so all-pervasive, and the propaganda so thoroughly entrenched in media and education,
honest people want to withdraw from it. Denial then becomes a way of life. If we can't go against the monolithic system, then it's better for some people to try to ignore it, and distract themselves, or comfort themselves in some way.
For many people, partisan politics is a way to make believe that things are normal, or at least that we can rectify what is wrong by electing new faces, people of ''our'' party. For many White Americans, party has taken the place of ethnic or racial loyalty. For other, less politically inclined people, sports teams take the place of ethnic or political loyalty.
For many women, their allegiance to their 'sisters' takes precedence over other loyalties.
It's all a game, a distraction, a form of denial.
Yes, there is denial, but until America (and the rest of the Western world) is ready and able to get to the root of our situation, denial will persist, and may be our downfall.
The subject of denial is one that comes up here on this blog with some regularity, but in general when we discuss it here, it has to do with the denial of certain politically incorrect truths that are at the root of many of our current problems and crises.
Steven McCann's perception of American denial concerns the unwillingness of many Americans to believe that ''the worst'' could occur in our country. It is true that many Americans are happy to continue to believe that our country is immune to many of the woes and dangers that exist elsewhere. Many Americans do believe that somehow, because we have heretofore not known the kind of devastation and want that many other nations have known, it is unthinkable that such things could possibly occur here.
The description of the woman in Revelation 18:7 comes to mind.
"I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow."
McCann's piece continues:
''While this characteristic is found across all political and economic strata, it is particularly rampant among the current ruling class in the United States, who by their control of the culture and education, have ingrained that sort of thinking into the psyche of the vast majority of Americans.''
Do our ruling classes believe this, or do theyteach us this? Maybe, but do they believe it? I am sure they are confident that they themselves will never experience ''the worst''; they will be insulated from any such suffering themselves. They probably have reasons for their smugness. But if they teach us to be unduly secure about our future, it is only to lull us into complacency and to assuage any misgivings or fears we have about our 'leaders.'
''Overwhelming peace and prosperity, over the past many decades, has sown the seeds that will lead to rapid erosion in the American way of life. As the United States has not experienced a major national catastrophe in over 146 years, coupled with no significant economic hardships since 1940, the view across the landscape as far as the mind's eye chooses to see is of never-ending affluence and freedom from strife. ''
Have we been free from national catastrophes for 146 years? What about Pearl Harbor, or 9/11? Those things were pretty traumatic for many Americans. Regardless of what we think about the real story behind 9/11, the fact is, it was an event that changed our country in some ways forever, though not perhaps enough. Who would have imagined on, say, September 12, 2001, that 10 years later we would still have wide-open borders, lax immigration policies, and especially more Moslem immigration? The fact that there is still relatively little outcry about these things shows that nothing was learned on 9/11 about multiculturalism, mass immigration, and about the folly of blind 'tolerance.'
As far as our lack of economic hardships, I think more Americans, every day, have the conviction that we are in fact in a depression, and that things may never be as they were even a few years ago. Only this last week I've heard a couple of heartbreaking stories about people in dire economic straits, formerly middle-class people who are now officially homeless, living with relatives or friends, or people with serious illnesses and a bleak future. Most of us are aware that we are in hard times, though as always, there are some who are prospering in spite of (or perhaps profiting from) others' losses.
I don't know what circles Mr. McCann moves in, but there are many people out there who no longer have unbounded confidence in our prosperity or our system. Many people have shed their illusions, however comforting those illusions may have been for a while.
Here is where McCann really loses me:
''The United States is unique among nations because of its founding principles, geography and mix of cultures and races. Those factors enabled the country to overcome a myriad of tribulations in its early years and develop an atmosphere conducive to an overwhelming barrage of creativity, ingenuity and individual advancement. But those days are rapidly receding into the pages of history as the oppressive hand of government, now encroached into the day-to-day lives of all Americans, has nearly made that nation a relic of the past.''
I feel certain my readers will notice that first sentence, and take exception to it. The United States is unique, but not because of its 'mix of cultures and races.' First of all, for the first couple of hundred years, there was little mixture of cultures and races. There was not any large-scale immigration until the 19th century, when various European immigrants began to arrive in large numbers. Even then, most of the immigrants, at first anyway, were of a very compatible type, being closely related to the founding stock.
I should not even have to point this out, but America was a remarkable country before all the immigrants started to arrive in vast numbers. It was remarkable even when it was populated mostly by the descendants of the original colonists, else why would so many of the later arrivals have found this country so attractive, such a desirable destination?
I can't count the number of times I've heard how 'immigrants built America' or 'immigration made this country great' and so on. This might be flattering to the immigrants and their descendants, but flattery is often based on exaggerations or falsehoods, meant to mollify or manipulate.
The fact is America was great because of those who founded it. Later arrivals may have contributed certain non-essential things, but if this country had remained a mostly Anglo-Saxon/northwest European country by origin, it would not have been any less great. In fact, if such had been the case, we would not have many of the problems that plague us so today. We would not have ''political correctness'' stifling our speech, as we strive not to slight someone or hurt delicate feelings. We would not, in fact, likely have the whole cultural Marxist system which is in large part the reason for the overbearing 'big government' apparatus which McCann laments.
If we had no mass immigration (legal as well as illegal) and no wide-open southern 'border', we would have no need for the Patriot Act, and the many encroachments on our freedoms associated with the 'war on terror'.
If we had had no mass immigration from certain countries, we would not be committed to exorbitant amounts of 'foreign aid' doled out to certain countries. Our ties to many nations by virtue of the presence of large numbers of their people living in our country would not be nearly so oppressive and demanding.
And perhaps we would be more inclined to non-intervention, as our Founding Fathers intended for us to be, rather than involving ourselves in many wars to 'bring democracy' to people incapable of it.
Instead of scattering our wealth abroad, we might put it to better use at home, and not be subject to being taxed so onerously to be the world's sugar daddy.
If Americans are in denial, which I've often said we are, as a people, then perhaps the fact that our current multicultural regime requires us to 'live by lies' may have much to do with it. I believe many Americans have learned that they have to acquiesce in a great many lies (all men are equal; there is no such thing as race; gender is irrelevant;America is founded on ideas, not kinship)in order to be accepted, and to get along in this disintegrating society.
I think a great many Americans feel helpless, because they know we can't discuss many things openly in public, so they choose to be silent, keep a low profile, focus on trivial and materialistic things. When the ruling ideology is so all-pervasive, and the propaganda so thoroughly entrenched in media and education,
honest people want to withdraw from it. Denial then becomes a way of life. If we can't go against the monolithic system, then it's better for some people to try to ignore it, and distract themselves, or comfort themselves in some way.
For many people, partisan politics is a way to make believe that things are normal, or at least that we can rectify what is wrong by electing new faces, people of ''our'' party. For many White Americans, party has taken the place of ethnic or racial loyalty. For other, less politically inclined people, sports teams take the place of ethnic or political loyalty.
For many women, their allegiance to their 'sisters' takes precedence over other loyalties.
It's all a game, a distraction, a form of denial.
Yes, there is denial, but until America (and the rest of the Western world) is ready and able to get to the root of our situation, denial will persist, and may be our downfall.
Labels: American Exceptionalism, Cultural Marxism, Multiculturalism, Social Decay