The Finish Line February Edition

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We are often a nation of whiners. When we should be grateful for what we seem determined to throw away, we get together with our friends and play “ain’t it awful.” But, to give us our due, there’s no denying that this country is in a very serious and precarious position. That said, our national reality can be viewed, indeed, as awful. As Stanford fellow and historian Victor Davis Hanson pointed out in The Daily Signal, there are 10 things that could destroy the US. These are happening now. They are done with intention and impose a long-lasting impact on the country as a whole that may take years (if not a generation or two) to reverse. However, considering the overarching impact on the country as a whole is somewhat disingenuous because it allows us to divorce ourselves from the urgency of the situation. We can rely on venting our fears over the back fence, in the coffee shop, or in the breakroom at work. (Again, “ain’t it awful?”) This venting removes the pressure and slithering fear we might feel but it does not change reality – because big things like these trickle down. First, here’s Hanson’s list – 10 steps to destruction – in a nutshell (with my paraphrasing). Step 1. Destroy America’s energy independence. Step 2. Promote a manipulative monetary policy. Step 3. Devalue America’s physical boundaries. Step 4. Create balloting systems that are impossible to verify. Step 5. Subvert the criminal justice system by refusing to prosecute. Step 6. Create and support the proliferation of identity politics. Step 7. Present an international image of weakness. Step 8. Render the First Amendment impotent. Step 9. Demonize your opponents in order to divide the country. Step 10. Perpetuate the various lies and cover-ups related to the COVID virus. To take this further, let’s consider some ways that these items in Hanson’s list influence our lives. Energy Independence (Dependence) The rapid destruction of our energy independence cannot be over-vilified. This was accomplished in record time by blocking or shutting off pipelines, cancelling production, demonizing coal and nuclear power, and depleting our strategic reserves. We saw the impact right away in 2021…gas prices were up 59%. This increase hits us at the pump, raises the cost of all goods and services, and increases utility costs. Everything is connected and we pay the freight. Manipulative Monetary Policy The government continued to send COVID-19 subsidies. It kept interest rates low while prices were climbing, and publicly demonized the rich. The lowered interest rates means little return on savings accounts and less money available for investment. The continued flow of COVID subsidies helped to generate a reduced incentive to work. ‘Quiet Quitting,’ the practice of doing just enough on the job to get by, has the impact of lowering productivity, reducing revenues, and ultimately increasing layoffs. While demonizing the rich is a great way to create and fuel class envy and division, it also creates a distrust of individual and business success. As a country we are built on the foundation of hard work and upward mobility. Everyone has a chance to create their future. Do we want our children to shy away from being as successful as they can because they fear the distrust of others? We have to encourage them
to ignore the negative and keep working. Devaluing Physical Boundaries A country without a border is not a country because it has no line to protect, no way to refuse entry, no way to evaluate who or what comes in. Such an entity rapidly loses its reason for being. The United States daily faces illegal incursions on both the northern and southern borders, the sheer numbers of which can overwhelm border security. As a result, drugs and human trafficking are up substantially, Fentanyl deaths are up, crime is up, schools and welfare programs in some areas are swamped, and US citizenship itself has been devalued. The dream of belonging to a larger idea that is America is rapidly fading away. We need protected and enforceable borders. Fallacious Balloting Systems State governments have allowed the proliferation of balloting systems that are virtually impossible to certify, and label anyone who questions this practice as an election denier. Never mind that almost every election, regardless of who wins, is challenged by the opposing party. But the vicious vilifying of those who challenge goes a step beyond. Such vilification accompanied by ballots that cannot be authentically certified erodes the trust in our elections, and makes it easy for monied forces to impact the outcome. It also creates election disinterest because these changes in balloting can be made without legislation being passed by Congress or by state legislatures. If these changes can be made without citizen input through our elected officials, why bother to vote? The ability to have a voice in one’s government through the voting process is one hallmark of a free democratic republic or democracy. We must protect it. Subversion of the Law While crime is up, especially in major cities, prosecution is down. Partly this is the result of the movement to redefine crime when committed by someone in poverty as a person taking what is needed, therefore it is not really a crime. If a person of means were to do the same thing it would be a crime. So apparently whether or not something is a crime depends on the size of your bank account. We all feel the impact of this misguided policy – increased crime, decreased enforcement of and respect for criminal laws, prosecutors who release repeat offenders, and lower morale among those charged with enforcing the law. Any one of us could be the victim of a crime which law enforcement could ultimately decide not to pursue because there’s no point. When this becomes reality everywhere, no one is safe and “to protect and serve” has definitely lost its meaning. Promoting Identity Politics One term that has often been used to describe America is that of a melting pot. No matter the color of our skin, our religion, our ethnic ancestry, or country of origin we are Americans. But that picture of America does not help the politicians. When we are all joined by shared values and ideals, we are not vulnerable to the encouragement to be a victim and thus have no value to those who need class envy and division for control. Unfortunately the position of victim is seductive. As a victim we have a tribe…all of whom are victims. Victims need help and preferential treatment…and tribes compete for those things with each other in various ways…often on YouTube or TikTok. Whatever the basis for the victim identity, the result is a lack of cohesive national identity, and an increase in envy and division. When these attitudes prevail it is nearly impossible to do anything
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The Finish Line February Edition

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