The Cost of Individualism

Anarchists, Communists and other "foreign radicals"

in sinister control of the Bonus March - Money promised to veterans of WWI

I was raised in this place, America, where my forefathers came from Italy to seek a new life, to taste the fruits of freedom made from their own hands, sweat and blood. I learned, since elementary school of the great sacrifice of others, a nation that was born from revolution and ideas of common men, who overthrew a government of entitlement of privilege for a government based on the rule of law.

I remain grateful to have been born an American and more importantly, an individual, with a voice that cannot be suppressed. Not everyone needs to like me or believe what I say, but I assume, without relaying great offense, that what I have to say will be tolerated. I usually reserve what I have to say to my circle of friends and colleagues. I believe in the right to express myself to a larger audience as the need arises. I know I will always be able to think on my own and express myself as an individual on something as solitary or as universal as this blog. There is no need for a response but the link is available for commentary as others see fit. No censure will be imposed by me here…

Anti-rationalism and anti-intellectualism have become the new weights used to balance the pans upon the scales of justice over the course of my adulthood. Some believe Conservatism imposes its values on democracy as the only true path. For others, we are moving toward socialism and communism. Reality is somewhere more at the center of the extremes but centrism is not newsworthy and much less entertaining. There seems to be only one way, one argument that is acceptable. Both the Right- and the Left-leaning media show contempt for, and often belittle, the opposing view. Chatter has become the current word for news and is delivered in sound bytes, Tweets, and Facebook posts. The media has provided us the means to interact with the professional news media and we may be able to see our Twitter contribution flash across the screen. Dystopian Newspeak as described in some detail in George Orwell’s 1984. It is amazing what people will accept as fact and reliable journalistic content. The time is upon us where individuals can share their voice as important commentary, no matter how mundane.

We have been bombarded with news reports recently about all of the new disclosures of “extraordinary interrogations” produced by the usurpers, elected by our free society, using the office of almighty power to become administrators of torture. They abandoned the principles many, my own fathers included, have sacrificed to preserve and have degraded their esteemed office and have tainted our country in the eyes of its many admirers. Since when has our message to the world been so blatant; meet in secret, twist the law to your will and force it down the throats of all societies. I hear the whispers in the streets, “Why does the rest of the world hate us so?" we say to one another in amazement. Did we really believe there would be no consequences as we continue to rail against the Muslim fundamentalists that attacked us after we have invaded and tainted their own soil with their own blood?

The parallels throughout history have been well documented. We soundly condemn ethnic cleansing whenever and wherever it occurs. We deem the crimes perpetrated against humanity during the Inquisition and the Holocaust as the most abhorrent times of our history. Pursuit of racial purity and doctrinal religious imposition at the literal expense and existence of the others has been allowed and often welcomed by societies. There is a complacent understanding that those acting on our behalf do so to save us from the danger and taint of the others and will allow us to preserve both our culture and our very lives. We make an exception to our values for the promise of the greater good. We know the consequences of what is being perpetrated but we remain isolated in our electronic cocoons thinking to ourselves, “I am not responsible”.

Individualism may be understandable and even excusable, but it should not be eternally acceptable. All-white juries have unjustly convicted black defendants in this country. Have we not come to truly embrace the spirit of the Civil Rights Amendment to be part of our collective soul such that a trial cannot be fair unless at least some jurors are the same race as the defendant? This is born of the same idea that those others, who art thou not me, will never understand each other. Maybe the times are truly changing and there is new hope for this melting pot and the proverbial stew from which I received nourishment in my youth. “Si, se puede!” I hear you my brother! Maybe, as Obama has said, “We must be the change we believe in”.

Why should I write of this? Whose deaf ears will my message pass to? I have always believed that, in America, I can criticize my government to my heart's content knowing that there will be no midnight knock at my door. Paranoia remains and I have a sneaking suspicion that at the moment I press the post button on my blog, this message will have already been received, decoded, filtered and registered in the database of criminals of the state. In the meantime, the real criminals of society provide the legal justification that torture is meant to protect us and has provided actionable intelligence. Dick Cheney is on every news show lately justifying what was done and that the ends justified the means. I am reminded of the story in Genesis where Satan temps Eve to eat the apple. Maybe eating the apple is good for us as we were taught that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”.

After all, these are the actions of others against the others. What is the extent I am willing to take responsibility for my own actions? What of holding accountable others as is available to us all via the newly open electronic media? To write takes time and time is a precious commodity. I do not know if I want to sacrifice my time and may let others do the talking for me.

But wait; was there just a knock on my door? On my, I hope it is that package I ordered from Amazon.com that I paid for with my over-extended credit card.