The trouble with the cultural revolution is that its outcomes are never known until the smoke clears. As a nation, we are lumbering through a sea of change with little in the way of principled leadership, no reliable lighthouses, and few safe harbors.
We are floundering in part because we are losing the principle that we are a nation led by the majority while protecting “certain unalienable rights” of the minority, not every right or every whim of culture or preference.
Our country has done more for racial equality than any country in history. Over 650,000 of us died to end slavery and maintain our Union. We paid in blood for the sins of our founding white fathers. Our progress has not been enough for radical progressives in the minority who have turned the cause of racial justice into an anti-white movement in which white people in general, and white leaders for the last 250 years, are the problem. The thinking is that white Americans have to lose for everyone else to win.
We took on and reined in the kind of predatory business monopolies that so decimated American economic life at the beginning of the last century. Business monopolies are corrupt and unfair. A few ultra-wealthy people commandeered our industries and oppressed our working class. We broke up those monopolies and had a spectacularly successful economic turn-around over the next 100 years.
It’s no longer sufficient to be anti-corruption and anti-monopolies. The new progressives and cultural revolutionaries are unapologetically anti-capitalism, led by liberal and radical college professors who now outnumber conservative professors 48 to 1 nationwide in the most recent studies.
Our military and police are the envy of the world, for all their flaws. Our military works for the civilian elected government. Our police uphold the rule of law to the degree that eludes most of the rest of the world. Try getting police protection in Mexico or Russia.
We are no longer focused on rooting out police brutality. Progressive forces across the United States are anti-police and anti-military. This unfortunate turn of events has led to a shocking rise in violent crime that is dominating New Orleans and Chicago and affecting every city.
Our heroes and leaders of the past had clay feet. They were human beings. For all their issues, which were legion, those people who forged our nation got many things right. Just like in every human tale, they did terrible things along the way and supported attitudes and practices that are now abhorrent. They also set the stage for our success. Reactionary forces in the minority now demand that we vilify the Old School for sins real and imagined.
Two old white men are vying to lead us through the current confusion, to bring us safely home, to change our world for the common good. Both are pro-American. Both are wealthy. Champions of capitalism and radicals across the political spectrum support both men.
One is a believer in the majority view that Pax Americana will continue to require strong military and police, a focus on capital creation as the way to pay for change, and an American catechism that includes free speech (including in universities) and specific constitutional rights. He perfectly expressed this view on July 3 in South Dakota.
The other is a champion of the minority attempting to reconcile many competing perspectives and interests. His platform includes more social programs, a subordinate economic relationship with China and Europe, and a weaker and less aggressive military. He wants us all to just get along. A minority of his followers prefer revolution at the expense of the majority. He is pro-abortion and anti-gun.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden are not bad people. They are creatures of our times who perfectly represent all of us. Trump is the Evil from the East, a racist and fascist. Biden is a pandering dolt, a useful idiot who is leading a mob of entitled children in the destruction of our world.
It’s up to all of us to cut through the fog and malarkey and pick our president based on issues and performance, not their all-too-common human flaws. We need to get it right. Our future depends on it.
Frank Carroll
Frank Carroll is managing partner of Professional Forest Management, Pueblo, Colo. He can be contacted at Frank@wildfirepros.com.