Most Americans simply want to live their lives in peace, free from the political strife and turmoil that blankets the airways and social media. I admit that I’m one of them and that I’m not very successful at it these days. Each day, I do myself the favor of finding some time to turn away from the frustration caused by what I can only describe as a national identity crisis.
Americans are at war with each other over who we are and who we should become. At one extreme, there are those who long for simpler days when wealthy white men enjoyed the power of a democratic republic, and the fruits of capitalism were reserved for them. These people, including presidential candidates Trump, DeSantis, and Ramaswamy seek a future where poor people of color are essentially stripped of their voting rights, exploited for cheap labor, and women returned to the essential role of wife and mother. In their ideal country, faith in their God supersedes science, actual history is obscure, there are strictly two genders, LGBTQ folks will return to the closet they will build for them, and only wealthy Christian immigrants (preferably white) are welcome. This is Christian Nationalism at its core. On the other extreme, are the WOKE activists, regulators of capitalism, and socialists.
In this country, socialism and communism conjures up all kinds of fears in many people. Extremists among conservatives quickly label those who disagree with them as either a socialist or less commonly, a communist. But few people actually know what socialism and communism are. A quick search reveals that socialism is a system where the means of production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively. Communism is a system of holding all property in common based on Marxism to create a classless society where all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state.
The reality is that there are very few socialists and even fewer communists among us. However, there are several systems in our country that are socialized. For example, our military, our public schools, our fire and police departments, our bridges and highways, national disaster relief, and public parks. These are systems wherein the production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively. They are paid for by our tax dollars and controlled by elected officials and government agencies on our behalf. There are many people in this country who believe that socialized healthcare, called “Universal Healthcare” should be added to the list beyond Medicare and Medicaid. All these “socialist” systems fit within the preamble to the Constitution which tasks the government to “provide for common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” In our democratic republic, the decision to add universal healthcare to the list would be determined by the representatives that we the people vote into office. It is ultimately up to us to decide. But at this moment, the fight is over the continued existence of democracy itself.
The actual frontline fighters in the current national identity war are the Christian Nationalists and the WOKE activists. WOKE activists believe in making it easier for citizens to vote while Christian Nationalists seek to curtail access to the ballad box and to limit the power of certain votes. WOKE activists embrace the aspiration of the Constitution to provide equal justice under the law, while Christian Nationalists favor some people over others. WOKE activists insist upon the civil liberties found in the Bill of Rights with practical safeguards and limitations while Christian Nationalists believe these rights are absolute even if they harm others. Both WOKE activists and Christian Nationalists view the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness clause found in our Declaration of Independence as their driving force. However, Christian Nationalists interpret it to mean they can freely bully and discriminate against others.
In pursuit of WOKE ideals, we had a civil rights movement which forced legal compliance to end discrimination. That was followed by diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. At their core, these are an effort to capture the hearts and minds of all Americans by building an appreciation for the diversity that exists within the country and to honor the rich histories, contributions, perspectives, and values everyone has to offer. Equity is an attempt to remove remaining systems that hinder the equal access to opportunity for economic and social progress among previously excluded groups. And inclusion is an effort to bring historically excluded people and perspectives into spaces of prominence, power and decision making. These core principles gave birth to the Black Lives Matter Movement to which White Christian Nationalists responded with copycat marches from Nazi-Germany.
I am grateful to live in a democratic republic. In our form of government, power is exercised by the people through their elected representatives. For now, we have the right to protest, to petition our government, and to vote and have our votes counted. Our democracy is characterized by the equality of rights and privileges among citizens. And herein lies the problem for Christian nationalists. Their view of what America should be is increasingly a minority view and they afraid of losing power. The election of Barack Obama and the subsequent backlash represented by Donald Trump signals the beginning of our current struggle.
I see how mentally disruptive it is for a person who believes white people are superior to see people of color excel academically, professionally, politically, and creatively. It must be abhorrent to religious folks to witness gay pride parades, gay marriage, drag shows, and transgender folks in the public square. It must be horrible to imagine women making a frivolous choice to abort a baby when you believe it is murder. It must be hard to have a female boss, especially if she is a woman of color. It must be frustrating to compete for college admission or employment with all these women and people of color when in your mind they aren’t nearly as qualified as you because you are white and male. It must be disgusting to watch females flaunt their bodies in sexually explicit ways and demand sexual fulfillment as an empowered woman who no longer relies on a man. These are societal changes that democracy enabled, and these unsettling changes are why many on the far right are willing to discard democracy.
The exercising of civil liberties among people who do not share their religious values or beliefs is so terrifying to them that in their quest to persuade voters to vote Republican, some are pushing a false narrative that abortion is legal up to the time of birth, that the southern border is wide open and dangerous people are coming in, that teachers are indoctrinating children to become gay or transgender when in fact they are helping to end the bullying caused by bigotry. In their zeal to win voter support, some have gone so far as to push false accusations that democrats are pedophiles, groomers, and baby killers.
The reality is that no one is stopping the religious right from exercising their religion. It is just that WOKE activists contend that others should not be forced to abide by the religious beliefs of others. For example, if a religious person doesn’t believe in gay marriage, they shouldn’t get gay married or attend gay weddings. If someone believes abortion is murder, they don’t have to have abortions. The problem is that these choices aren’t something the far right wants to embrace. A few are seeking to roll back the Constitution and the rule of law to get their way. The road to fascism is before us.
Fascism is a totalitarian governmental system lead by a dictator with an emphasis on nationalism, militarism, and often racism. The warning signs are easy to detect. Look for book bans to limit knowledge and perspectives. Look for an attack on the free press to suppress investigations and factual information. Look for anti-intellectualism. Look for the cult of personality. Look for the amassing of guns to enforce their will through violence. Look for the scapegoating of groups as the cause of problems. Look for the paranoia that says a good way of life is being threatened by outsiders.
This next election will determine whether we will maintain our current freedoms as a democratic republic or slide further down the road toward fascism lead by Christian Nationalists.