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I consider myself a realist.
I am a voracious reader of news from sources across the political spectrum. I take seriously my responsibility as a citizen to ferret out the differences between facts and fake news.
I am also a lifelong Republican. Yet, I believe that no one has a lock on all that is true. I try to take into account the many points of view from varied constituencies.
Today I am beginning to see a trend that none of us ever thought could be taking hold in our beloved country.
We are treading dangerously close to relinquishing our freedoms in the name of some supposed higher good. The cause of this is not some foreign power taking control of our government. Rather it is resulting from the continuing changes in our own expectations and attitudes.
Over the last few years, some of us have come to accept what might be called the big lie… that America is being overrun by liberals, blacks, immigrants, welfare cheats, rapists and murderers from Mexico, Muslims and foreigners out to get us.
The more voracious the rhetoric spewing from the White House, Breitbart, the Dodge Report, false prophets and others, the greater the concern to save America from these alleged threats. And the more we are willing to give up to do so.
This is not the first time in history that a scenario like this has played out.
For those who studied antiquities, there was Rome.
Rome fell for a number of reasons, not least of which was the destruction of civic pride by a sequence of self-serving and self-dealing emperors. The Roman Senate did not act against these emperors due to its own corruption and incompetence. All of this resulted in a lack of faith in their own government by Roman citizens, who were then easily misled and manipulated by unscrupulous leadership.
There was Germany, Adolf Hitler and its cult of leadership.
Hitler established the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. He proved that controlling information was as important as controlling the military and the economy. When Hitler appointed Josef Goebbels to direct this department, Goebbels’s strategy was simply this. “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
Hitler and Goebbels were able to penetrate every sector of German society – from film, radio, posters, and rallies to school textbooks – with Hitler’s ideas about the dominance of the white Aryan people and the threat posed by the Jews, cripples, foreigners and other undesirables.
Today there is North Korea and its virtual worship of Kim Jong Un.
Because of Kim Jong Un and his minions, the world teeters on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe. Yet, there is Kim Jong Un and no working solution. Destroying North Korea has disastrous consequences for our allies in the region and our Navy and troops stationed nearby. It could also ignite a war we cannot win with a powerful China. On the other hand doing nothing exposes our nation to the whims of a crazy god-king. Building a partnership with China to avoid nuclear war is the only plausible way out. Yet the rhetoric from the White House dampens even this solution.
And there is our America and our continuing forgiveness of a President, who is less than truthful, degrades women, is accused over and over again of being a pedophile, demonstrates little empathy and rarely acts as President of all of our citizens.
We have seen overarching self-serving and self-dealing in American politics before – particularly during the 1920’s and 1930’s – 100 years ago – when we Americans faced some of the same issues we face today.
In fact during his first inaugural speech on March 4, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt strongly spoke against the wrong-headedness of self-dealing leadership, hatred toward others and the ability of these things to rot a people from within. During his inaugural address he admonished those who, for their own selfish and profit-making purposes, pushed fear for the future.
President Roosevelt addressed us Americans, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is…fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”
Roosevelt was addressing the economic crisis of his time. He spoke of restoring social values that he considered more important than monetary profit alone. He believed that success was to be evaluated based on a higher standard that included personal responsibility, care for fellow human beings, and honesty in business and government. He felt that the trust bestowed on him by his election to the Presidency of the United States was sacred, and that there was no room for callousness and self dealing.
Sometimes the path to the future is through the past.
And sometimes silence, acceptance and faith that this too will pass is not the answer.
Bill Gindlesperger is a central Pennsylvanian, Dickinson College graduate, Pennsylvania System Of Higher Education (PASSHE) Governor, former Shippensburg University Trustee, awarded numerous patents, as well as Founder and Chairman of eLynxx Solutions. eLynxx provides cloud-software for automated sourcing and managing of mail marketing, swag, packaging, and all things print. He is a board member, campaign advisor, successful entrepreneur,
published author and commentator. He can be reached at Bill.Gindlesperger@eLynxx.com.
