What Happened to US?

by Groff Schroeder

More than two hundred years ago, We the People created a democratic republic, the United States of America (US), founded upon the Enlightenment ideas of democracy, secularism, separation of powers and human freedom. Thousands of Americans fought, suffered and died in the Revolutionary War – and many wars thereafter – establishing and protecting the US Constitution and the civil, human and political freedoms its Amendments define.

Sixty years ago, we were anything but divided. We had just helped to win the Second World War (in which many millions died) and were just starting a new “cold” war that would threaten earth with mutually assured destruction (MAD) for more than forty years. We were proud Americans – happy to endure any sacrifice (including paying taxes) supporting our democratic republic, our armed forces, our fellow citizens and our way of life.

We thought of ourselves as “one nation, indivisible,” until 1954. In the 70's, many of us were still “proud US taxpayers” – even as Nixon’s “PACs” opened doors to political “donations.” By 1980, we wanted government “off our back,” (apparently unaware it would move into our pants).

Rather than an integral part of America’s “E Pluribus Unum” (from many one), today’s Americans often label themselves as “left” or “right” – and dare not converse with each other about issues critically important to our freedoms. The friendly debates about political or religious issues that once forged common ground and mutual respect have become ideological, rigid, uncomfortable and unproductive.

The American People appear to have become so thoroughly and extensively divided that when a single person with a gun entered sequential classrooms on the Virginia Tech Campus, systematically killing people one by one there appears to be no evidence that the victims even tried to work together. Did they all think of themselves as individuals so much (or as members of their label groups) that it never occurred to them they could work together to save at least some of their lives by overpowering the shooter as a group?

How can We the People be so easily turned against our fellow citizens – and why do so many appear to have applied the (often highly effective) strategies of “divide and conquer” against their own nation? How can a person paid by the National Rifle Association become the Washington lobbyist for the States United to Prevent Gun Violence? If there are paid “moles” inside citizen’s lobbying groups, how can we be sure similar shills (secretly paid to work against the goals of a group from within) do not receive salaries from America’s media giants - or the United States Congress?

When did the We the People of the United States of America stop seeing our fellow citizens as “us,” and when did we stop asking what we could do for our country and start asking what can the country do for me (or my special interest group)? How much longer can American’s expect the United States of America to cater to narrow interpretations of rigid political ideologies at the expense of the common good?

Until American citizens again become “We the People” - dedicated to our Constitution, government, nation and fellow citizens, the United States will remain unable to implement proven solutions to imminent economic, health care and military crises; corruption, debt, overpopulation, pollution and prisons will continue to expand; and our children’s future’s will be much less free, healthy and rich than our own.

What Happened to US? - by Groff Schroeder: November 2008