When Bobby Kennedy ran for President, he was asked what he thought America’s greatest threat was. At the time, in the midst of the Cold War, the greatest perceived threat was the Soviet Union. I am paraphrasing, but his response was this: our greatest threat was not from outside the United States, but from within. Our survival as a great nation was more at risk because of what was going on internally rather than externally. The war in Vietnam, Civil Rights and numerous other issues were tearing this country apart. There is little dispute that we are again a nation fraught with internal division and pressures. Yes, they threaten our survival as a country. History has shown many great societies have fallen because of problems not from without, but from within. It happened to the Roman Empire. It happened to the British Empire. All the while, their citizens were unaware the problems from within were leading to the downfall of their societies. It need not happen to us. But it could if we do not take notice and take action.
I see protests on TV. I understand and support peaceful protest. Peaceful protest brought about some of the changes that helped make this country better, namely Civl RIghts in the 1960s. We still have a ways to go with racial tolerance in this country, but it is better than it was, largely because of changes brought on through peaceful protests. While there are few, if any, acts of physical violence or destruction during some of today’s anti-Obama protests and rallies, I challenge the notion that they are actually peaceful. I see signs with swastikas. I see images of our president as Adolph Hitler. I hear comparisons to fascist regimes. “Peaceful protest” means more than a lack of physical violence. It means an expression of ideas in a way that is thoughtful, informed and aims to bring about positive change.
Many of the protestors I see on TV fear that our government is violating the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I believe we are lead by a government that is of the people, by the people and for the people. There is no “them” and “us.” “They” are “us” and “we” are “them.” Our government in Washington is not some sort of monarchy that has been in place for eons that we must purge ourselves of by any means necessary. If any individual or group is unsatisfied with government on a local, state or federal level, it is clearly their right to voice their opinions and concerns. My concern is the lack of responsibility shown with these horrifying images and words that are disproportionate to the situation at hand.
No government is above questioning and challenging. Protests are not out of the question. But the kind of protests I keep seeing serve more to divide rather than unite, to produce further beliefs in “us” and “them” within our own nation. What do I propose? Nothing new. Understanding that if you are dissatisfied with your government the answer is not found with incendiary images and words. It is instead with reasoned debate and discussion among a well-informed populace and participation in the voting process (which is still woefully ignored).
Again, as in many issues, the cause is often ignorance. The remedy is always education. Clearly, if people associate images of Hitler and Nazi symbols along with of our President, there is a lack of understanding and knowledge. There is a lack of knowledge of what swastikas and other Nazi imagery means. There is a lack of understanding of what our President has said and stands for. A person calling the president a “Fascist” shows not that he is one, but rather the person making the accusation does not know what a Fascist is. Knowledge, information and education wielded in a compassionate matter is the remedy to cure such ignorance.
I started this article stating that we need to take notice and take action. I hope by now you have taken notice. What about action? I always like to end on a positive note. Fortunately, all of the remedies to our nation’s internal problems are positive and healthy things unto themselves: being well informed, engaging in thoughtful debate, educating oneself, bettering our education system for our young people, voting, working to end intolerance brought upon by ignorance, being more compassionate. All of these things serve to help us grow as individuals and as a nation. The key is now to go beyond reading about them or thinking about them or talking about them. The key is to do them.