When hatred rules a nation, the end result is never good

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The United States of America is on a collision course with destiny. This is a fact that I believe all Americans can agree on. The problem with that statement is that ideological adversaries are meeting this date with destiny in what will most likely be a wreck before it’s over. The underlying cause is simply that America is more polarized now than it has ever been, with two groups of individuals absolutely convinced that their vision of what America will become, is correct.

On the one hand there is a group of individuals who have been awakened to the reality that the foundation of this Constitutional Republic is in jeopardy. Some believe it is because they are certain that President Obama is a socialist on a mission to turn us into the USSA.

On the other hand there is a group of individuals who are quite certain that we are at the cusp of redefining the American dream through a new brand of social democracy. Some believe that it is because they are certain that President Obama has a mandate of change, and that it is a change that most Americans want.

Both groups are correct, but neither is entirely right.

This nation was originally founded by the blood of patriots who, tired of tyranny and oppression by a monarch in another continent, took it upon themselves to try something that did not exist in that day and age… A government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Although most Americans believe that we are the worst government on the planet, besides all the others of course, but again… for different reasons.

For those on the political left the reason is that we have become a nation of hyper-capitalists who project our ideals of freedom and material wealth on a planet that doesn’t want what we have to offer. They are the blame America first crowd, and see almost everything colored in shades of “it’s all Bush’s fault”. The hatred coming from this group runs very deep, and they seem unable to shake off the anger penned up inside after losing two straight elections they were certain they should have won.

For those on the political right the reason is that we have become a nation that has abandoned it’s conservative principles, weakened by political compromise over the decades since Reagan. They are the angry white men clinging to God and their guns, and they too are angry. Angry at the world for turning their backs on us post 9/11, and angry at the political left for turning their backs on us post 9/11. The hatred from this group doesn’t run quite as deep as that of the political left, but it is growing with every single act of Congress and change coming from the Obama Administration.

It is impossible to not see the danger that we face as a nation if one only takes the time to step back watch the gathering storm. It is possible that we can and will avert the collision that seems to be more a matter of when than if, but I for one aren’t very optimistic that this will happen.

The most likely outcome will be that neither the political left nor the political right can or will successfully gather enough support to drown out the voice of opposition, and the result will be continued tension until something gives. We’ve seen this before, and the end result of that encounter with destiny was the American Civil War.

We use terms like red states and blue states, neo-cons and neo-coms, but it has been a long time since we used language such as “we’re all Americans fighting for the same cause”.  The problem in 2009 is that we are a nation divided, and our only hope to avoid the inevitable struggle and everything that falls out of that particular tree, is either for one side to win or for all of us to agree.

We drifted a long way from the vision of a federal government that served the governed by consent with the single purpose of securing liberty for one and all, and unless we can find that spirit of Americanism where we are united states with very different visions who rally around freedom itself, rather than winning the argument. We’ve been here before, and the end result was devastating.