Forum Post: How Uncertain Is The Future For America?

Is America in some kind of a "Last Days Of The Empire" syndrome or are we on the verge of some kind of "New Revolution" as indicated by some on the Tea Party side of politics?

Will a new and aggressive form of Conservatism finally be successful in completely dismantling all our traditions and institutions and supplanting them with some kind of Religious-based Theocratism?

There are all these voices out there and, in my opinion, most of them seem to be coming from the Extreme Right and they are all screaming about how the government has gotten so invasive and overbearing that they are tired of it and want something done about it.

It seems that a lot of Conservatism's complaint is based on some vague idea that Americans are, somehow, taxed without representation.

Some of their complaints seem to stem from some notion that Liberals are lurking in the background ready to pounce on them and take away their precious armories of guns and ammunition. I have never encountered such paranoia in all my 73 years and I simply cannot understand where it is coming from.

Some of those afflicted with Conservatism are saying that their religious belief systems are under Liberal attack and that, in a nutshell, Liberals are somehow intent on tramping all their Constitutionally-Guaranteed rights into the dust.

What I have been seeing lately seems to counter all those arguments and kind of turn them around. What I have been seeing is people getting their skulls whacked by police night sticks for marching against what they perceive as the excesses of Conservatism. This, of course, would be the Occupy Wall Street Movement---a movement that many people consider as some of the Mainstream citizens trying to make their voices heard in the midst of their pain and anguish.

I have seen absolutely no evidence that the government or the Liberals or anyone else is doing anything to curtail religious freedoms for anybody-- and most especially those who embrace Conservatism.

Some of the whiners and complainers that I have been reading and listening to are saying things like, "The Constitution of The United States nowhere guarantees citizens the right to a job or a home or to health care or to the ownership of property or any similar guarantees."

I perfectly agree with these people when they remind me of these things. The Constitution does not indeed guarantee any of those things. But here is a kicker that the complainers and the dissidents of Conservatism fail to understand or are too blind to see: While the Constitution does not "Guarantee" those things, it certainly does not "Forbid" them either. If the citizen's want those things and they elect representatives to go to Washington and fight for those things, there is nothing in the Constitution that says they cannot get laws passed and obtain those things either.

So, I don't understand Conservatism's argument on that point. In fact, I think it is a non-starter as a valid argument.

The desire of a compassionate society to work toward having their government help it's citizens gain the good things of life is not some kind of "Communism or Marxism or Socialism" as some on the Conservative Extreme would have us believe. What that desire represents is a government that cares about the people who elected it and who trust it to help them in the tough times. That represents people working to help people. And, isn't that what a "Democracy" is supposed to be about?

"Rugged Individualism and Self Sufficiency are good to a point, but when the chips are down and the needs are widespread and great, Christianity is better served by a government that is willing to extend a helping hand than one that condemns and oppresses the needy because of some perceived failing or fault on their part.

Conservatism has this mantra that says something to the effect, "If a person works hard and earns, then that person is guaranteed to succeed."

Well, folks, that is not always the case.

In some cases, there are whole groups of people, (The Middle Class as an example) who work their fingers to the bone for years only to see Conservatism come along and dissolve their unions and send their work to foreign shores so some favored corporate entities and the very wealthiest 1% can get fatter and richer on the backs of American Labor.

So that fantasy that Conservatism likes to lay out about how "Hard Work Makes One Successful" sounds to me a lot like "Hard Work Makes One Free." And the "Hard Work Makes One Free" slogan is the one that was over the main gates of forced labor camps in years gone by and I don't even want to go there with this article.

I just happen to believe that the mentality that produced unfortunate conditions for the poor and the working classes before in History is the same kind of mentality that must be driving some of this modern Conservatist Greed and Middle Class oppression, that's all! And that opinion is strictly my own.

I don't think America is in Her period of "Decline," but I believe that if voters don't wake up to the agendas of Contemporary Activist Conservatism, She may well be brought to that point very soon.

I am pleased to see that there is a silent and peaceful Revolution going on with The Occupy Wall Street People now. They, at least, have begun to see what is going on and what is at stake. They, at least, are willing to march and to sound the call to voter action at the polls and in the Democratic Process.

Maybe there will be a better tomorrow after all.

We will see.

But I do not believe for a minute that the "Better" future is anywhere near to being exclusively in the hands of Conservatism.

By John Liming - The Jefferson Tree http://www.thejeffersontree.com/how-uncertain-is-the-future-for-america/