Its time Americans remembered who we really are — that we once again embrace our core strengths and get back to being the unified, cohesive country we had become.
America is divided and its really our own fault. I say this because the American people let themselves be divided by allowing politicians to vilify their opponents and never really telling us why they feel they are more qualified. We allowed these unscrupulous politicians to manufacture fear and paranoia and through the news media and social media, we sit glued to the screen, consuming their lies with gusto, turning ourselves into rageaholics.
We also let our foreign adversaries divide us — make no mistake, they are, every single day, spreading lies, fear, paranoia and rage and we are falling for it. They are relentless in their propaganda and drive to divide us. Ever read those replies to “news” stories in the comment section? The fact is, just like they do on social media, our foreign adversaries are posting bogus comments designed to make us angry and to hate our fellow Americans (this is all fact you will discover by researching it).
Can we ever get back to the days in which we were truly united? Read this great op-ed from the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei (“News of the Day”), which was written by a Mr. Cornel Nistorescu right after the 9/11 attacks, appearing under the title, “C’ntarea Americii”, which translates to “Ode ToAmerica:”‘
An Ode to America
Why are Americans so united? They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.
On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about.
Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand.
After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: ‘God Bless America !’
I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people.
How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy. What on earth unites the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I reached but only one conclusion… Only freedom can work such miracles.
Cornel Nistorescu
Eleanor Roosevelt once said “no one can make us feel inferior without our consent.” The same is true for being negative and divided — if we let ourselves be dragged into the lies, manufactured chaos, hysteria and negativity, we have no one to blame but ourselves. The fact is, we have allowed ourselves to become rabidily obsessed with politics and it has permeated every facet of our life. The very people in the political “game,” want us to be mindless drones, consumed with anger and fear, so we will cast our vote for them. We do this again and again, despite the fact that over and over again, they never fix the problems they promise to, because most were over-blown and manufactured to get make us scared…and thus, vote for them.
Re-united
Are we still united? I have my doubts at this time. The division is something each American has to work to close — when we fall for the manufactured hysteria and lies being told by our political leaders and foreign adversaries, we’re part of the problem. We have to get back to who we have always been as a nation, and that includes:
·Remembering that no one politician can solve all problems and no politician ever has.
·Holding our political leaders accountable. We need to remind them that if they want our vote, they need to tell us what they’ve accomplished and why they deserve our vote — we need to tell them that a campaign run solely on creating fear, spreading lies and vilifying their opponent, is not acceptable.
·Easing up on news consumption. Americans have become obsessed with the news and it shows. 24 x 7 news media is toxic, because its run by greedy companies who only want views and clicks — they do not care how they get it. And, have you noticed that our nation’s news media focuses less and less on news and now almost exclusively on politics? That is a major problem and we helped to create it. Turn off the news.
·Recognize that not every source is created equal. Anyone who gets any of their news from social media, is very unwise. Anyone who shares lies and BS news across social media, even if only in the form of a meme, is part of the problem and contributing to the divide.
·Realize that our adversaries are on social media. They’re commenting on threads. Their sole goal? To create hysteria, stir anger and, divide us. Take those comments with a grain of salt, because many are bogus and made in a city thousands of miles across the globe.
·Be tolerant. The fact is, we have always been a diverse, multi-cultural country and that has worked very well for us for hundreds of years, so why would we think it no longer does? America is diverse and dynamic and that has always been our core strength.
I hope one day soon, we will return to a state of unity. I have faith we can, but it really will take every one of us making the effort. If you have children, consider the world we’re creating for them — do we want them to have a future in a strong, united nation? Then its worth the effort to help ensure that future now.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.” – George Washington
“The spirit of party opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.” – George Washington
