Since March this year, 2012 I have been pretty much on the road non stop through out America. Ultimately I will visit all 48 contiguous states. Hanging out a lot in truck stops and low budget motels, I have had a chance to meet a lot of very interesting people. My mission has been to answer one question, what do Americans really think about the condition of this nation. Eventually the results of my journeys will be available to the general public, but right now, as we approach this upcoming presidential election, I have decided to share some of what I have learned.
It is, of course no surprise to find out that the majority of Americans are really good, decent people just trying to survive difficult times. It is at times difficult to digest all the many ways people perceive the state of our nation and sometimes really surprising to realize how many have very extreme, radical views. It is also a major surprise for me to see how many's views are very regressive and based on little more than revisionist history which many only know in passing, and accept as truth with little or no actual time invested in learning the truth. Most alarming is realizing how successful those who use the "Big Lie Theory", have been and how it has shaped the beliefs of a small but vocal and aggressive number of Americans. The Big Lie Theory, utilized by many throughout history, but most infamously embraced by George Rommel of Hitlers inner circle, is the idea that if you tell really big, outrageous lies and keep repeating them no matter how often they are challenged or debunked, a sizable number of people will believe them and adopt them as unshakable truths. We can cite many examples throughout history in which this ploy was successfully used. Most pertinent to me was the lie that black people lack the intellectual capacity of non white people and therefore could not be taught difficult concepts, a lie I grew up with and spent my life trying to prove wrong. Even after 400 years there are those who still believe this lie is true. Ironically they are often the most intellectually challenged among us themselves. Grasping for straws my mother would say of them.
This past week I stood with a group of long haul truck drivers and we talked about the upcoming elections and who was telling the truth, and who was not. One pleasant surprise has been meeting more and more people who would normally be staunch conservatives, but yet have come to realize that the people who represent themselves as conservative, like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, are not actually conservative, instead using this designation as a smoke screen to get power with the real intent of subjugating the middle class, regardless of political beliefs. But I have also been shocked at the number of people who have been brainwashed into supporting policies that clearly will not benefit them.
Last week during a spirited debate there was one man who aggressively supported the policies of Romney/Ryan. He had earlier told me he had lost everything in a divorce and was living in his truck. Credit trashed and unable to get a manufacturing job like the one he lost when his employer moved the jobs to Asia, he was convinced that his problems were the result of too many people dependent on the government for survival. He took special umbrage at my asserrtion that there was something wrong with attempting to limit the number of people eligible to vote, arguing that the founding fathers never believed in majority rule, that they wanted to limit the right to vote to citizens in good standing who were property owners. He felt we should return to this policy, because he favored making sure Whites remain in control in the face of the nations growing diversity, after all he said, without European influence there would be no America as we knew it. He was totally in denial regarding the fact that he, because he owned no property would not be able to vote insisting that if this were the policy of the land, what happened to him would not have been. He, like a surprising number of others I have met this year have no problem with limiting education, the better jobs, retirement benefits, etc to the privileged few, apparently convinced that this group will include them. They argue the conservative line that this will guarantee stability and promote a strong and prosperous nation.
And the freeloaders will be better off because they will not have to deal with the illusion that they matter.
Maybe they reason, they will even leave.
It is rare when these people outright admit this is what they believe, but it is clear when you listen carefully to what they are saying. As I have said, these people are in the minority, but they are aggressive and growing. And I pray that the rest of us will be diligent in making sure they don't get the America they want. Please vote.
It is, of course no surprise to find out that the majority of Americans are really good, decent people just trying to survive difficult times. It is at times difficult to digest all the many ways people perceive the state of our nation and sometimes really surprising to realize how many have very extreme, radical views. It is also a major surprise for me to see how many's views are very regressive and based on little more than revisionist history which many only know in passing, and accept as truth with little or no actual time invested in learning the truth. Most alarming is realizing how successful those who use the "Big Lie Theory", have been and how it has shaped the beliefs of a small but vocal and aggressive number of Americans. The Big Lie Theory, utilized by many throughout history, but most infamously embraced by George Rommel of Hitlers inner circle, is the idea that if you tell really big, outrageous lies and keep repeating them no matter how often they are challenged or debunked, a sizable number of people will believe them and adopt them as unshakable truths. We can cite many examples throughout history in which this ploy was successfully used. Most pertinent to me was the lie that black people lack the intellectual capacity of non white people and therefore could not be taught difficult concepts, a lie I grew up with and spent my life trying to prove wrong. Even after 400 years there are those who still believe this lie is true. Ironically they are often the most intellectually challenged among us themselves. Grasping for straws my mother would say of them.
This past week I stood with a group of long haul truck drivers and we talked about the upcoming elections and who was telling the truth, and who was not. One pleasant surprise has been meeting more and more people who would normally be staunch conservatives, but yet have come to realize that the people who represent themselves as conservative, like Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, are not actually conservative, instead using this designation as a smoke screen to get power with the real intent of subjugating the middle class, regardless of political beliefs. But I have also been shocked at the number of people who have been brainwashed into supporting policies that clearly will not benefit them.
Last week during a spirited debate there was one man who aggressively supported the policies of Romney/Ryan. He had earlier told me he had lost everything in a divorce and was living in his truck. Credit trashed and unable to get a manufacturing job like the one he lost when his employer moved the jobs to Asia, he was convinced that his problems were the result of too many people dependent on the government for survival. He took special umbrage at my asserrtion that there was something wrong with attempting to limit the number of people eligible to vote, arguing that the founding fathers never believed in majority rule, that they wanted to limit the right to vote to citizens in good standing who were property owners. He felt we should return to this policy, because he favored making sure Whites remain in control in the face of the nations growing diversity, after all he said, without European influence there would be no America as we knew it. He was totally in denial regarding the fact that he, because he owned no property would not be able to vote insisting that if this were the policy of the land, what happened to him would not have been. He, like a surprising number of others I have met this year have no problem with limiting education, the better jobs, retirement benefits, etc to the privileged few, apparently convinced that this group will include them. They argue the conservative line that this will guarantee stability and promote a strong and prosperous nation.
And the freeloaders will be better off because they will not have to deal with the illusion that they matter.
Maybe they reason, they will even leave.
It is rare when these people outright admit this is what they believe, but it is clear when you listen carefully to what they are saying. As I have said, these people are in the minority, but they are aggressive and growing. And I pray that the rest of us will be diligent in making sure they don't get the America they want. Please vote.
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