That would be John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
I have always found it interesting that these two giants of our country’s founding died on the same day and within hours of each other. If ever you want to look to events that portended the future this has to grab you around the throat and say, “Yes. Destiny ruled there.”
Both had their strengths and both had their weaknesses. But it is not my intent to do what hundreds of historians have done and try to add some new small or large fact to the store of facts we have about them. Instead I just note that despite their different upbringing and their different life styles and their on and off friendships in the end they came together.
“Out of many, one.”
That sounds good but actually the Native Americans took the land from other "more Native" Americans. Countries belong to people who are willing to take and hold the land from new groups coming forward. Our society has been unique in that we have been a melting pot for Europeans with a sprinkling of other groups.
That was the secret. The vast majority of the groups had some things in common. Christianity, freedom of speech, limitations on what the rulers could do come to mind. And even with that we had problems from the start. The South had slaves, the North had manufacturing. The new lands needed settlers the old rejected the ghettos of the new arrivals.
Yet despite a Civil War and the hatred that a botched “Reconstruction” brought, we worked our way forward and built an American Culture that defeated Nazism and Communism and, finally, rejected racism and sexism. And at the same time our economy flourished and our standard of living became the envy of the world.
But a culture that demanded assimilation of the new arrivals and rejected identity politics came under attack by people who thought socialism better and communism best. It should go without saying that the people at the fore front of these activities were members of the “chattering class.” Those people who, supported largely by first the state itself but also by “Daddy’s Money” used the time free from having to do useful things to breed a hatred for the country and those who led more mundane lives of military, school, marriage, work, family, children and retirement.
And, as part of the self hatred that the Left brought a new politically correct norm was born. “Diversity” became the buzz word. Instead of celebrating togetherness we are supposed to celebrate the differences. Instead of doing “good” for the group, we are supposed to have “groups” that are all equally good. Group politics replaced national politics and elected representatives are replaced in many places by self appointed “spokesmen.”And instead of being stout defenders of the best system of government and the best country in history our media has become water bearers for those who claim that there is no right or wrong.
All is morally equal. No one is to judge.
Into this cesspool we have been flooded by illegal and legal immigrants. And since all must be equal we change the rules to say that we need more uneducated immigrants and that they can bring their extended families with them. Reagan supposedly worked out a deal to stop this but all it did was multiply the problem. In addition to the millions of legal immigrants we have about 13 million illegal aliens.
In the past we needed unskilled labor and had vacant land that needed settling. That is no longer true. We have run out of land and have almost no demand for unskilled labor. That means a long period of government support for the immigrants and low economic success.
What is worse is that "diversity" is used as an excuse for some immigrants to remain separate. In the long run this will be a problem. We should encourage the new arrivals to adapt to our culture. That would include language, dress and all other aspects of our culture.
Failure to do this, as we see in Europe, leads to a failure to assimilate which leads to unrest and political upheaval.
We need to help the ones who are here. We need to quit accepting new ones. We need to arrest and deport the ones here illegally.
If we do not do this America will not survive.
Partially published in the Tennessean.
OnTwitter I am Lesabre1 "Unlimited tolerance must lead to the disappearance of tolerance. If we extend unlimited tolerance even to those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed, and tolerance with them." - Karl Popper
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt
"Logic. There is little logic among the cultural elite, maybe because there is little omnipresent fear of job losses or the absence of money, and so arises a rather comfortable margin to indulge in nonsense." - Victor Davis Hanson
