• MyFreshWrite
  • Posts
  • Beyond Bullets and Ballots: The American Dichotomy

Beyond Bullets and Ballots: The American Dichotomy

Examining the entwined legacy of violence and freedom in the U.S. and the urgent call for a realignment of values towards respect of life

The American idea of the flower power.

This time, there is only one thing in this bulletin (pun intended): what is happening in the USA today.

Sometimes, when the bullet misses the mark, it is lucky for one but a loss for many.

I am not saying that Trump should have been assassinated – on the contrary. I am also not promoting violence in any form – and indeed not gun violence.

If Trump had been killed, it would have just emptied the hot air balloon of his empty rhetoric and sinister hunger for power. However, the root cause would still be there, waiting for another, even younger and more dangerous Trump to emerge. But now, because it was a miss, the current Trump balloon will grow even bigger. Is that what the people of the USA want? In both cases, everybody loses – their minds and the meaning of it all.

And in the middle of this operatic near miss, some people died again for nothing. They went to listen to a political rally and got shot. Did they want to sacrifice their lives for Trump? Is it that bad that ultimate sacrifice becomes the price the U.S. politicians are willing to pay for power?

I am promoting common sense. It also requires us to look at U.S. history without tainted glasses. It's a history of brutal violence against individuals who don't fit the bill – or who will pay the bill on behalf of the ‘Invisible Hand”. Where Nazism and Communism, in their various formats, use the oppression of the masses, the U.S. ideology uses fear of the individual and the right for individual vendettas as the levers of power. They are the two sides of the same coin: authoritarian rule without true freedom.

In the USA, you are free only if you accept random violence as the price you pay for your right to cut any corner you see fit on your chosen path. In authoritarian countries, you are free only if you accept to travel the paths pawed for you by the system. In both cases, the system is brutal and divided, harassing and threatening those who voice a different opinion.

When Biden and Trump now talk about unity and how this is not America, it is ridiculous. It is precisely America as we have known it for decades. This great hypocrisy is the philosophy of the elite. The talk about unity is smoke in the mirror. Behind that mirror is a divided, ignorant, and easily fooled nation that has a superiority complex second only to Russians.

In their plea for unity, the former and current presidents forget that unity is not a goal but a method. Without a goal, unity is just an empty word like 'our prayers go with the victims'. When there is no common goal or vision for the future that matters to ordinary people, unity is only a camouflaged gang badge of Republicans and Democrats alike. Both parties are on their high horses, riding over people's needs, hopes and dreams for the future.

The sensible thing for Trump and Biden would be to step down together, tell parties it's time for a reset, and get less tainted people to run for president. If these old men had even an inch of respect for life, they would sit down together and say, "Let's end this bloodshed and finally help to create a civilised society."

The USA has been at a crossroads since the civil rights movement became a visible force. It wasn't that long ago when, in the USA, you could own slaves. Decade after decade, they have let the money talk, and bullets do the talking – both internally and overseas.

As long as gun manufacturers have hefty margins and their investors enjoy fat ROIs, whatever these old, senile men do is just puppeteering and takes the focus away from the real problem that divides the country.

The root cause is the lack of respect for the dignity and sanctity of life. Instead, the drivers in the USA are greed, anger, and ignorance. It has created a soil where the weeds of violence, marginalisation and hate bloom.

Only if the vast majority of Americans stop and think through the lenses of compassion, wisdom and courage will there be a bright future for them and for the world.

Malala Yousafzai said it well: "With guns, you can kill terrorists; with education, you can kill terrorism". It is time for U.S. citizens to start educating themselves about the value of life, embrace diversity, and be courageously kind.

It's time for the cowboys to stand down from their high horses and walk with people toward a better tomorrow.

Ngā mihi

Jussi