“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place”. Nobel Prize winner, George Bernard Shaw
America’s political system began its transformation from English Common Law to the mess we call a Democracy back in the country’s infancy, specifically the years 1692 and 1693. It was during these years that over 200 ordinary folks were accused of witchcraft, a still undefined affliction, that led to the hanging of 20 folks, mostly women, out of 30 people who were “convicted” of witchcraft. Countless lives were ruined by these illogical accusations with a number of additional people languishing in prison where some of them died. These aberrations in human behavior were brought about by the Puritan traditions transported to the new land by early European settlers. Out of these trials and early lunacies arose our government, which is essentially intact today. There are parallels to be drawn by this exercise in establishing and maintaining a government and what we are now living through. Let me explain.
In New England, during the witchcraft era, a couple of school aged girls along with a handful of adults who escaped the hangman’s noose by professing to be witches (confess, and you were spared execution) disrupted the Colonies by accusing folks of witchcraft with no scientific evidence to support their contentions. A trial was held by a self appointed judiciary, various testimonies were solicited and if you were not a particularly popular citizen, you ended up riding up a hill outside of town and were slowly strangled to death at the end of a crude noose. The confusing combination of church and state led to the separation of these entities that exists today in our Democracy. It was an exercise in abject hysteria, where facts and evidence had little if any weight. People were swept up in the lunacy of the day, decisions were made and necks stretched as a result.
Enter today’s political environment. (Disclaimer: I love this country and have devoted a great deal of my life to the maintenance of order and the protection of our population.) The same lunacy of early Salem, Massachusetts is on display today. The political system is rift with a sprinkling of honesty, a smattering of facts, and great illusion designed to maintain a hold on power. In Salem this lunacy resulted in the death of innocent people, whereas in America today, it’s is resulting in a remarkable decline in a country that has no worldly equivalent. The issue is not the politicians, rather the people that set aside common sense and clearly evident circumstance to select our leadership based on party affiliation rather than actual performance. We have a President who insists the economy is good, lies about his involvement with a corrupt son, lines his pockets with foreign money, and opens the border to anyone with even a casual interest in escaping their current, abysmal circumstance to come to America where life is good. He is obviously physically and mentally in decline. In spite of this, folks cling to a misguided sense of party loyalty in the face of overwhelming evidence in favor of change, whether it be Democratic or Republican in nature. In 1692 we strangled folks, in 2023 we are strangling a country.
In what civilization could folks be so entrenched in the hysteria of the day they hung their neighbors? The same question can be asked today, hundreds of years later. What would possess persons of normal intelligence, with a vested interest in America, to join the 30% of the population who believe we are being led by a capable individual whose administration is not plagued by failure at every turn? How can a working American believe the economy is doing great when he or she can barely put food on the table? How can a working American believe the border “is secure” when well over 2.4 million people have walked into America with little or no process?
I don’t have the answer to these vexing questions and neither did the people of Salem when they kicked a ladder out from underneath their fellow citizens when rational thought should find the process abhorrent. In another time, folks who succumbed to the lunacy of Salem, walked up the hill and watched a hanging. Clearer heads prevailed and this stupidity was put to an end. Don’t be an observer as the country swings in the wind, like the folks were in Salem when the rope tightened. Instead, be change agent by entering the voting booth with a clear head.
Have a great week.
SR
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