Hate in America is all-consuming
America is consuming itself with hate.
It’s everywhere. White supremacist groups hate liberals, people of color and LGBT. Progressives hate uneducated white rural people. Some progressives hate all white people. Low paid people hate rich people. Superchurches hate liberals and atheists and women hoping not to get pregnant. Educated people hate Fox News and the cult of misinformation. Builders and self employed tradespeople want to go to work and hate the sanctimonious salaried people who can stay home and still get the bills paid. Liberals hate wealth, business and money. Women’s rights advocates hate men. Breitbart readers hate the elites — whoever that is.
Covid-19 won’t take down America, but the hate will.
The fall of the Roman Empire in its early stages was similar to what America is experiencing now. The unity fell apart, and was replaced by sectarian hatred, eventually dismantling the entire fabric of Roman society.
I came to America in 1993, seeking opportunity in a land where class systems do not rule society. More importantly, I immigrated to Silicon Valley, hoping to be the next Steve Jobs. I am not the next Steve Jobs. But I do love the geek culture, the beautiful city and Bay Area, Late Tahoe, the northern coast, the rolling hills, the horses, the mountain biking, the tennis and the amazing people I have as friends here.
There was a time when baseball, football, a barbecue or a 4th of July party could unite people of different color, different walks of life, and vastly different financial means. Everyone loved a hot dog and to rail about their sports team’s latest win or loss. People believed they could do well even if they were born poor, and wealthy diners were polite to the waiter, knowing he/she may one day rise to own the restaurant, or the city block, or a multinational corporation.
Not so much, these days. Instead, we have retreated into pockets of like-minded fear-mongering mice. We occupy ourselves with criticism of people whose views oppose ours. We’re divided along not just one axis, but many.
Financial means, dividing the owner class from the worker class. Which is ridiculous because a small business owner who employs 10 people is by no means rich, but she does have power to hire and fire, to set working hours and conditions, and if things go well, she does have the opportunity to pay herself a fat bonus paycheck at year end, which her employees probably do not.
Education levels are apparent from across the street. You don’t even need to meet and speak with a person to make a pretty good guess about how far their education went — just observer from your car as they get out of theirs and make their way to whatever they’re doing. State college, private college, Ivy League, or trade school, or high school. It seems education level is a permanent tattoo you’re not going to wash off after a few years in the workplace.
Differences are one thing. Hatred based on differences is another thing altogether. This isn’t about a utopian society where love conquers all and all hate is eradicated, this is about what happens to a people when the glue that held it together has given up and is replaced by so many forms of hatred that there can no longer be a society.
It would be difficult for anyone to argue that this isn’t happening. Let’s instead try to speculate what may happen if this trend continues, where will it lead, how could it be stopped, and what societal force could reverse it?
I’m convinced that the American century is over and that we’re entering a Chinese century. Not an exciting thought. I’m not being racist. I personally will miss the culture of individual achievement and the importance of self and family. It will be replaced by a culture of ants on an ant hill, where you and I don’t matter except when we’re out of step with the ruling party. Not my cup of tea.
When America is #2 in the world, will it hold on to the American Dream? No political party or group of people is manifest in its support of the American Dream. Where you build something from nothing, start small, and work hard, stay brave, and maybe you’ll be able to create something huge. And if not, you may create something ok-so-so, and you’re still a winner, still a dreamer. This dream requires ladders. We need to climb ladders and we know we may slip and fall, but we can climb again. Many countries from LatAm to eastern Europe to middle east and south east Asia are missing the ladders. Rich families work to stay rich, and if you’re born poor, that’s how you’ll die. I don’t want to live in Turkey or Philippines or Panama. Poor people who have no ladders will turn to other behaviors when they realize there’s no point dreaming of bettering yourself. Religious oppression can take hold, street level extortion and local level government corruption can creep in to further unplug any chance you have of creating a better world for you and your family.
Hatred is like battery acid. It fills our hearts with reasons we can’t be kind, can’t help our fellows, can’t build a better world, can’t accomplish our goals. Vladimir Putin wants America to fall apart and he wants Europe to go back to the neighborly bickering it knows too well from the past 3000 years. His efforts are paying off as we willingly join in to hate yet another group or subgroup someone has identified in digital media. California could invite Oregon and Washington to secede from the Union and form a powerful new country. Rule of law could fall part in Michigan and Wisconsin (and others) where authorities lack firepower and willpower to combat armed militias. Washington DC could continue its journey to complete corruption, joining ranks with Ukraine and Uzbekistan with sham democracies and oligarch rule. Joe Biden could fail to beat Trump because of infighting in the blue camp and the resulting voter apathy that prevents change. Or he could win and fail to come through as our ship’s captain, allowing the rot of corruption and hatred to continue. If he wins he will have a mammoth task just to unite the non-Trump electorate and build a path to better.
I have no idea how we can remake the glue that held Americans together just enough to create the greatest century in human history.
