In America, unity may not even be worth it

By Che

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. View more opinion on ScoonTV. 

There are many who believe that the United States is on the brink of a civil war. If you said that 5-10 years ago, you’d be scoffed at and viewed as an Alex Jones conspiracy theorist. The idea that the greatest superpower the world has ever known would crumble internally was unfathomable. There was Islamic extremism, North Korea, Venezuela, and Wall Street all sitting atop the list of potential threats. Now, that tune has changed. 

ISIS and Al-Qaeda are nothing but distant memories, North Korea and Venezuela can’t keep their lights on, and Wall Street posted a black square for absolutely no reason so they’re cool again. The real strife is found amongst neighbors, co-workers, and everyday people you run into at the grocery store. National politics, left and right, liberal and conservative, have drifted so far from each other that a reconciliation seems as absurd as talking about a civil war post-9/11. 

The opposing visions for the nation’s direction are clashing to the point of no return, but that’s not a bad thing. Unity is not only no longer an option; it would actually hurt us. Instead, what we need is cleansing. We need to present the arguments and let the most logical prevail.  

Within ten days, we witnessed two horrific mass shootings that claimed the lives of 31 people in total. The ten grocery store patrons and 19 elementary school kids and two of their teachers all have ignited a political tsunami concerning guns. 

The left wants stricter gun laws, more regulations, liability for gun manufacturers, and, even though they’ve never said this, guns banned entirely. The bodies of these victims were still warm as the Democrat Party and their establishment shills in the media and Hollywood started campaigning for banning the AR-15, the rifle coincidentally used in these latest tragedies. 

This grandstanding is indicative of the left’s worldview and how vastly different it is compared to the right. The left argues for more government as a solution, the right argues for less. In the middle is the federal government, a behemoth yearning for more power and seizing every opportunity to indulge itself. 

The fundamental questions revolve around the idea of the federal government, how much power should it have, how big should it be, etc. The left wants a bigger government with an immense amount of power. They don’t actually say this because it would be bad messaging, yet everything in their agenda empowers the government at the expense of the people. The gun debate is a perfect example. They want to limit the number of ways an individual can defend themselves by restricting certain firearms. This means our personal security would be in the hands of the state, and the state alone.  

The term “assault rifle” is nothing more than propaganda used to coerce people into surrendering their inalienable rights. Guns like the AR-15 can be used to assault someone just like a car can be used to assault someone, yet no one complains about “assault cars.” Guns can also be used to defend someone’s life, but there’s no talk about “defense guns.” It’s all semantics used to disarm the population and empower the government. The left obliges. 

In the 1960’s, activists popularized the slogan “power to the people” as a rallying cry for justice and equality from the establishment class. It recognized the strength in numbers and solidarity among the working class. We wanted to be heard, we wanted to be recognized, but more importantly, we wanted self-determination, the power to create our own lives free and independent from outside forces. That has changed. 

Today, the mainstream political left is the establishment class calling for more power in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. The same political faction screaming “systemic racism” until they’re blue as their hair have no problem with that very system being armed. Us, on the other hand, are left to their mercy. They don’t actually believe their own rhetoric.  

Self-determination means you have the power to choose. Free market capitalism as it was intended, and not the crony corporatocracy seen today, was built on the idea that we have options. If we didn’t like a certain product, we could choose to spend our money somewhere else. The idea of a constitutional republic established on inalienable rights meant you were free to pursue your goals and objectives. You were free from being forced to do anything against your will as long as what you did didn’t infringe on someone else’s rights. 

Today, that power is being redirected back into the hands of the federal government and their corporate cronies. Want to have a say in how you defend your own life and the lives of your family? There’s only one solution; call the state. How about your health? Sorry, healthcare for all means a state-run health care system. Do you believe you should have a voice in how to handle controversial issues such as abortion? That’s not going to happen. The federal government has taken on that responsibility too. 

As a result of these contradictory worldviews, the American people have been polarized into two categories: those that want to succeed or fail by their own merit, and those who choose safety and security at the expense of personal freedom. 

One side says “give me liberty, or give me death” and the other says “give me safety so that I may not die.” 

One side believes they are capable of anything. They make no excuses, never play the victim, always believe in the work. The other side believes they can achieve nothing and are instead at the mercy of the “system.” 

These two worldviews cannot coexist forever. The dependent class derides the independent class, yet they’re dependent upon them for their subsistence. The only tactic the dependent class has is to invoke sympathy, “I’m poor because you’re rich, now give me some of your money.” Government is the force they use to get it. 

Eventually, the independent class will resist. They’re good-natured people because they ask for nothing from no one, yet this gets taken advantage of. The dependent class will call them “evil” and “greedy” and, of course, there’s a racial component somewhere in there used to give into their ridiculous demands. 

We cannot unite these two factions. We cannot expect people who see themselves as inferior to have an equal input into our government. We are too far apart on the political spectrum to believe in any real chance of uniting. Our principles are different. Our morals are not the same. They believe in government; we believe in ourselves.  

They want to use these mass shootings to take away guns because they do not trust themselves with the responsibility of defending their own lives. They would rather absolve themselves of any and all responsibility, thereby giving them someone or something else to blame for their miserable lives.  

The independent class is a threat to people with power. They cannot dangle a carrot in front of our face and lead us wherever they want us to go. We don’t need them, therefore they cannot  

This is real power, self-determination to a T.  

We know that our principles are rooted in freedom and not just the empowerment of a few who deem themselves above the rest of us. We cannot “meet in the middle” when the middle is wrong. We have to stand firm and know that the truth will always prevail.