being frank

Something dawned on me a while back that I wanted to share. And though it does revolves around politics, I’m trying my best to stay away from the body politic. But there are those instances where one or two somewhat unsettling things happened, making me realize how ordinary they had been made to appear. They slipped ever so surreptitiously into the narrative of today’s reality that when I began to follow one possible path as it was being established, I found myself feeling something that compelled me to write down my thoughts. Get comfortable; this is a bit involved.

It started with a process called devolution.

That’s when the federal government statutorily delegates a portion of its powers to the states. In and of itself, it’s a good thing; some would say, perhaps a necessary thing. It’s been around for centuries and used often throughout the many ebbs and flows of the American political culture. But that’s not the point of this posting. I wanted to address that feeling that hit me; a sudden realization that was made real as reports were playing on news outlets everywhere regarding the latest problems, reactions, or calamities happening around the country. As I watched these, that concept of devolution popped in my head, followed by the annoying yet unavoidable principle of cause and effect. And that’s when I realized that what I felt was that everything around us was unraveling.

As shifts in federal policy and funding place a greater burden on the individual states, federal institutions, once mandated to serve and protect the nation, are being phased out or diminished. The existence of these organizations was predicated on the fact that some of the country’s needs (e.g., medical programs, relief for low-income families, disaster assistance and recovery, etc.) were either too difficult or costly for any one state to bear, or the logistics required far exceeded a state’s territorial boundaries or the capabilities of their infrastructure.

As the news was unfolding, explanations were passed on to the public; some in the spirit of transparency while others were mostly left unsaid. I started to see how a process of unraveling could occur. It came to mind in the form of the flag I used for this posting. As I imagined the states taking on these requirements, I saw how that added weight eventually began placing greater stress on their connective threads. In time, they may falter or fail, pulling them away and further apart from their counterparts, unraveling the very foundational nature of the country as each state was forced to compete for its own survival and that of its people. If left unchecked over time, our national identity would be gone; a “divide-and-conquer” strategy foisted upon us by the very government that swore to protect us as a nation.

But that’s just my dystopian view. I suppose that in a perfect world, any governmental decision that could be discussed in a public forum would be shared openly and in a timely fashion to address any potential changes or dangers that may jeopardize or affect people’s safety or well-being. But it’s abundantly clear that we do not live in a perfect world. In fact, we never really have. And that’s because perfection isn’t a state you can live in. It’s not a choice, like deciding whether to live in Maine or Arizona. Perfection is a condition or state of being you aim for, taking it as far as your knowledge, virtue, and conscience will allow in the hopes of living a good life while improving the overall human condition. So if this rather fatalistic scenario was nothing more than some far-fetched future based on a very common occurrence within the political landscape, then why this persistent sense of unraveling, and why now?

Well, because like every other part of the American political machine, policies are overseen by three distinct branches of government, each with its own set of rules and policies; mandates and guardrails. Yet they’re all run by people. People who, under normal circumstances, do their best to enforce the law and protect the government from unsanctioned activities or outside influences. After all, it’s part of the oath they’re required to take. But there have been all manner of assumptions that have come into play as of late. Transgressions that were once considered fringe are now commonplace, and disruptions caused by duplicity or deception inflicted by feckless individuals chosen or elected as public servants, have now created a justifiable distrust in the very process under which the government operates today.

So from this vantage point, I could not help but see that scenario where our national identity was slowly being dismantled. Think of it as a cultural dehumanization carried out by a thousand little cuts. That intangible part of us as a nation that we often manifest as our pride is becoming less holistic and more tribal. The well from which springs our national identity – the one filled with the beliefs of honesty, justice, freedom, equality, and liberty that have always represented us as a collective, was now being reduced to its components; components that are more characteristic of someone else’s vision. If you’re someone who has always been proud to be a part of this nation for what it represented to the world, then you need to take a closer look, because the basis of that pride is changing; it’s becoming more of an afterthought. Our national identity is being given a different appearance and meaning, and one that is diminishing us as one of the greatest and most enviable social experiments in history.

Think back to your parents or grandparents; of how their generation expressed pride as a nation; as citizens or just as average Americans. By and large, the primary reasons weren’t about color, creed, race, or gender; nor were they rooted in strength, power, or influence alone. Although present, those were not the source of their pride, nor did they symbolize what made us great. The true pride of our forefathers was about being a part of a nation that believed in all the tenets most people around the world valued most: Honesty, justice, freedom, equality, and liberty. Each of these encompasses a wide range of abilities and opportunities that many other countries have tried to suppress, supplant, or eliminate outright. Yet we made them the cornerstone of our system of government; we proved to the world that a collective of many could become a thriving symbol for a nation of one.

Final Thoughts

Before ending this post, I wanted to share with you the irony of language once more, as I believe it’s important for you to know the other definitions it offers for devolution: A formal descent or degeneration to a lower or worse state; an evolutionary degeneration. Irony always seems to get lost in the splendor of fireworks.

All of my immediate family made a choice of when and how to serve their country. I was taught to understand from an early age that to serve was a privilege; that when you served your country, you were serving all the people who lived in it. That serving your country wasn’t exclusively tied to the use of a weapon, a show of strength, or the subjugation or exploitation of others.

Serving had many facets; taking what you were taught and using it to educate others. To use your inner resources of mind, body, and spirit in conjunction with the principles upon which our nation was established to help those in need rise beyond their abilities and avoid being subjugated by the limitations of someone else’s ignorance. And above all, to serve meant to come to the aid of people beyond our borders who were struggling against the tyranny of those who would deny them the very same principles we treasured. For the true strength of a nation comes from its alliances; from the friendships they forge and the lessons each learns from the other.

I’m hoping that such standards are still alive and well in this nation. If not, who can you think of that would be willing to help stitch us back together if we do finally unravel?