being frank

The internet is both a wonderfully revealing and confounding thing.

About five months ago, a dear friend of mine wrote me about a website where they were able to see videos of the home they used to live in years ago as a child. I will not reveal their name nor the location where they spent those early years. And that’s because of the dismissive and deceitful environment under which we are living here in the United States.

The childhood home is located in a country that has been ravaged by an authoritarian regime that led to their father’s death and members of their family being placed in a detention center (known by its true designation as a labor camp.) They went on to describe the condition of the home as it stood today: disheveled, sad and abandoned; even the street in front of the house was torn apart. The beautiful yard in which they recalled playing with their sibling and having picnics with the family was essentially a dump.

Understandably, this affected them deeply. This newly found reality crashed into their cherished memories. The harshness of that visual shock was no different than what they remembered about the government’s secret police who would break into people’s homes and drag them away in the middle of the night; their dinner often still cooking on the stove. The words they wrote about the experience of seeing their old home were painful:

What you see is not just decay, but the artwork of tyranny; how time, neglect, and forces beyond us can erase beauty, joy, and dignity. This home held love, laughter, and roots. Today, it looks like a ghetto.

Those words struck hard, yet the pain and resentment they echoed wasn’t unfamiliar to me. I had heard similar stories from people I’ve known over the years who fled their homes from other countries in fear of their lives. Fleeing from a government that had chosen to look upon their population as pawns. A government that quickly traded in sworn obligations for a set of bartered statistics that could be turned into profit, possessions, or the means to a disgusting and offensive end. These authoritarian governments chose to strip their nation of its pride, bastardize their history, and take away something that didn’t belong to them – the sacrosanct right to personal freedoms.

It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for some people to gamble away the inherent rights given to them by a free society in the hopes of being able to impose their personal beliefs or desires on an unwilling majority. Here in the United States, we’ve seen what has happened in the past (and in today’s world) to those who live in nations ruled by autocratic sociopaths determined to bend the world to their personal needs and desires.

It’s never done all at once.

Like any structure you wish to build, this desire for hegemonic control begins by establishing a foundation. These so-called leaders or self-styled patriots initiate that by creating a base that aligns with the most fundamental fears or concerns expressed by marginalized groups who thirst for recognition. Like a sponge, these factions take in the fuel that drives their grudges forward; finding an ally who feels what they feel and wants nothing more than to lead them to a place of meaning, strength, and long-overdue respect.

There’s rarely a discussion about incorporation or collaboration. Because such efforts would easily reveal the disparities that exist within these factions. An inclusive society would find such contrasts as an opportunity for growth and strength. But that is antithetical to the goals of the authoritarian leader. For those inclusions would deter and obstruct the road to pure power, for no nation would be willing to give up the collective rights of its citizenry for the sake of placating disparate groups or the whims of one person.

Final Thoughts

I was upset by the note I received from my friend. It was a sucker punch to hear how a country that was once a shining gem was now the worst representation of a 3rd world country; one that was abandoned, abused, and stripped of the life force that its people once infused into their nation through passion, creativity and faith.

With everything that is going on here in the US, I often wonder how far such actions would have to go before a select few have their way in distorting the politics that provide the resources and freedoms designed for the many. The United States has always strived to be a beacon of hope, justice and a land of opportunity for all. But it’s a nation of people; people from all walks of life whose roots can be traced to practically every other nation on Earth. And the one thing these people have in common is imperfection.

We all make mistakes; we gather momentum on treacherous roads and often walk away from the path that would guide us toward enlightenment and understanding. And yet, we have always pressed on. I see it in the eyes of dear friends who gave a great measure of strength and sacrifice in defense of this country. I see it in the enthusiastic faces of people who have come here filled with the hope for possibilities. I see it in the fervent faith of that good friend of mine who lost so much in coming here yet gained much more through a simple yet undeterred passion for righteousness, freedom and love.

A nation’s resolve isn’t to be found in brute strength, but rather in uncompromising bonds. Yet if these societal alliances were allowed to falter, would we be ready to become the world’s largest example of a 3rd world country that willingly gave up so much for so little?