The fact that a Christian American country survived
unrest in the past says nothing whatsoever about the ability of a
post-Christian, post-American state to do so now:
America has survived
unrest before, but that was a different country. It had a white, Christian
super-majority and a shared history. It had at least a theoretical chance of
working out a modus vivendi with its black minority. The language was English
and, most of the time, we played by a set of rules to which everyone—liberal
conservative, Democrat or Republican—agreed. Elections were not winner-take-all
apocalyptic events. Nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court did not occasion
brutal, partisan, ideological war. No longer.
If we bank solely on electoral politics, we will lose, especially as the demographic ring closes. The winners will show no quarter.
Political life as we knew it in America is over. Again, the America we grew up in and loved is dead.
If we bank solely on electoral politics, we will lose, especially as the demographic ring closes. The winners will show no quarter.
Political life as we knew it in America is over. Again, the America we grew up in and loved is dead.
The irony here is that the author quotes Sun Tzu
about the importance of knowing one's enemy, but never once dares to utter the
name of that enemy. Which tends to underline why Americans lost their country
and why other European nations are now at risk of losing theirs; as long even
the most die-hard right-wing conservatives still give lip service to
"judeo-christianity" and "civic nationalism", there is no
chance of ever winning any battle.
For Sun Tzu also says: “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
That being said, while we can, and should, mourn the civilized society that was lost, we should not be surprised that it did not last. It could not last. For as another Chinese sage observed: “The empire, long united, must divide.”
For Sun Tzu also says: “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
That being said, while we can, and should, mourn the civilized society that was lost, we should not be surprised that it did not last. It could not last. For as another Chinese sage observed: “The empire, long united, must divide.”
