Getting Lost Coming Home
By enforcing our borders, the federal government starts to improve many other cultural and economic problems.
“If you have been following American politics the past couple of decades, to even the least observant or engaged citizen, there are increasing signs that our country is lost in the dark woods of discord and conflicting views of who we are and where we are, and where we should be going.”
That was part of the introduction I wrote for my 2015 book Turn Right At Lost: Recalculating America. I was reflecting on what my motivations were for writing a book. A first effort to actually write a full-length book. To capture the feelings of frustration I was experiencing during the seven years of Barack Obama’s Presidency.
I suspect most American’s and I understood why Obama beat John McCain in the 2008 election. People were sick of the excuses George Bush kept making about the stagnant economy. About the increasing trade deficit, the terrible federal responses to several major environmental catastrophes, to the deteriorating and infuriating condition of our racial relations.
The Silver Tongued Black Man had all the right answers. He had answers for questions that were not even being asked. Then, suddenly, a person most Americans were familiar with, and also had at least some emotional connection too, announced his candidacy for the Office of the Presidency of America: Donald John Trump hit the headlines with his audacious political bombshell.
Most people scoffed at him. TV talking heads laughed and mocked Trump as a TV Reality Show host and a failing hotel/resort developer. At that point, they didn’t discuss his platform ideas. The media was convinced Trump was nothing more than a charlatan.
He made the issue of border security the number one item on his platform. Of course, he was mocked. But when I evaluate a persons character, I try to rely on logic. So when the press and the people started talking about what a gross misread of the voters Trump’s border claims were, I wrote:
“The idea that borders are a thing of the past is so antithetical to the concept of civilization, of law and order, of human dignity, and of national identity, it is counter intuitive. The impact and cost of uncontrolled migration is so enormous and widespread, it fosters a loss of controls of currency, of trade, of cultural identities, and of physical, financial and employment security.”
I have a habit when I am confronted with making a binary decision about some important action. Whether it is buying a home, car or piece of jewelry, I sit down and take a piece of lined paper. I draw a line down the middle. I put a + or - sign on the top of the columns. I list the items/impacts that would affect my decision.
At the end, it is just a simple matter of addition.
Trump had just scored a bunch of points with me because the immigration issue is more than just one problem. By enforcing our borders, the federal government starts to improve many other cultural and economic problems.
Allowing Illegal, unfettered and uncontrolled immigrants to flow into our country pours gasoline on the smoldering social diseases of drunk driving, petty theft and burglary, rampant drug use and runaway overdosing. It puts pressure on our hospitals, schools and police services. Expanding populations of undereducated, untrained and often broke young males displace similarly situated US citizens, undermining their progress towards economic independence.
Trump knew this was the best way to rally support. Almost every American has suffered long waits in emergency waiting rooms, struggles to hold uninsured/unlicensed illegal immigrants financially accountable for car accidents. Been astounded at how school classrooms are severely over crowded with non-English speaking students. Been angered when an acquaintance loses a teenager to fentanyl poisoning.
In the meantime, government leaders continue to pretend everything is OK. As Obama pounded on his own chest and bellowed to the world that he had resided over “the most successful and transparent administration in decades: and “stabilized a world in conflict under G,W. Bush”, and “protected Americans from a total economic collapse” ( none of which was remotely true) I was looking for any light in the storm coming from the Republican side.
I COULDN’T FIND ONE. I wrote:
“What really pains me is the way we, as a nation, have lost our way. How the growing number of left wing nut cases are receiving credibility by many in the media, and even worse, inculcated in our youth by academia. Some search for reasons why, to blame us, to rationalize why some maniacs would justify slaughtering thousands of innocent men women and children, and devastate the lives of thousands of other relatives, fellow Americans, and heroic first responders. America seems increasingly morally “Lost.” Our emotional bonds have torn, our sense of pride and brother-ship has deteriorated. The world has descended into chaos, and America, and unfortunately a large number of our fellow citizens, have abdicated our leadership role.”
Remember, those words were written in early 2016.
Over a decade later, the situation in America is exponentially worse.
The tone of our national discussions has become less tolerant. The protests that occur across the country are much more violent. The number of violent attacks on schools and churches has exploded. The streets in major cities are cluttered with makeshift homeless encampments, exposing rampant drug abuse and disease. It has gotten so bad that some local law enforcement has decided to ignore lawbreaking because it takes too much time and resources to arrest homeless for civil violations, only to see them released the very next day.
At that point in that book, I introduced a concept that would be repeated in almost all of my books. I didn’t know it then, but the idea of Transformative Moments would help me define my approach to understanding what makes people act the way they do.
“Transformative moments are like speed bumps on the road of life: you can either blast over them and hope you don’t blow a tire or bust a shock absorber, or you can slow down, take them in stride, and move on to live to tell about the experience another day. Either way, it is important that you have correct directions or at least a good idea of where you are going. Even then, it sometimes requires acute awareness and flexibility to get there safely. America is our collective home. As we traverse the planet, we need to be assured that home will be there when we return, or at least when our children take over. No one wants to be confronted with the returning soldier syndrome where the home he left in no way resembles the home he returned to”.