This has gotten away from me a bit- but I firmly believe we will come through this stronger. We are putting in the work; and if there is anything Americans are good at, it’s sheer horsepower.

Keep fighting.

We have survived the revolution and its aftermath, the civil war, reconstruction, the fight for worker’s rights and the right to organize into unions, the Great Depression, WW1, WW2, the 60s and the Cold War, 9/11. This is our struggle. It is up to each new generation to reforge the American Dream.

and a host of other issues- such as the cyber culture war being perpetrated on the American people. Or the media that keep us afraid for profit. All of these things conspire together to ensure we can never revive the American Dream- but we will.

We are being beset by foreign powers making all this worse, while one party sells us all downriver for profit and the other tries to sell us on the status quo being good enough to keep that from happening. We need progress- proactive solutions to wealth inequality, money in politics, climate change,

We are built on the idea that we should fight for these things; and yet, our house is divided- and we fight each other more than the division. As Lincoln said- a house divided against itself cannot stand.
I abhor everything the Republican congress is currently trying to do; but it isn’t a vacuum.

And they aren’t the only ones- do we really think a former propagandist of the KGB isn’t engaging in a little clandestine fuckery?
The United States is a warrior culture. We are in part built on the idea that individuals should be strong, capable, and left alone to achieve their happiness.

Far better for them to let us tear ourselves apart, to prey on the divisions caused by our own greed and insatiable hunger for constant growth. Far better to spread fake reports in the news, flood social media with bots, and destroy the concept of “the truth” until any lie seems plausible.

China has outlived a thousand civilizations- and it wasn’t by always playing nice. Their cybersecurity capabilities are such that yes, they could take our banks and power offline- but what better way to unite us all than to attack us? A woken, united, and angry America is a great and terrible thing.

One of Mao’s chief strategies was propaganda- the division of enemies until they collapsed from within, by seeding communists inside organizations that he wanted to collapse, and then engaging in a whisper campaign. Xi is a consummate Maoist. You think he wouldn’t try and tear the US apart?

Do not forget the jealousy of others; the very fact that we continue to strive, that we have these cultural and paradigm shifts and emerge better than we were from inner turmoil, makes this country worth saving. And it will be a fight.
It isn’t a mystery to folks following cybersecurity or infosec.

If our founders could see how much division we let enter our society from foreign interference, how much we let insidious propaganda tear us apart, they would cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes.
Do not forget that the internet shows you what you most fear, or most angers you.

I am so very tired of the fear. We shouldn’t be afraid all the time; of Muslims, of immigrants, of the other party. We shouldn’t be cowed easily into silence, because raucous debate is what drives this country. Each generation is a new revolution, a new chapter in the great epoch of human progress.

Who strip protections from the people, WASP folks often look at the nearest “other” for blame; because the rich aren’t “other”. Deeply embedded in the American psyche is that idea that we are all temporarily embarrassed millionaires, even if it doesn’t feel achievable right now.

So on the surface, in this and many other ways, it feels like something is being stolen- but it wasn’t stolen from many of the newest folks to this country yet. They haven’t yet been crushed under the weight of the corpse of the American Dream. So instead of looking at corporations and politicians

This death of a core communal space has disproportionately harmed much of what could be termed white America- WASP America. Immigrants often have very strong faith communities and community resources. They take care of each other- When all you have is nothing, there’s a lot to go around.

And it isn’t just this bill. Churches have lost members in part because they do less good, which is tied in part to less resources in small community churches- which is in turn driven by income inequality. You can’t tithe money or time when you have to work every hour to feed your own family.

Since the Christian church has given up their position as the shepherds of the flock, as the shelter of the weak and the aid to the poor, government has had to step up more and more. To strip humanity from government, to remove the ability of a community to care for its own- that is truly vile.