America at a crossroads

Everywhere I look, I am deeply concerned for my country; I am deeply concerned for the major political parties, both of which, I can say with confidence, have abandoned common sense, decency, and truth; I am deeply concerned for the people who make up this great land.

America in 2024 stands at a crossroads, presented with multiple potentially nation-ending decisions. This is our time for choosing — our rendezvous with destiny. We must take a long, hard look at ourselves and determine if we really are confident that our choices — our modern political philosophies and tendencies — are not contributing, in their own way, to the downfall of American self-governance. The stakes are too high not to self-reflect.

But I know what you’re thinking: It’s not your fault that American society is collapsing. It's the enemies’ fault (naturally). It’s the opposing party’s or the failed leaders in Washington’s fault. Not you. Not your candidates. In fact, if only you had your way, the country would be saved; liberty and sanity would be restored; everything would be made right.

That’s what you believe — but millions of your fellow countrymen believe it, too. And it should be evident that not everyone can be right. Someone is wrong. Dangerously wrong. And no one is completely right.

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,” wise King Solomon apprised the human race. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” This is, as I previously wrote, our “sobering reminder that few men are intentionally evil. Any of us are capable of wrongdoing, and most… would not know if we were off course.”

Now, apply this alarming truth to politics.

We are limited beings with limited understanding, and both political parties are lying to us. Compulsively. Habitually. Ceaselessly. We are constantly bludgeoned, especially on social media, to believe outrageous claims (especially about the “other side”) without so much as a second thought or deeper-than-surface-level analysis. While political hacks and cultish devotees can maintain this kind of unbroken faith in their favorite pundits or party talking points, those of us who care more about the truth than “owning the enemy” cannot afford to be so trusting.

This leads me to one of the most pressing political questions of the day: Would we rather be right or prove the other side wrong? Too many of us, it seems to me, are so determined to believe that the other side is wrong — and more than that, evil, malicious, and radical —  that we are willing to stray from the truth in order to prove it. I might strongly dislike “Politician X,” but that does not necessarily mean I can believe every negative thing I hear about him. Confirmation biases run strong in politics, and politicians who have no scruples about lying will exploit that for maximum profit. Again, Politician X may be a generally bad person, but that does not alleviate me from my responsibility to seek to know the truth — even about my opponents.

What’s my point? you may be wondering. Simply this: the stakes in this country, as Ronald Reagan so clearly laid out in his “Time for Choosing” speech, are too high to pin everything on our hopes that the other side will reform itself. What about you? Are you willing to admit that you may be wrong about something? Are you willing to admit that your preferred political party is, almost certainly, wrong about many things? If you are unwilling to budge about anything — and if no one else is either — how, exactly, do we expect to pull this country back on track?

To be clear, I am not necessarily calling for you to compromise on what you believe. But far too often, we, as individuals, offload the “American crossroads” onto others. The president, Congress, the nation as a whole must make the difficult decisions to determine which path we, as a nation, will take. But not me. Not you. We excuse ourselves from that responsibility — blindly confident that our ways are beyond reproach. But alas, for as long as this is our mentality, we risk missing the beam in our own eyes.

What is saving America worth to you? Is it worth a long, hard look at yourself? Is it worth admitting where you went wrong and where you need to grow? Is it worth pursuing truth, irregardless of party, wherever it may lead?

Imagine what could happen if everyone in the country answered “yes,” and lived it. Alternatively, if no one is willing to answer in the affirmative — if no one is willing to value truth above party fealty — I’m afraid we’ll proceed down the current wrong trajectory and take our unbudging pride to America’s grave.