The Dispossessed Taking Stock

If something that always seemed substantial and even indestructible unravels then those that have always depended on its existence for making decisions in their lives suddenly find themselves adrift in uncharted territory.  And that’s where a lot of us are right now.  The United States of America was this behemoth of stability and an engine of prosperity.  It was also a place where people truly were free to say and do what they pleased as long as it didn’t involve robbing someone else.

Now with all of those things shattered what do we do?  How do we make a living?  How and where do we raise a family?  How will our children get an education?  How will they make a living?  Who will we have to swear allegiance to in order to avoid persecution?  Who must we be afraid to offend to avoid being a victim?  Essentially, all bets are off.

When a stable system receives a shock there are several possible outcomes.  If the system is elastic enough and the shock isn’t too large then things can return to a stability that might even be pretty close to the initial condition.  If the shock is a little stronger then perhaps a large chunk of the system will be ejected leaving a remainder that can then produce a diminished but stable system.  And finally, if the shock is cataclysmic the whole system is pulverized and scattered, never to coalesce into a whole again.

I think it’s too soon to tell how great a disruption there has been to America.  It feels like we’ve been irreparably fractured into several fragments that can’t be put back together again.  But maybe our enemies will be able to overcome all resistance and establish a new country in the image they have in mind for it.  Maybe we’ll win and fix the place back to close to what it was.  Or maybe we’ll split it in two.  All these questions aren’t going to be answered in a day or even a year.  Maybe a decade will decide things.

But none of us can wait ten years to answer that list of questions I asked above.  Our lives are ticking by right now.  Our kids and grandkids are growing and need direction.  So, we have no choice but to make decisions based on what we see happening around us and what we know about the policies being pushed by the federal and state governments.

And there are plenty of hints for anyone who is paying attention.  Living in California is being at the epicenter of all things woke.  It’s so dysfunctional and constrained that even the woke can’t stand it and are leaving in droves.  Places like New York and Washington and Oregon are pretty close to the California model.  In any of those deep blue states you’ll find problems trying to raise a family or even to just live your life the way you want to.  But even in purple states like Wisconsin or Colorado the Left is in charge and they will tell you what you can and can’t do.  And if you happen to be white, they’ll let you know that your turn is done and you better get used to humiliation and deprivation.

And even among red states not all of them are equal.  And not all areas in red states are equal.  Utah is considered a deep red state but Salt Lake City is a stronghold of California transplants that vote Left and control lots of the levers of power.  So, where you live is one of the ways you can control how free you will be.

With respect to employment there are decisions that will have to be made there too.  For instance, if you want to work in an industry that is heavily regulated by the federal government then you will find that the management of the companies working in that industry are aligned with the values that the federal government espouses.  So, for instance, the banking industry adheres to the equity, diversity and inclusion mantra pushed on them by the bank regulators.  In the same way the pharma companies follow these same precepts based on the FDA’s guidance.  None of this nonsense has any real bearing on sound banking principles or safe drug production but it’s how the system is rigged.  And even companies that aren’t themselves regulated by Washington may find that in order to get contracts with companies that are regulated they will have to parrot these same noises.  Hopefully, if they are small enough companies most of the noise is just that and nothing else.  But you can see how this starts to reduce your options.

And with respect to schools and colleges it’s even worse.  The percentage of colleges that aren’t woke is tiny.  It’s barely a handful.  And they won’t have all the programs you children may be looking for.  If your kids want to go to a woke college just prepare them for what it will be like and keep your fingers crossed that they can avoid being absorbed by the Borg.

And that brings us to the last part of our lives, the personal life.  We need to find enough people like ourselves to ensure that we have a rich personal life.  We have family but we need friends.  Our children need friends.  We need people who believe in the same things we do.  In the past you would have found these people in your church and in the school committee and among the parents of the kids on your kids’ sports teams.  And depending where you live you still might.  But you’ll definitely have to do some homework to find out if your neighbors are free Americans or part of the woke collective.  So don’t think that everybody is normal.  It’s easier to be careful at first and avoid the woke.  It’s much more painful to get rid of them once they’ve gotten close.  You owe it to your kids to protect them from bad influences and you owe it to your own sanity.

So, unless you live in the deepest red area of the country and work in a trade that has no connection to the government regulators and send your kids to Hillsdale College you will have to sort through these realities for the foreseeable future.  Either that or join the pod people.  I mean how bad could it be?