Gravely misplaced frustration

 Author: scott pettigrew – contributor

America, like many other Western Nations, is facing a host of seemingly insurmountable and systemic problems in government. An increasingly unstable economy, ridiculous levels of debt, and a divided populous are three of the largest problems that America faces. Alongside all of this, the state of their media is dismal at best, with cultural and political regressivism launching a full-scale witch hunt on dissent. We continue to see free thought become an afterthought, with mindless political correctness and self-policing reigning over conversations. It’s now at the point where nearly every story in any given mainstream media outlet has a clear political motive attached to it. The oppressive ideology that is named by many as “Regressive Leftism” has become a cancerous tumour growing in the heart of freedom across the entirety of the west. Call them “Social Justice Warriors” or whatever title you choose to bestow upon them; it doesn’t matter in the slightest. What does matter, however, is that the ideology these people cling to is the new mainstream narrative. With that, scores of ordinary people feel silenced, outraged, and oppressed. Out of this brewing hurricane, emerged the political and cultural extremist that need not be named.

Finally, somebody comes forward and tells the media elite exactly where to go. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No silly, it’s a Brioni-laden billionaire with nothing to lose and plenty to say. What I like about “The Donald” is that he challenges political correctness and regressivism; and wins. That, and that alone, is the singular reason for his massive success in the Republican Primary polls. What I don’t like about the Donald? Unfortunately, I would have to direct you to the works of Voltaire, Locke, Harris, and other enlightenment and contemporary thinkers, in order to fully explain the magnitude of error within his worldview and political outlook. His prioritization of security over freedom, hostility and lack of empathy towards migrants and ideological commitment to the reality that government can actually solve problems is incoherent and dangerous. Yet, for some reason, Trump is soaring in the Republican Primary polls. Why is this? Do Republican voters support his whimsical outlooks on the most important issues facing America and the West today?

In short, absolutely not. The Republican voter is channeling their fury in the media and political elite by voting for wildcards like Trump, Carson, and Cruz, seeing them as a way to force dramatic change into politics. What the Republican votes currently do not understand, however, is that replacing one ineffective system with another does not create freedom. Practically speaking, a Trump presidency would be equally or likely more useless than that of Obama, which they are so quick to criticize. In different ways, sure, but no doubt a Trump government would invade their lives as much or more.

This story truly is the story of American politics today. With a useless two-party system of bureaucracy, big government advocates on either side of the aisle are in a relentless knife fight for control of the spiraling political and economic system that is the United States of America. The biggest thing that voters fail to understand is that change does not equate to progress. It is true beyond a shadow of a doubt, that change is needed. The question remains as to whether America will return to the principles and ideals on which it was founded, or whether the very ideologies for which American men and women have died fighting for will take over from within. We can only hope that in this time of great turbulence and instability that the American people, and the west as a whole, will cling with unfaltering hands to ideals of freedom and individual liberty which made us so great; and cast away the looming shadow of authoritarianism along with the misery which is consistently delivers.