My Brother-in-law David recently commented that I’m too hard on American citizens for not caring for our country. I respect and value his opinion. He’s right on the money. I am hard on the people trusted with our republic – you and me. His insightful comment inspired this essay.

No one likes to be told they’re wrong or at fault. I realize it’s generational; it’s how we’re socialized – educated – indoctrinated. That’s part of the problem; we like it easy and comforting. Criticism and reprobation are foreign concepts and quite disquieting to most American citizens. We’ve come to expect our government to do it for us, but sometimes we need a good slap in the face to awaken from complacency. The current situation shows that mind reading is not Big Brother’s strong suit, and in the absence of well-stated requirements, he will give us what he wants.

I attribute our present situation to American citizens’ inaction and lack of involvement. I also criticize the educational system – another responsibility we relinquish to Big Brother.

While I believe it is our responsibility, perhaps changing my approach will open more minds than closing them, but I can’t make you care.

This commentary is about the path that got us here. It’s called intentional deceit in the pursuit of power and cultism.

The Cult of Personality!

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The America I knew, is no longer!

The people we hired to represent us to our government and protect our interests have abandoned us. The military term for this is AWOL – Absent With Out Leave.

The politicians’ conscientious participation in the operation of this country is prescribed by their role, regardless of partisan affiliation. They are elected to represent the people of their states, their constituents, not their cult-clan. These congressional appointees have chosen to divide America along party and other unusual and contrived lines.

The diverse conditions of history, and differing ideologies of America’s people, gave rise to various political parties founded to advance particular ideals and the candidates, the puppets who represented them. They influence voters with policies and programs. They propel their specific partisan views – the platform. The goal is control. They’re convinced that the party’s way is the only way; their objective is to convince us. Rather than offering practicable alternative views, the parties and the candidates are demigods.

Several recent congressional hearings provide evidence for my assertion.

* The Jan 6 Insurrection hearings excluded Republicans.

* The Democrat-Socialists (DemoSocs) fostered the Russian collusion hoax, denied the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell, and blocked investigations into the financial dealings of Biden Inc.

* The DemoSocs boycotted the recent border hearings.

* The Republicans, on the other hand, cowered behind their limited power in congress – the opposite of progress – several of whom favored the DemoSoc directions – precisely as they should if the proposals were in the best interest of the citizenry, not partisan politics.

* The subordinate departments of the executive branch are political weapons to ensure the party’s control and dogmatic survivability. Whoever controls the narrative, and the legal system controls the country – POWER.

* Control of two of the three branches of government safeguards preeminence, yet this preponderance of power neutralizes the balance intended in the constitution.

The parties have chosen sides, and their alienation is destroying America. Since we are a republic, the people appointed to those jobs represent all the people of this country, not just their party.

I used appointed since elections are suspect at this point. The parties have corrupted that process, too, by exploiting their control in local governments to supersede the US constitution by changing state voting laws to favor corrupt practices.

Political parties are constructs to offer alternative views and ideologies that differentiate their group and the candidates into identifiable factions. But remember, these parties are different names and paths to the same ultimate goal – control.

The party construct presupposes that their doctrine is the best possible answer for everyone in every situation. It’s the “One Size Fits All” solution. This posture circumvents the power of discussion and compromise, dismissing the best possible solution for all citizens and the republic in favor of the party politic.

It’s an extravagant price, but we don’t notice because of how well it’s obscured. Think of taxes and the manipulation of the various assessments we pay. They even tax the air we breathe – the government budget has $45 billion to combat the climate crisis while building a more resilient, advanced, and inclusive nation. How does inclusivity impact climate change?

Your tax dollars support the $6.2 Trillion federal budget for 2023, and 2024’s budget proposal is $7 Trillion. Note: the expected tax revenue for 2023 is $1.73 Trillion – a $5.27 Trillion deficit.

Where did our representatives go?

They’ve joined exclusive partisan political cults. Partisan politics is an ideology, a religion that favors narcissism and biased loyalty, rewarding preferred acolytes with money and power. It’s so elite that only the top 0.1% of the wealthiest people in this country control it. Anyone can join, but if you’re an ardent zealot willing to “drink the Kool-Aid,” you might even get to spin the wheel of fortune and win an elevated position in the clique.

* Cult: “In Modern English, cult is a term, considered pejorative by some, for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal.”

I used cult intentionally and selectively because that’s what politics is in America.

It is a Cult, and… the tension and derision in America result from this cult of personalities.

We follow the leader.

We’re joiners, generally, and individuals, rarely.

We’re drawn to a person’s charisma, not necessarily their cause, although some causes evolve into cults.

We are the tool that supports their quest for fortune and glory.

That’s what cult leaders do.

They sell the cults’ identity and message using adorable puppets. That’s where the political platforms and philosophy enter the picture.

These cults have catchy names to lead curious and unsuspecting citizens into their trap. Words like republican and democrat leady one to think the primary goals are defined and adequately represented in the name.

Do they really represent the denotation of the name, or are they now connotations? Yes, this is splitting hairs (not hares), but that subtle difference is central to this commentary.

Differences in Philosophy:
Republican philosophy leans more toward individual freedoms, rights, and responsibilities. In contrast, Democrats attach greater importance to equality and social/community responsibility.

Is this truly what these parties espouse, or is this an ancient textbook interpretation? My pursuit is to have you decide for yourselves – and through the process of discovery, consider the information you uncover and weigh it against the evidence.

Remember Machiavelli’s comment: “Never waste the opportunity offered by a good crisis.”

I add: But, in the absence of a genuine crisis, create one… QED – The Wuhan Virus Pandemic and Climate Change.

I won’t bore you with the massive list of fabricated catastrophes and emergencies. You know them all well; below are the crises du jour – the troubles of the day.

Here are a few roots and their associated cult eluded to above.

* The Climate Change
* The Pro-Life, Pro-Choice
* Save the Earth at all costs – eradicating all human life to save the planet or imposing controlled procreation criteria.
* Wokeism
* The Open borders
* The Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DIE)
* The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
* The Wuhan Pandemic
* The Military Industrial Congressional Complex
* The Democrat-Socialist (DemoSoc)
* The Republican
* The Socialists
* The Communists
* The Fascists
* The Constitutionalists (My cult of choice)
* The Libertarian – (My cult of choice)
* Government Controlled Capitalism
* The Federal Reserve – Central Banking
* Pick a war, any war…

The wonder of it all is how we got here while we watched. We were watching, weren’t we?

There’s the list of causes; now for a bit of causation:

We’ve been warned since the 1960s of the impending cataclysmic impacts of Global Warming and Climate change. The proponents, prophets of doom, provided contrived expert scientific evidence of its disastrous effects, yet every prediction failed to materialize – they never happened. Yet we’re investing $45 Billion next year to combat nonexistent, inconceivable, improbable, and unsupportable suppositions.

Pumping trillions of dollars of fiat currency into the economy to “relieve and curtail” inflation had the opposite effect. At its high point, it was 8.8%; at this moment, it’s 6.04%, but the impact is still evident in the cost of goods and services. The interest payments on our debt alone were $475 Billion in 2022, and they’re expected to exceed $641 Billion this coming year.

Every action has a reaction, as evidenced by the FEDs 450 basis point increase since March of 2022, impacting lending rates [Basis Point].

The FED’s changes and uncontrolled government spending cause unpredictable investment returns, predictable escalating lending rates, and inflation based on an uncertain financial market exacerbated by the basis point increases.

There is a two-tiered justice system apparent in our culture. Our constitutional guarantee of the equal and fair application of the law was amended to follow partisan lines. The distinguishing component follows ideological leanings of liberal and conservative – attributed to partisan political divisions.

* DemoSoc = Liberal

* Republican = Conservative

* Libertarian = Conservative-ish

The adjustments and changes made to our constitution to accommodate their crisis de jure hobbled and eviscerated it. There is little resemblance to the original document, and our understanding of this charter is exceptionally inadequate. This well-written treatise on self-rule deserves our complete attention and awareness. After all, it is or was the foundation of our country.

But you see, that’s part of the plan. Create a crisis, exploit it to grab power, amend the constitution to rationalize and legitimize the changes, and go on to the next item on the list.

The most recent crisis and power tool is DIE = Diversity Inclusion Equity. In the parlance of the WOKE, it’s DEI because DIE is far too indicative of the ideology’s consequences.

These three values are the “closely linked values held by many organizations that are working to support different groups of individuals, including people of other races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders, and sexual orientations.”

* The comment regarding DIE’s indicative nature reveals that many organizations that embrace this WOKEism have failed utterly. Three large corporations where this WOKEism failed are Walmart, Netflix, and Wells Fargo. Although it is unproven, banks embracing the DIE philosophy are failing, too.

The recently failed banks, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, were strong proponents of the Woke ideology and followed the ethos ESG – Environmental, Social, and Governance right over the cliff.

* ESG is framework companies use to evaluate their approach to investments and issues like the use of green energy, air and water pollution, diversity in hiring, and gender equality. Last year, Marlo Oaks, Utah’s State Treasurer, pulled about $100 million in state funds from the Blackrock investment firm because of their use of ESG in evaluating investments.

SVB and Signature are the recent victims. Again the impact of the ESG and DIE cult is unproven; their coincidental adoption cannot be ignored.

“Yes, you see, there’s no such thing as coincidence. There are no accidents in life. Everything that happens is the result of a calculated move that leads us to where we are.” ~ J.M. Darhower

It’s not the idea of creating an inclusive work environment but how the government mandates it rather than deference to the corporate board and managers.

First, why are they – the government – trying to fix something they broke, to begin with?

What do you believe?

This concept is probably the most critical idea you can ponder and the main takeaway of this article.

We all need a belief, but we seldom know why. It’s often inspired by long-held family traditions or peer pressure. Maybe we’ve been searching for a cause to support. Are we looking for something to give our lives meaning? Perhaps it just piqued your interest, but do you know the background of the cause?

Are you ready to join that cult?

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Victor Frankl

March 23, 2023

~ The Author ~
Charles R. Dickens was born in 1951, is a veteran of the Vietnam war, for which he volunteered, and the great-great grandson of the noted author, whose name he shares.

He is a fiercely proud American, who still believes this is the greatest country on the planet, with which we’ve lost control and certainly our direction. He grew up in moderate financial surrounding; we’re not rich by any stretch, but didn’t go hungry – his incredibly hard working father saw to that. As most from that era, he learned about life from his father, whose story would take too long to tell, other than to say that, he is also a fiercely proud American; a WWII and Korean war, veteran Marine.

Charlie was educated in the parochial system which, demanded that you actually learn something, and have capability to retain it before you advance. He attended several universities in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, and chased the goose further to a master’s, and has retained some very definite ideas about education in this country.

In addition, Charlie is a retired blues guitar and vocalist – a musician. This was his therapy career. Nothing brings him as much joy as playing music, and he wishes that he could make a living at it… but alas… life goes on!