January 6th, 2021 | 300-Year Analysis of the United States of America
The purpose of agitation…Is to create a response. Since November 7th, the 45th president of the United States has promised to not go quietly. His actions mirror those of tyrants we vilify in nations abroad. HELP IS NOT COMING.
We are a young Republic. Confident in our arrogance. Ambitious and hopeful about the future, but willfully ignorant of the risk we face. The decisions we make as a young nation reverberate through time and shape our collective destiny.
“One country. One Destiny.” The phrase was written on the inside pocket of Abraham Lincoln’s jacket the night he was assassinated.
Racists, revolutionaries, leaders, teachers, criminals…we have one destiny as a nation. When our nation fails we all fail. When our nation corrupts we all feel the consequences. As other nations look on, the US looks for individuals to lead us back to sanity.
1776–1876 | The 1st century was a building phase. From ages 0–10, we grew with child-like excitement, designing a government without the constraint of ego. Our leaders willfully gave up power to sustain the dream and experiment we call “democracy”. Our leaders used slavery to accelerate industrial and economic growth beyond what is naturally possible, and in doing so, created a hubris that was built unsustainably on the backs of others.
1876–1976 | The 2nd century we hit our growth spurt. From ages 11–20, we overcame internal struggles and defined our identities. Here we showed the world our potential. We trailblazed with ambition and built up arrogant confidence through our economic, civil, and military victories. Our foundational growth rate was exponential, benefitting from the early and new economic growth in the first century, and from an economic/geopolitical strategy that flooded global markets with US dollars, and financed growth through deficit financing.
1976–2076 | The 3rd century, similar to adults when we’re 21–30, we either achieve our potential or waste it. We make decisions that determine the length of our life. We either invest in our future or destroy it. We become weaker or stronger. We become more unified or more disparate. This is where we emerge as leaders of a new age or fall into a forgotten past.
We sit on the sidelines and HOPE we can benefit from the leadership of others. WE CAN’T. Help is not coming.
Use yesterday as a reminder that individual contributions are the only solution to progress. You saw willing and complicit behavior from people we HOPE to deal with our problems for us.
We HOPE the president will do the right thing. We HOPE the police will behave in alignment with their duty. We HOPE that people empathize with human pain. We HOPE that our country continues to be strong. We HOPE we can sit on the sidelines and benefit from our environment. We can’t. You can’t.
If you don’t act then no one will. It’s an individual that went from a real estate investor to a president. It’s an individual that decided to be the one to break the 1st windows and doors in the Capital. It’s an individual that stoked the flames of hate and divisiveness for personal gain. It is individual actions that shape the perception of mass movements. It is individual acts that elevated this country to historical significance.
If you don’t use your abilities to create change, then your opinion is just as valuable as the hope that died during the assault on our capital.
When YOU are equipped with the perspective and ability to make a difference — the rest of the country depends on you. We need action. Help isn’t coming.
Ashli Babbit, an airforce veteran was fatally shot while attempting to force her way into the capital. She took individual action. All of her counterparts took individual action. Yet she was the one who died from a fatal gunshot wound. Ashli’s death, like all death, is a tragedy. Individuals in our government sat idly by as President #45 stoked hate and divisiveness. We HOPED somebody would step up and stop him. Nobody did.
Ashli Babbit didn’t need to die. Nobody did enough to combat the hate that provoked yesterday’s attack on the capital.
We can’t hope for others to act. IF you see something wrong then FIX it. No more empty social media campaigns. No more hypocritical discussion about a misrepresentative political process. Run for you your local office. Run for Senate. Run for Congress. Start that non-profit. Write that book. Use your voice. Yesterday, domestic terrorists stormed the capital in the name of what they call “revolution”. They stood up for what they believed in. To heal, to find peace, so must we.
