THOMAS PAINE WAS RIGHT - AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM IS WRONG
Words In Celebration Of Our Inner Realistic Fourth Of July
LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY
The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances hath, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected, and in the Event of which, their Affections are interested.
During this 4th Of July week my purpose is to understand the things we really must encompass as patriots this year. If we do not - if we continue to acquiesce to the power grubbing elite - we will lose and be likely to lose forever.
Thomas Paine was 100% correct when he declared the American cause for liberty and equality was a universal one. He articulated the fundamental understanding that we who fight for liberty fight for the freedom and equality of all mankind.
To understand otherwise as will be discussed in this essay is to fail in any defense of liberty. The effete tendency to fight for liberty within the egotistical framework of a nation, a religion or a philosophy is destined to fail.
Jingoism represents a fundamental and fatal error to understand patriotism. Although patriotism and jingoism can be made to seem equal by the words of glib egotistical rulers and their minions believing these are equal leads us astray.
This was not understood by most in Paine’s own time and so far is not being well understood in ours.
CORRELATION IS NOT NECESSARILY CAUSATION
There is a tendency to link the failures of America to this particular nation state. And although - in a superficial and incorrect understanding of history - they are linked we must look deeper to see the real causes.
This superficial and facile assumption is adapted and proselytized by many popular and dangerously mistaken prophets of doom these days. They identify one nation state or one interest group - connect the problems they see - and voila. Correlation becomes causation. Problem solved!
This tendency is dangerous to society and is dangerous to the person who engages in it. It is based on self deception and this is dangerous to all life including that of the individual.
SELF DECEPTION IS DANGEROUS
Why is this dangerous? Because it traps us in a narrow rather than a wide focus where we miss the most important points. Being wrong never leads to right. Truth always outs and lies always lead to more lies.
Lies represent fatal weakness which leads to destruction.
To see beyond this through to the understanding that freedom, liberty, equality are not those of nation states but human universal ones is essential.
To go beyond and see clearly that the failure of nations - of we the people of planet earth - are the failures of human beings. That until and unless we see that these things never were American causes - but all along were universal.
Our overlords want us to thing they are limited to such artificial distinctions as nations. How else to better divide and conquer us so they can persist in their war profiteering?
I take the words of Thomas Paine to heart. We may have one last chance to get this right if we are fortunate.
NATIONAL FAILINGS OR HUMAN FAILINGS?
Across history we see the many mistakes and horrendous human rights abuses by all the nation states. These mistakes and abuses are highlighted in America because it has an admirable history of proclaiming a stand for human rights.
That America failed - how it failed and why - is a subject for another essay. This essay concentrates on the universal and planetary failure to avoid totalitarianism - including America.
Totalitarianism or fascism is not more or less endemic to America than it is in any other nation.
It is simply and irreversibly true that a nation state which founds itself in liberty will be held accountable. It is right and true that those who set the bar for human freedom high but then fail to live up to these high and worthy goals need to be taken into account.
It is high time that we as Americans hold ourselves once again accountable to these goals. Not because we wish to beat ourselves up and engage in self sabotage but because we as Americans have a worthy and lofty goal to continue to follow.
We can look around the world today and see that this fashionable America bashing is ridiculous. Likewise are those who pound the drums for holding leftists alone, Conservatives alone, Christian fundamentalists or Marxists or Communists alone responsible for the ills of the world are in grave error.
Only one identifiable group may alone be held responsible for today’s totalitarianism. It is identifiable and once you see it for what it is with all of the interconnections to allied groups, politicians, corporate forces and partners it cannot be unseen
There is currently no nation state on the face of the Earth which is not also subject to the International Corporatocracy which runs the world. As this group has openly bragged they have infiltrated all governments across the planet.
is the author of an excellent review of this sprawling beast with the World Economic Forum at the top.
THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION = THE FOURTH REICH
For those desiring further information on the Fourth Industrial Revolution as advertised by the World Economic Forum please request this in the comments. For a further basic definition of the WEF and partners see the following:
The poisonous treasonous evil which infects the world is however still the responsibility of we as Americans. With the whole world infected by fascist ideology which nations can afford to fail to recognize and define this? Which people are going to stand against it and win?
Many. Many across the world who understand this is a human cause and not at all exclusively an American one. We also as Americans must see ourselves as part of the world. For Thomas Paine was correct. For citizens of any nation state to see themselves set apart and special is a tremendous political, human and spiritual error.
THERE IS NO AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM - THERE NEVER HAS BEEN
This national jingoism is always wrong. I have relatives living in the UK who see their adopted nation and peoples as exceptional. It is a mistake of our point of view. One of them said to me on discussing fascism that the people of the UK are too fundamentally good to fall for that. Clearly not the case.
Claiming exceptionalism by one faction of humanity is tantamount to claiming to be perfect - and as silly.
Perhaps the epitome of human ego trips is to say and feel “My country - right or wrong”. It is an effete and dangerous deception. Based on self deception and lies it ends up being life destroying.
This deception plays right into the hands of those who would rule over us. Divide and conquer is a strategy of the fascist, totalitarian elite. They will impose it in any way they can to weaken people sufficiently that they will fail to even imagine the evil strategy being imposed.
Nationalism - like egotism - is death.
What is a patriot? My country right or wrong? No.
A patriot is one who understands the basic values of patriotism.
Patriots, real patriots as opposed to jingoistic servants - understand the inner as well as outer values. These are values we either understand as morally and spirituality grounded human beings or we utterly miss the point.
In the pursuit of national, religious, or spiritual fundamentalism we may well lose sight of basic truths. These are the all too simple and the yet profound basic truths of dangerous radicals such as Thomas Paine.
These truths are viewed as dangerous to the ruling elite. The elites who have existed in principle throughout our history - across all nation states and civilizations. Although they may seem like new threats to each generation they are not.
These are the ruling classes which always seek more power and more riches at the expense of the people. These rulers effect jingoistic narratives to subjugate us and buy our sympathies.
The method by which they distill increasing power and wealth at our expense is by selling us these notions of jingoistic exceptionalism. Through successfully selling us these ideas we come to really believe we are superior to another group of humans. These humans we agree to fight against are sold as evil.
But those we fight are sold the same line. Once everyone believes they are exceptional - no one is. We all then become nothing but chess pieces in some elites chessboard. We all lose. By engaging in holding ourselves apart as exceptional - we lose. We lose to the psychopathic elite generation after generation.
HOW DO WE BREAK THIS CHAIN?
Thankfully it is broken in the same way we would apply to any abusive relationship. We call the bluff.
We stop viewing ourselves as exceptional.
Most importantly we see that we have become a member of a serially abusive relationship with our governments, corporations and institutions. We remove ourselves and those we love from further harm.
We revoke our agreement to participate - clearly and simply.
We view ourselves in the light of the wisdom of any worthy spiritual teacher. We do not see ourselves, our religion, our philosophy, or our government as lending us any superior or exceptional status.
THE UNFORTUNATE HEGEMONY OF CHURCH AND STATE
It is a fact of history that we have an unfortunate alliance of churches and nation states. This is not a criticism of either religions or nation states but of the hegemony which grips, weakens, and destroys them both and therefore the people.
Perhaps most of us in America see ourselves as Christian - or at least descending from that tradition. Any claim to exceptionalism is counter to the words and teachings of Jesus.
Jesus did not teach exceptionalism at all. “There but for the grace of god”; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” - he taught.
Are those the views of a spiritual teacher who teaches exceptionalism? Hardly!
And yet time after time from the pulpits of churches we see the teachings of this man of peace turned into cheap distortions of his message. We see Jesus and his message weaponized. Why?
Because for countless generations we have seen the elites turn messages of spiritual grace into corrupted versions. This is done from an unholy alliance between the nation state and religion.
The church survives by taking money from the faithful. A church once founded on the basis of messages of peace becomes corrupted. The church itself becomes a money changer in the temple. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely - those of the church are not less corruptible than others.
Before we know it churches become aligned with the ruling class of the nation state. And before we can - as the faithful - recognize it those we once trusted have become 100% corrupted and rotten to the core.
This is how totalitarianism creeps in the door and infests our governments, corporations and institutions. The only way to keep it from happening is to heal ourselves of the personal weaknesses which serve these agendas. None of us is blameless here - not American, not any group.
Being concerned about being blameless is an effete and unaffordable conceit in the midst of this genocide. The only thing we should be concerned with is with how we can change to make the world a better place by healing ourselves. All the rest is vanity.
THE WEAPONIZATION OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY
This - in short form - is how religion becomes an opiate of the masses - a weaponized tool of those who seek to rule over us. The church - the very institution in which we have put our trust - becomes a serially abusive and dangerous source of evil.
Jesus himself begged us to see this simple but much missed truth. He died understanding our tendency to be misled and forgave us all for our errors.
Now at the edge of death ourselves as humans perhaps we are capable of finally understanding. If we don’t we will perish.
By seeing and applying the key spiritual teachings we may have a bare hope of a ghost of a chance of taking back our own power and finally triumphing over the very evil our spiritual teachers defined for us.
We are fortunate among us to have real heroes who understand what is happening. Our best bet is to pay attention to their words and to the words of others who offer real solutions. From a fellow writer
I recommend the following in closing:
Straighten me out - are you saying that Paine denied American exceptionalism? That's not what I have gathered. Also, America is exceptional - not its people, though they have a responsibility to rise to the level of their privilege. America is exceptional because there is no place else like it on earth in terms of the structure of its constitution and how it came to be a nation. Immigrants (legal ones and probably illegal as well) take note of this difference (exception) when they enter the country. Saying that America is the exception is not jingoism or braggadocios or even exclusionary. The desire has always been that all the world's peoples could experience liberty the way God intended it. America is "exceptional" because it is the only place on earth one has been able to find freedom, the only place where the government has been restricted by the God-given rights of the people. We are still the country everyone runs to - for now.
The USA is unique although not exceptional. We represent the world through the lens of our homegrown democracy. We are still an experiment that is barely 250 years old. We are a relatively young country that is currently divided like no other time since the civil war. We have accomplished much but the most difficult part of the path lies ahead. We have a lot of work to do to unite this troubled country and move on to a higher form of democracy, "a more perfect union".