Jun 13, 2017 By Francis Lilly 5 min read

This is a difficult letter for me as an eight year Vietnam era veteran. In prior H-S opinions, I have tried to be civil and respect positions/opinions of those with whom I disagree. They have Constitutional rights as do I. When they present verifiable “evidence” supporting arguments, I weigh it and consider it in decisions.

Thanking God, I am blessed in birth and service to this nation. Though never approaching perfection, America maintained a moral, ethical, legal, spiritual pendulum swinging to and fro. It prompted “we the people” back to sobriety when derailed and train wreck was imminent. The pendulum was powered by Constitutional intent, Constitutional government structure, and 240 years of legislated laws and regulation to douse rising flames of tyranny and provision for common welfare. I now believe that pendulum has been snapped from its pivot and fallen into the political quagmire, irretrievable, never again to swing with authority.

Not an expert on any topic, I avidly seek understanding of The Constitution, Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, The Bible, government, politics, military, information theory, communications, psychology, media, and other drivers of our society and national ethos.

We are in schizophrenic paralysis. I write as a “participant observer” having lived through, and lost employment, as Tom Peter’s corporate “management by chaos” organizational development model transformed America from a strong national producer to an offshore labor profiteering model.

Originally intending to write about it, I trashed six cubic feet of reference materials (before the internet) from “attitude surveys” to “Meyers Briggs” to “transactional analysis behavior modification of employees” when it hit me: “Americans just don’t want to know.” Why? It takes work, effort, and time to look for reliable information and to verify it. In an environment of information overload, it’s just easier to attach to an ideology, a sole information source, become cultic sponge zombies sucking up whatever information, misinformation or disinformation our preferred and worshipped pundits and soothsayers spew.

Next, internalize it then disseminate it as “gospel” (pun intended). Considerations of authoritative reason, experience, civility, total scripture, tradition, history, are not needed. Global enmeshing of economies, governments, environments, and militaries, who cares? We are nationalists. We’re busy thinking about blood sports, entertainment gods, finding Bigfoot, religious schisms (re-crucifying Jesus), cherry-picking the Constitution while hating and deconstructing the Federalist government designed to replace the Articles of The Confederation (under which states were in control).Who knew 240 years later contemporary fathers would reverse Founding Father’s work and document?

So, why did I write? My opinion is only that. It is based on the above observations. They have led me to take a position that is contrary to my life’s path, but I say it without remorse. While I continue to love God and country, I can no longer stomach the processes and institutions that inspired that love. Nor do I feel obligated to defend the choices and changes to those processes, especially electoral, financial, educational and religious. There’s copious evidence that we have crossed the Rubicon from the old “Constitutionally limited democratic republic” to corporate oligarchy in global league. As an economics buff, I restate that absolutely no classic economist from Adam Smith to Keynes until Milton Friedman could have envisioned current global corporate capitalist shroud including nations that were considered Communist enemies. The change as I view it: capitalism has transformed and consumed the communist “economic” model, while adopting the oppression of people, propaganda, and political models of those we are indoctrinated to demonize as enemies (as I was indoctrinated to believe when I enlisted).

Capitalism was a “manageable” system when the pendulum existed. Under the mantra that “Big Government (structured by the Constitution) is bad” those with corporate special interests power are elected to gut regulations that controlled and to legislate fast track hands-off laws and regulations that encouraged offshore labor exploitation. The coffin nail was driven by Citizens United, enabling establishment of legal “shopping malls” for corporate purchase of legislative, judicial, and administrative assets to grease skids and fund corporate welfare rather than the commons.

The founding fathers debated that this should not be a “democracy” because (to paraphrase) the people are not smart enough to make critical decisions. For that reason, perhaps in the chaos, legislation will pass banning mirrors.

I write not to attack elected politicians. They emulate the scorpion in Aesop’s fable of the Scorpion and the Frog. Talked into giving the scorpion a ride on his back across a stream, midway the frog feels the scorpion’s sting (they will both die). When the frog asks “WHY?” the scorpion replies: “It’s my nature.” I no longer feel an obligation to defend a nation in chaos because the electorate is the frog.

On Nov. 18, 1956, in the Polish Embassy in Moscow, discussing Communism vs capitalist states, Nikita Khruschev spoke the words “My vas pokhoronim”. Translations vary. Because pokhoronim refers to burial. U.S. news reports translated it as “We will bury you.” I graduated from high school on June 6, 1959. On June 24, I arrived at Great Lakes. Why did I enlist? Was it blind patriotism? Some predictions just take a little longer. Perhaps one merely has to wait for memories to fade or subsequent generations to become clueless in their time.

I study and discern history while monitoring current events and legislation. I have one vote. Do I have confidence that it has impact and is uniquely American? Well, not so much.

Francis Lilly is a resident of Finleyville.