I tried to forget about this article, but it has occupied my mind for the best part of yesterday and this morning. So I feel compelled to comment – again. I don’t know why this piece so gets under my skin. Yes, it’s a provocation, the point is to provoke and I’ve been provoked.

I’m wondering where is the fierce pragmatism? Is it pragmatic to present these assertions without justifying the claims made in the piece? It has become popular to draw parallels and even equate the US government, specifically the present administration, to the Third Reich. It must be emotionally gratifying for some to make this equation but it seems to be a shallow comparison given the very different complex histories of both regions. To imply that Americans are living under a government fast becoming a fascist dictatorship with violent utopian ideals bent on using systematic annihilation towards that goal is no light assertion. A more apt comparison might to be the apex and decline of British colonial power, of any great power, possibly the Greeks or Romans, at times brutal, but significantly different from the Third Reich. The US is acting as global hegemonic power in decline, which does not parallel Hitler’s Germany. The dysfunction characterizing both regimes and their destruction of human life is markedly different. A comparison to the Third Reich demands an intellectually rigorous argument, one with a detailed historical comparison. Justify, prove, reason, argue your point. (or provide links to other articles/books that do)

Even if the premise is assumed true; what is moral bankruptcy if not fleeing the scene of the crime?

I’ve heard a sentiment similar to what Johnson describes expressed frequently among the left. It appears that the people who live in areas some might arrogantly consider intellectual voids between the coasts are the people who embody the independent spirit needed to check government power. They abhor growing centralized power and the idea of taxing the product of their own efforts to be ladled out by the vacuous beings in Congress, a practice they understand to be feeding a beast that must be kept down to size. These people would never flee, they would grind their heels in, and they would protect their homes, their families, their friends, their livelihoods, their way of life. Fleeing would not even occur to them. Urban twitters, the romantics, the idealists would be duped into giving it away.

A word about idealism: When I think of the dangers of straying too far into an idealist or romantic mindset beyond the disappointment awaiting such a person around every corner, I think of Milton’s Paradise Lost where all seek the Garden of Eden. Satan is looking for Eden to destroy it. He finds his way with the help of an angel who has no imagination for evil.

Of course, one must come to their own conclusions about a life philosophy, a framework of principled reason within which to perceive and act upon reality, but my experience with idealism, with romanticism, is that it robs some significance from the achievements throughout human history. The conquering of tyranny, the recognition of human rights, the implementation of a structure through which justice can be served; through the lens of idealism this history seems inevitable, so obvious, to be expected, because according to this thought man is good and is driven to pursue the highest goals.

But man is not infallible and based on our current record of history, is definitely not inherently good or driven to aspire to either of these ideals but motivated by often selfish and destructive behavior. We have the capacity for good, for compassion and empathy and great reason and logic, all those lofty ideals, but it is anything but inevitable that man will act on such principle. Be in awe when we do.

The ideas that came from Hammurabi, from the Greeks, from the religious prophets, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, are truly triumphs over a nature that is not reasonable. These were precious momentous moments of clarity when man acted against his very nature. One’s appreciation for these moments, for the minds having contributed to the creation of these moments and the desire to protect and if necessary fight to preserve the expression of these ideas grows with such a sobering view of human nature. The idea of fleeing becomes absurd.

The corruption and cronyism infesting our state and federal governments in both parties is degrading to the citizenry but I am too sentimental about our history and the courage and intelligence of the framers and their supporters to believe fleeing is the answer. This is our shadow and it will follow us wherever we may go.