Our so-called civilization has fundamentally changed us from what we once almost universally aspired to be. We rationalize rather than taking decisive action, which used to be virtually reflexive for even the slow-witted or uneducated. Take current events as but a single example:
I’m thrilled beyond words that the October 7th hostage taking ordeal is behind us. While it seems the entire world has gotten on board with a 20-point plan to bring the hostages home and end the war in Gaza, there’s one small detail missing. Hamas hasn’t agreed to most of the other elements! Hamas has not given up! Carl von Clausewitz, the famous Prussian General, said: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” Hamas is not yet beaten. What it means to a more peaceful Middle East is still an open question.
Because Hamas returned to their playbook of trolling our side and playing us for the idiots we’ve become: “Hamas’s statements and actions inspired optimism, but did not address several elements of the plan that it had deemed unacceptable.” Most people I’ve spoken with think the hostage exchange is tantamount to Hamas surrendering; it’s not.
Here we go again. I often criticize the media for doing what they do best: trolling us with misinformation and false narratives. However, they’re not beyond taking gifts of misinformation or slanted info from the various information providers, leakers, and commentators who are always disposed to tell you what you heard in plain English is not at all what’s really happening.
Root of Apathy in America:-
This, my friends, is the root of apathy in America, if not most of the English-speaking world. I’ve been many things at times: a student, a warrior, a 35-year businessman, an officer in our neighborhood HOA for twenty years, and the past president of a Florida tax watchdog organization for twenty years. I share this to demonstrate my bona fides in addressing both operational and political issues throughout my lifetime.
The takeaway that encapsulates so much of my life is the amount of outrage that can be developed by people on issues large and small, but over the passage of time, how normalized those very same issues become, and unless there is something with immediate effect to someone or to a group of people, how often they drift away and move on to the next issue de jour. Come back in five or ten years, and the same problems are “rediscovered” and once again intensely debated. Rinse and repeat!
Most people lack the stones to stand up for issues that, at first glance, should matter intensely to them. Oh, they’ll write a check to someone else to fight the problem, but they have “lives to live” that are ultimately more important than standing up for what’s right, or more to the point, recognized as vital to their own self-interest.
There are so many national issues that matter to our future destiny that go unresolved:
- The national debt
- Immigration
- The Rule of Law
- The economy
- America’s position in the world, including potential Great Powers Conflicts
- Our birthrate crisis and intact families
- The paralysis connected to our strident political divisions over the last 30 years or so
Taken together, it’s overwhelming and just another thing to add to the stack of things to worry about. Fundamentally, nothing gets done because that’s our new norm: reacting rather than leading. Apathy is contagious. It affects our entire population. And, like people in poverty think, no one wants anyone else to succeed if they don’t succeed. I’ve heard that called the crab trap mentality:
If I can’t have it, neither can you.”
My short seven-point list of challenges is actually far longer, as you likely can agree. My point is that as these challenges accumulate, all unresolved, the underlying reasons we don’t confront them become more difficult to address as we progress, creating the very apathy that restrains their resolution.
We must solve our problems one at a time. Do we have the will, do we have the understanding that we have no right to our apathy that only leads to our undoing? I assure you, our enemies and detractors are far from apathetic.
Defeat of Apathy:-
The defeat of apathy should be a national endeavor. Trump’s destruction of drug boats coming out of Venezuela is definitive action. What Trump does with ending the hostage situation in Gaza demands similar action, or it becomes an opportunity missed and very much noticed by said enemies.
I’m fearful that the release of the hostages, in exchange for tens of thousands of criminal Gazans since the debacle commenced, sends the wrong message. A message that should unequivocally state that taking hostages does not work, or we’ll have another and another hostage taking situation. The damage to the country’s psyche as a consequence of apathy is already evident on our nightly news, social media, and in our halls of government.
Conclusion:-
If we are ever to change the narrative away from defeatism and back to a strong and prosperous America—a country that is self-assured and contains a people who row in the same direction—it starts with defeating apathy.
Mr. President, name the enemy and declare ruthless war on it.
God Bless America!
Allan J. Feifer—Patriot
Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com. Read additional great writers here.
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