Political Apathy Defies Gravity
Elections have consequences.
It’s hard to imagine a clearer indication of this than what we saw in Israel on October 7th. Our current administration is an absolute blight on our world and our nation. As conservatives, our views may differ on foreign aid, religious differences, or proposed political solutions, but there is no doubt that the horrific savagery of Hamas would not have been let loose to this degree if not for several factors:
- All US citizens who voted for this corrupt and feckless administration which has now funded and emboldened the most heinous terrorist regimes;
- All Democrats and establishment Republicans who refuse to prioritize bold action against the festering woke ideologies that allow and encourage this madness in the name of “tolerance”;
- Every person in this country who rolled their eyes and turned away from investigating the fraud of the 2020 election;
- And everyone who tolerates a bizarrely cavalier attitude to the suffering of Jews.
Are you horrified by the reports of savagery from the October 7th attacks? Then allow it to make you bold in condemning the corruption and self-serving permissiveness of the Biden administration.
Are you confused by conflicting reports, recycled videos and accounts that don’t seem “quite right”? Allow it to make you curious about where you get your news and whose agenda is behind what you see or read.
Are you feeling defeated by the overwhelming consequences of the 2020 election? Allow it to make you active, especially regarding election integrity.
Are you disgusted with one-sided coverage, skewed reports, and politicized narratives? Allow it to make you generous in supporting independent media.
Are you shocked by the scale of violence against Jews spreading through cities and universities? Then, for the love of all that is decent and good, please pay attention to the forces that are allowing it to flourish in our midst.
One is our open southern border, with millions of unchecked people streaming through continuously (current estimates are 8.5-10 million since Biden took office). Our federal government has already confirmed hundreds of individuals on terror watchlists and from terror-supporting countries have entered. More broadly problematic is the complete lack of any will on the part of our government to ensure the millions of others who come here assimilate to American values. One quick look at the immigration-related problems in European cities spells out the issues that we will soon be facing on that front: rather than the melting pot we so prize as Americans, we face pockets of people who have imported ideologies that are in direct conflict with American values like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, protection of individual liberties, and free enterprise.
Second, and most crucial for so many reasons, our education system has failed our society – we see this in our universities where critical theory (i.e., “grievance studies”) have flourished and an extreme leftist fascism now reigns in speech codes, cancel culture, and outright hatred based on perceived privilege which excuses heinous attitudes and actions against whites, Asians and Jews. Ask yourself: what kind of person is susceptible to these bad ideas? The answer is: kids who have not been taught in k-12 to think logically, to value individual thought and critical thinking; kids who have been taught collectivist values that denigrate parent/child relationships; kids who have no solid foundation on which to judge new information because every precept they should be able to count on has been destroyed: good and evil are now relative terms, the sanctity of the family means nothing, the truths of biology that indicate male and female are sneered at as bigotry, the very existence of anything called “truth” is now openly attacked (remember, there are no “right” answers in math anymore…2+2=5 if you want it to). When truth, goodness, and logic are enemies, how can a high school student tutored in confusion be expected to withstand the emotional tsunami of a modern US college campus?
Third, please wake up to the antisemitism around you. Resist and denounce the double-standard of expecting Israel to restrain herself in fighting terror. No other nation in the history of our entire world has ever been expected to endure this savagery and inhumanity without fighting back to defend its citizens. Please do not give in to the false cries of “cease fire” coming from the aggressors who broke the peace and the self-interested neighbors who gain much from the festering sore of conflict yet refuse to alleviate the suffering by accepting refugees and condemning terrorism.
There is plenty of room for decent, fair-minded patriots to disagree on which political solutions we should pursue, and it’s well past time for all of us to apply skepticism to the warmongers in our own government who profit off conflict. But there is no room for debate in condemning the horror of what occurred. And there is no room for drawing moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense. While we may not agree on America’s precise role in the conflict, there is NO ROOM for sympathy with terrorists who attack civilians and use their own people as human shields.
Elections have consequences. Even at the state level, and especially at the local level. Political apathy defies gravity: it actually trickles UP. When we sit out our small elections or vote without researching candidates and issues, we send a clear signal to our county party leaders, our state legislators, and our congressional representatives: we don’t care…you know best…just decide for us.
When we allow negligence or wrongdoing in our own laws at the local or state level, we have no right to condemn it elsewhere. How many people with “Yes on Issue 1” signs in their yard are also publicly condemning the killing of babies on October 7th? When we allow hypocrisy and atrocities in our own backyard without fighting back, we forfeit any moral authority to condemn atrocities elsewhere. When we let go the reins that are within our reach, chaos follows and we get what we deserve.
Elections have consequences. This week and moving forward, please involve yourself in local elections. Pay attention to who represents you in our county GOP, in our local school boards and townships, and in our state legislature. Education, immigration, and election integrity are all hyper-local issues and can all be shaped most effectively at the local level. These are the races where your common sense conservative values can have the most impact. Please vote.
And after the election, join Fortify Geauga as we launch a new initiative to help you understand what our county GOP SHOULD be doing for you. Remember, political apathy defies gravity: it actually trickles UP. If we elect representatives and don’t pay attention to who they really are and what they really do (or what they don’t do), we get what we deserve. If you believe we deserve better, join us. Sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already and check your spam folder for emails from foritfygeauga.org. We’re planning some community engagement events for early next year to help Geauga County citizens understand what our county GOP should be doing for us and how we can harness that power to put grassroots conservative values at the forefront of our local government. We need lots of help planning these events and reaching the community. Please contact us at fortifygeauga@proton.me if you’d like to be involved.
Outstanding commentary!