Idealism and altruism dominated the national dialogue in the years immediately preceding COVID-19.
The radical left tried to take advantage of these prosperous years by proposing pie-in-the-sky projects like a $30 trillion-dollar Green New Deal, student loan forgiveness, and universal basic income.
The rest of America understandably ignored these ridiculous proposals, but that apathy has been to our detriment. Marxist ideology has ravaged our country over the last 18 months, and it’s unclear how long until we regain our former prosperity.
Whether you admired or reviled former President Donald Trump, the average American did well on his watch. That prosperity convinced many Americans that they no longer needed to pay attention to the shenanigans in Washington, D.C.
That’s in our nature.
When Americans feel optimistic and confident, watching politics is the last thing we want to do. Despite all attempts by mainstream and social media to divide us into Team Blue and Team Red, most of us would rather build our businesses, spend time with our families, and enjoy our liberties as described in our Founding documents than obsess over politics.
D.C. is called "The Swamp" for a reason. No one really wants to go there or think about it.
However, in our prosperous complacency, we largely ignored the "Cold Civil War" raging in Washington. While we enjoyed wise fiscal policies, a rollback of onerous regulations, and a generally secure nation, the Democrats and never-Trump RINOS waged war against the administration.
Their foot soldiers were the "civil servants" in Washington, many of whom operated under the illusion of "non-partisanship."
For the few astute observers taking note of these Trump years, it was obvious that great trouble was to come.
Young Americans became enthralled by programs espoused by the new breed of socialists in Congress, led by their sage, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sanders promised to "forgive" their student debt, which they seem to have acquired while avoiding courses in finance or history.
Naively, these young Americans signed on to candidates and movements advocating for more government control. They embraced the word "equity" in place of the old, tired "equality."
Many who barely understood the liberties they possessed as Americans were ready to hand them over without a thought to the statists who promised security.
Hollywood and political elites injected the phrase, "you will own nothing and be happy" into the pop culture blood stream through their servants in Big Tech. Just like "Build, Back Better," these slogans were all manufactured in Davos by "The Great Reset" cool kids club at the World Economic Forum.
This "new" way of thinking could have been demolished with a one-day history class.
Sadly, too few understand that exchanging all freedom for the promise of security ends in extreme poverty and mass casualties.
And — here we are.
Our complacency through the prosperity of the Trump years, combined with an ignorance of economics and great power rivalries, has carried us to the brink of disaster in less than 18 months.
A mismanaged pandemic, reckless printing of fiat currency, censorship, political prosecutions, border crises, military failures, and more have pushed all Americans to a breaking point.
And yet, we are told that this newest iteration of the Build Back Better bill, a $4.8 trillion spending orgy, is in our best interest.
Are Americans that naïve?
Wake up, Charlie Brown. Lucy is going to swipe away the football — every time.
But in the real world, as long as Nancy Pelosi holds the ball, things won't end well.
Why don’t we form our own "new" way forward by reversing the Davos proposition? Why don’t we take our freedoms back and restore liberty while the newest iteration of Marxists puts America back the way they found it?
Brig Gen (ret) Blaine Holt is a co-founder of Restore Liberty, former Deputy Representative to NATO, lifetime member on the Council on Foreign Relations and Newsmax Contributor. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, or its components.
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