In 2024, America narrowly averted a civil war. (It is doubtful that Trump’s supporters would have accepted the result if Trump lost. See the last 30 minutes of the documentary ‘Trump Vindicated’). Fortunately America has a robust electoral system. (If you don't understand why the founding fathers set up the electoral college, see the YouTube video "Do You Understand the Electoral College? | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU".)
The following was put together prior to Trumps re-election.
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“...to try too hard to make people good, is one way to make them worse; ...the only way to make them good is to be good...” ~ George MacDonald
Start being good. Start being honest, kind, brave, compassionate, fair, and just. If you're an American, don't be one of the crowd. Think for yourself.
‘Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.
2 ‘Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favouritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 ‘If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
6 ‘Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 ‘Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 ‘Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. (Exodus 23:1-9)
Try to put Jesus words into practice. If enough Americans do this, America will not be destroyed.
America, you have forgotten the values that made you great. You have exchanged truth for a lie. You have sown to the wind. And if you do not open your eyes and learn to judge fairly, you will reap the whirlwind. Wake up America! Stop sleepwalking to your death. Open your eyes.
“’The sophists’, Plato says, ‘fabricate a fictitious reality.’ That the existential realm of man could be taken over by pseudorealities whose fictitious nature threatens to become indiscernible is a truly depressing thought. And yet, the Platonic Nightmare, I hold, possesses an alarming contemporary relevance. For the general public is being reduced to a state where people are not only unable to find out about the truth but also become unable even to search for the truth because they are satisfied with deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious reality created by design through the abuse of language.” Josef Piper, Abuse of Language—Abuse of Power, 1974. (Emphasis added)
The only way to break free from this matrix of lies (most don’t even realise that they are in this matrix) is to be fair minded enough to treat those who hate you kindly and give them a fair hearing. As we judge we will be judged. Does this mean that if we judge unfairly God will judge us unfairly? Not at all. It simply means that if we condemn unjustly, we will be justly condemned by the just judge for judging unjustly.
"ASSUME THAT THE PERSON YOU ARE LISTENING TO MIGHT KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON’T."
This is rule 9 in Jordan Peterson's book 12 Rules for Life. If American's can take this rule to heart, they might save themselves a civil war.1 (The Republican Party is not what it used to be 20 years ago, and the Democrat Party is not what it used to be 20 years ago. A wise voter would watch all the speeches at the DNC and RNC before voting.)
What about the Church? Should they be doing anything politically? Yes and no.
No, Christian leaders should not endorse political candidates or politicians (as any scandal will embroil the leader who endorses them).
Yes, Christian leaders should give clear teaching on the issues the Bible touches, such as treatment of the poor, abortion, sexual sin, etc, which will help Christians to discern who they should be voting for. (But the leaders need to distinguish between red pill issues—what the Bible actually teaches—and blue pill issues—the fashionable issues of the time.)
“In 1983, theologian Francis Schaeffer grew alarmed by evangelical groups concerning themselves with fashionable issues like “unjust structures” and inequitable wealth distribution rather than sinful human hearts. He had no doubt he was seeing capitulation to the spirit of the age. And he had no doubt where such socialist, utopian thinking would lead: Here the gospel has been reduced to a program for transforming social structures. This is the Marxist line. It does not mean that those who take this position are Communists. But it does mean they have made a complete confusion of the kingdom of God with the basic socialistic concepts. In back of this stands the Enlightenment idea of the perfectibility of man if only the cultural and economic chains are removed . . . But think further what this means theologically. What has happened to the fall and sin? [Evangelicals for Social Action] seem to be saying that changing economic structures is the means of salvation for modern man since only this deals with the basic “causes of the disease.” Ironically their program is not radical enough! The basic problem is that of the fall and sin and the heart of man. The basic problem is much deeper than social structures, and by not recognizing this[,] ESA ends up with an understanding of salvation which is very different from what the Scriptures teach.” — from Shepherds for Sale by Megan Basham (2024, HarperCollins)
The temperature in America is rising. The left is convinced that conservatives are intolerant hateful individuals, and conservatives are convinced that big tech is trying to censor them. (It certainly looks like conservatives are being censored. See Ben Shapiro Testifies at the House Committee on Alleged Big Tech Censorship.)
If you sincerely believe that there are people who hate you and are out to destroy you, listen to their speeches, read their books, then you’ll be in a better position to counter their harmful rhetoric. (Don't simply repeat what others are saying they have said. Honest people often spread lies because though honest—many of them are foolish. Believing a lie to be true, they spread it.)
America has a long history of racism. (See Shapiro’s interview with Vince Everett Ellison in Oct 24.)
"...the sincere controversialist is above all things a good listener. The really burning enthusiast never interrupts; he listens to the enemy's arguments as eagerly as a spy would listen to the enemy's arrangements" (G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World, 1910).
If you are quick to condemn, you will not be able to see clearly. You will misinterpret what is right in front of your eyes.
“To give truth to him who loves it not is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation.” ~ George MacDonald
“Stop seeing what you know, and start knowing what you see. This is not about you needing more information. It’s about the fact that you have been programmed to interpret it in a way that does not give you the ability to process that information in a way that because you can’t process it dialectically, you will be positioning your issue for destruction.” - Stephen Coughlin (How the Marxist Dialectic is Attacking You: An Introduction to the Dialectic with Stephen Coughlin)
Some people are only interested in power. Treating others the way they like to be treated is not part of their belief system. They target individuals, institutions, and groups for destruction. They will try to dig up some dirt to place on their target, and if they can’t find any dirt they will twist the truth or simply make things up. If whites stand in their way, they will target whites. If blacks stand in their way, they will target blacks.
A good example of an attempt to destroy someone’s reputation with no regard for the truth is Clarence Thomas. See Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words and Crusade Against the Supreme Court | 6.29.24.
The only things we really need to know about these people are who are they targeting and why?
It's pointless appealing to the idea of fair play when dealing with them. They do not judge everyone by the same standard. (Once they have their target in their sights, anything goes. If they have to label little old ladies as domestic terrorists, they will—anything to silence those who stand in their way. See Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky.) Trying to reason with them is a waste of time (though, as already mentioned, we must give them a fair hearing and carefully exam what they are saying). The only thing they respect is power. Like the Nazis, Communists, and terrorists of every kind, they believe the end justifies the means.
It is time American's got serious about dealing with these people.
“If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you.” Deut 19:16-19
“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” ~ Plato
For more on this see JAMES COMER ON BIDEN CORRUPTION | Verdict Ep.191.
If America avoids a civil war, it will be a miracle. (A large percentage of Americans believe the 2020 election was stolen. The last 30 minutes of the documentary ‘Trump Vindicated’ does not prove the election was stolen, but it does prove that the election system is riddled with holes. If those concerns are not addressed, civil war is a likely outcome.)
America is now on a knife edge.
But will the pendulum swing too far the other way? Time will tell.
The following was put together before the Trump verdict.
In order to improve, we have to be willing to admit to our mistakes.
America is a diverse nation. Diversity can be a good thing, but diversity is not America’s strength—unity is. (The weakness of multiculturalism is that it makes out that unity is less important than diversity. See the YouTube video Multiculturalism: A Bad Idea | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU.)
The following are messages that Americans desperately need to hear.
The alternatives to the free market are socialism or Marxism. So, what's the difference between the two? See the interview on YouTube with Dr. Paul Kengor, "What Makes A Marxist? | Dr. Paul Kengor."
Before watching the video below, I was, in a sense, colour blind. This message has the power to help both sides on the ideological divide understand each other (at least on this important issue).
I would also urge Americans to watch the documentary Crips and Bloods: Made in America. Some black Americans are trapped in circumstances, from which it is extremely hard to escape.2
"But isn’t there a good kind of colour blindness?"
The kind of colour blindness Martin Luther King aspired to, is a good kind of colour blindness. See The Virtue of Color-Blindness.
It’s good to seek equality, but seeking equal outcomes is not always a good thing.
Fortunately, many Americans are sick of the woke nonsense. See The End of Woke? Corporate DEI Retreat on Morning Wire. See also the 5 minute videos DEI Must DIE, and What Is Critical Immigration Theory?.
If American's truly want to address the injustices of America's past, they would do well to read "Righting Wrongs" in Os Guinness' book, Zero Hour America.)
See also You Say You Want a Revolution? | Os Guinness and “Putting Wrong Right” in his book, The Magna Carta of Humanity.
America is not perfect, but which nation or people is? (Sweden is being bombed almost every week. See here.) And every nation and people have things in their past that they ought to be ashamed of.
What about Vietnam? Doesn’t the Vietnam war simply prove that America is an imperialist power who is only interested in taking other people’s resources?3
And yes, white Americans are privileged. But compared to North Koreans, aren’t all Americans privileged?4 See 15 Weird Things That Only Exist In North Korea
America has divided into two seemingly irreconcilable tribes.5 Why? See A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles, Last Call for Liberty: How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat and this short PragerU video, Why Do You Hate Conservatives?
If each community, including the police community, take responsibility for their own actions, America will be ok. (It’s not easy to do though. "With humility comes wisdom." That's what the good book says. For an excellent example of the kind of humility that earns respect and leads to change see the chapter “Extreme Ownership” in Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.)
The American government has its problems, but it could be worse.
And if the US government is not careful, it will be a lot worse.
See also Screams Before Silence and Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s interview with Ben Shapiro in May 2024).6
Amongst the countries in the Western world America faces unique challenges due to it being the main target of a hostile power, which sought to increase the number of people within America's borders who would seek to destroy its traditions, values, and institutions. Their goal was to increase tensions, divide the country, and bring it to the point of collapse. (Rather than address existing problems they would draw attention to those problems and then exacerbate them; sexism and racism being primary examples.7)
That power no longer exists, but what they set in motion has gathered momentum and may destroy America yet (see here, here and here). Today, hostile powers have adopted a similar strategy (see the video below and The Role of the OIC in Enforcing Islamic Law). See also Hidden Hand: Exposing How the Chinese Communist Party is Reshaping the World by Clive Hamilton.
Many people today imagine that they can create an economic system where all people are treated equally, but all systems of government reward some people financially, and punish others—including communism. See here. No matter how benevolent and wise the leaders in a communist country are, communism is not sustainable due to the problem of price controls. See George Reisman's book The Government Against the Economy.8)
It is true that America and the West have many things to be ashamed of (see the film America's Forgotten); but there are many things to be proud of too. See here.
America is also plagued by corruption from within. Much of the censorship we see is simply an attempt to hide this corruption. See FBI & CIA: Cold War Heroes to Deep State Villains | Sunday Extra
Unfortunately for Americans (and particularly for those Americans who call themselves Christians), their sins are more obvious to outsiders than many of the good things they have done—and are doing. (Note: Jesus never mocked people, but he did mock bad ideas. See The Moral Case for Mockery)
At the heart of most of America’s problems today, is hypocrisy—particularly in the church (see here). If enough people who call themselves Christians do not stop pretending to be better than they are, American’s will lose all their freedoms, and the rest of the world will begin to collapse into turmoil. (Christians must also take a good hard look at some of the things they have accepted as God’s truth; if the Church is not reformed, the salt will be taken out and trampled on. See An Open Letter to the Church Leadership)
Hopefully wisdom will prevail.9, 10
1. If you’re on the left and you want to know what conservatives are up to, read Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America by Ted Cruz. If you are on the right and you want to know what the left is up to, read Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
2. Some racists amongst white intellectual elites, have convinced many young black American’s that it’s a waste of time to try and escape such circumstances by working and studying hard (see Wealth, Poverty, and Politics by Thomas Sowell). They don't want blacks to succeed. Many young blacks are convinced that there is no point in even trying.
3. Many foolish decisions were made during the Vietnam war. See the documentary "The Vietnam War: A Film By Ken Burns and Lynn Novick." The war did not have to drag on so long (see the YouTube video “Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU”).
4. Even the poorest people in America are wealthy compared to the vast majority of people in the world. See the video Immigration, World Poverty and GUMBALLS. And strange as it may seem, the wealthier young American's seem to be, the more suicidal they seem to be. Why this lack of gratitude? Why are they so depressed? See Fireside Chat Ep. 260 — The Teenage Mental Health Crisis.
5. One side of American politics will never let the issues raised in the last 30 minutes of 'Trump Vindicated' and ‘2000 Mules’ go until there is electoral reform (see also "Is Voter Fraud Real? | 5 Minute Videos | PragerU"). That alone, whether the election was stolen or not, is reason enough for those who don't believe the election was stolen to examine the claims made in those videos. (See also John Anderson's (former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia) interview of Glenn Loury about the issues which face Black Americans and America as a whole today. (See here.)
6. What’s it like for non-Muslims to live in an Islamic State? See The Third Choice by Mark Durie. (Durie’s book is a must read for anyone who does not want to live—or does not want their family to live—under Sharia).
7. To see how successful they have been, see The War on the West by Douglas Murray.
It is also worth noting, that just because some black Americans emphasize personal responsibility, and believe they have not experienced systemic racism (and therefore do not see themselves as victims of systemic racism), it does not make them Uncle Toms. (Is it right to question their lived experience?) Now that does not mean that some black people aren’t the white man’s lackeys. See Uncle Tom II. But most who are called Uncle Toms, are simply trying to be silenced by those who don't like what they are saying. (For those who are quick to label some black Americans as Uncle Toms, I strongly recommend they watch the videos Uncle Tom, What Killed Michael Brown?, and The Fall of Minneapolis by Alpha News. I also suggest that they listen to the following speech by a black representative. See here. (Tulsi Gabbard explains the real reason why so little gets done in Washington DC. See What Tulsi Gabbard Was Told Her First Day in Congress. See also Selecting the Nominee: A better system?)
8. “Every commentator on current affairs who is not a fully trained economist ought to read this book if he wants to talk sense. I know no other place where the crucial issues are explained as clearly and convincingltemy as in this book.” - F. A. Hayek, Nobel Laureate tein Economics for 1975
Well-meaning people often support policies that lead to higher inflation, higher unemployment, and high rates of homelessness. Good intentions obviously are not enough to make this world a better place. "Zeal without knowledge is not good." If you vote, it would be wise to read a book or two on economics before voting. Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell and Reisman's book are both written for the layman.
“Funny how those who push equality always want to be "equal" with those who live in Calabasas or Malibu, has a trophy wife and a Bentley but never equal with those who take the bus and live in a one bedroom apartment in Boyle Heights or Compton.” — Jeff Ho
Reisman wrote an article with the unfortunate title, Why Nazism Was Socialism and Why Socialism Is Totalitarian. I say it is unfortunate because so little of it is about the de facto kind of socialism that the Nazis practiced, that it almost misleads as to what the article is essentially about. Before reading it, I was convinced that communism could work if you had the right people in power. Reisman persuaded me that communism cannot work in any country, no matter how benevolent and intelligent those in power are.
9. America is in real danger of becoming a techno-authoritarianism state (see here). The following is from an email I received in early 2021.
"Think of a country where a small group of people decide what is truth and what is fiction.
This group isn’t held accountable for its decisions. They get away with anything they like. Hiding behind giant media and tech companies, or corrupt third party “fact checkers,” these mysterious people decide what you can see...what you can hear...and what you can say.
This group of unknown people not only control the information you receive, but they routinely ruin people’s social status and careers through censorship, cancellation, and slander—just by pressing a few buttons on a keyboard.
I’m not talking about Russia. Or China. I’m talking about today’s America and the power of Big Tech."
10. A few people have told me that I should be concerned about the Great Reset. Like many of you, I had some questions about it, and never took the time to try and answer them for myself. My two main questions were: Is the Great Reset real? And if it is, should I be concerned? I’m not going to tell you what I've come to think about it, but I will say this, if you are not sure if it is real, and you want to know, watch The Great Global Reset documentary on Salem Now. See also The Great Reset | Facts Ep. 8 and "An Offset for the Reset?" in Os Guinness' book Zero Hour America.
Recommended Videos, Books and Articles
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
Invasion on the Southern Border
“The Treason of the Intellectuals,” with Niall Ferguson
“How do government programs designed to save lives sometimes result in more lives being lost?”
Why has America pursued such disastrous policies in the Middle East? See About Bernard Lewis
TULSA : An Honest Look (Excerpt from Uncle Tom II)
The Cold War: What We Saw (Podcast)
Zero Hour America by Os Guinness
When Transparency Really Means Tyranny
Jack Posobiec: My Fight to Expose the Media’s Woke Narrative
Last Call for Liberty: How America's Genius for Freedom Has Become Its Greatest Threat
How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps
The Four Legitimate Functions of Government
Happy Slaves and Miserable Despots
Facts About HIROSHIMA They Don't Teach You At School (Part 2)
Is 1984 Becoming a Reality? - George Orwell's Warning to the World
How the USA is more Socialist than China
Could we have avoided the Ukraine-Russia war? Should have asked Bill Clinton (See also)
China Wants this War More than Russia! Celebrates the Invasion Online!
Is Government the New God? - The Religion of Totalitarianism
Hard Evidence Vs Verbal Statistics
Bowing to the Mob Makes You a Smaller Person
Morgan Freeman on Race Relations
Shelby Steele on Race Relations
Thomas Sowell on Intellectuals and Society
What I Can Teach You About Racism
Thomas Sowell: A True American Hero
The Untold Truth About Slavery
Black Rednecks and White Liberals
Slavery and Black History Month
Tyranny, One Tiny Step at a Time
Why an Obsession with Safety creates Sick Minds and a Sick Society
Porn and the Sexualization of Kids
Should people be punished by the state if they choose not to receive a medical intervention?
Cancel Culture (See also)
Three Questions for the Left and the Right
What’s Wrong with Stereotypes?
Psychological Warfare (See also Astroturf and manipulation of media messages)
Do We Live in a Brave New World? - Aldous Huxley's Warning to the World
The Decline of the Liberal Global Order
Russian Collusion and the Death of Journalism
Why did so many evangelicals support Trump?
When Should America Intervene?
I share the link to that last video with some reluctance. There are surely times to overthrow oppressive regimes, but it is a mistake for the American government to try and nation build if the people of that nation have values which are hostile to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I think the U.S. government would be better off spending a small fraction of what it spends on the military, on countering Islamist and communist propaganda. (The best books I know of which do this are: The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek, Wealth, Poverty and Politics by Thomas Sowell, The Third Choice by Mark Durie, and The Government Against the Economy by George Reisman.) The U.S. government would also be better off not sending aid to governments in the form of cash (which dictators often use to their own advantage). Instead, they could help build the economies of those countries by giving them the gift of a highway, an airport, railway, or port (at no cost to the government or people of those countries), without making any demands on those governments or people.
Why do Americans know the facts and still vote for liars?
Let’s Build The Future Together
Power: And the Problem of Ideology and State