Outside The Box

“Judge a man, not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

The words reflect the core values of American society. The wisdom they contain is much older – at least as old as the Bible, for Judaeo-Christianity has long held that the heart steers the path of the immortal soul.

In these strange times, however, some would reject the statement from the offset because the pronoun it contains is not inclusive enough. Strange indeed are the times when a director of “diversity and inclusivity” at a major university would reprimand a medical lecturer for discussing male and female anatomy using gender specific pronouns.

Others would reject the statement because they think that race is the primary factor in the content of a person’s character, that the 72.4% of Americans with European ancestry are now and forever racist, that they must be vigilant in repenting of the sins of their ancestors, re-educated and reconditioned to overcome the flaws that attach to them at birth. This belief, however, is and cannot be racist by decree.

The scolding of medical science is just one of the many stories cherry picked by disaster media to feed our addiction to that which frightens and angers us. The same sources remind us daily that there really are people who believe in Critical Race Theory and support the deeply flawed “1619 Project” which demonizes the founding of the United States of America and rejects many of our founding principles. No less august entity than the (erstwhile) venerable New York Times sponsored the project, and what is worse, the rejection of our founding principles has made its way into classrooms and boardrooms.

One one side of the great divide is the majority of corporate media which impersonates the voice and values of American culture. Their influence is pervasive, yet all of their CEO’s, their board members, and their paid contributors represent a tiny fraction of a percentage of 330 million Americans. Add to that the handful of billionaire celebrity activists, movie and television celebrities, online “influencers” and all the media elites selling their soap, and you still haven’t made a scratch in the total number of people who live in this country. But they choose the narrative. They frame the conversation. They choose the voices that will be heard and the ones that will be censored. And the voices to the contrary?

“Alternative media,” for example, sifts through the events and voices of the nation with a fine toothed comb looking for the worst examples of “wokeness,” the most outrageous statements, the most egregious acts, and they serve that to the people who prefer their product. Heavy smokers of cigarettes are addicted to nicotine, but everyone prefers their own brand, and many to the extent of that long running cigarette ad for Tareyton cigarettes which said, “I’d rather fight than switch.” As nicotine was the drug for Tareyton smokers, fear and anger addicts can’t stay away from Fox News, MSNBC and all the other information outlets that harp at each other from across the divide.

What results is vast numbers of people who begin to believe in a version of reality served up by 5 corporate entities, even when that version is in stark contrast to what they see with their own eyes and experience in their own lives. Ultimately, however, what we believe affects what we see, which reinforces what we believe, which affects what we do.

A prime example of the disconnect between narrative and reality can be found in the gulf of understanding between the idea that the lives of Black people matter, that there is room for improvement in the way we understand racial issues – and the organization known as BLM, or “Black Lives Matter.” The former is a statement of truth. It stands on it’s own. It doesn’t need to be moderated or justified by saying “all lives matter” or “blue lives matter,” which are separate truths.

The latter is a corporate entity which was started by three self avowed Marxists. Among its stated goals is the upending of traditional American values and the disintegration of the traditional family model. It seeks to end capitalism, although its proponents grow rich from contributions, speaking engagements and seminars. It avoids public scrutiny by hiding in the shadows of misunderstanding between those who sincerely want to help the disadvantaged but don’t know that BLM is Marxist, and those who assume that anyone who supports the improvement of the lives of Black people must be a Marxist. Corporate media has helped BLM hide in that shadow.

The vast majority of Americans think and believe somewhere slightly to the right and left of center. We are a reasonable, generous and thoughtful people, when we’re left to our own devices. We are not “woke,” because we have already embraced the core values of our nation and have no need of a new and pejorative label. Most of us are aware to various degrees that Marxism has always failed as a form of government because it does not understand or accommodate human nature.

There are signs everywhere that Americans are growing weary of being told that everyone is racist or otherwise fatally flawed. Our mistrust of corporate media is at an all time high, though we haven’t been able to overcome our addiction to it. Our interest in the panoply of woke celebrities is waning. Viewership of celebrity self-congratulatory shows is low. Professional sports viewers continue to decline. Even the Olympics has suffered dismal ratings, despite the desperate attempts of media to attach a racial component to some very human dramas. More people of color are speaking out to say, “I am not a victim, and you will not make me believe that I am.”

The belief in Marxism has always festered in some academic circles, like an old wound that healed but left a scar. Critical Race Theory has a similar pedigree, coming to us in various forms from Germany in the 1930’s. Some appear to embrace the principles of CRT without realizing that it follows the Marxist playbook for upending a society almost to the letter. There are others who embrace it because they realize its intentions all too well.

It’s troubling that CRT and other manifestations of Marxist theology have appeared in corporate circles outside of the media monoliths. For example, why would Raytheon, the 5th largest defense contractor in the world and the world’s largest producer of guided missiles, force employees to “oppose equality and embrace equity?” Why would any company which has reaped the benefits of capitalism embrace a philosophy which is toxic to free enterprise?

Because crony capitalism, is not capitalism. Giant corporations do not disappear in Marxist and fascist regimes, they simply become indistinguishable from government.

While there are hopeful signs that many are waking up from being woke, unfortunately this is not the trend among our youth, who are passionate, idealistic and impressionable. They are more susceptible to media than their elders (though not much more, it seems). But when media elites tell them something that is reinforced in the classroom, the deck is stacked against parents who wish to impart a more realistic worldview to their children. The family and the Church have lost a great deal of guiding influence on our culture, supplanted by media elites and their paid politicians. When culture is the enemy of the family, strange days are almost guaranteed.

Strange days have found us
And through their strange hours
We linger alone
Bodies confused
Memories misused
As we run from the day
To a strange night of stone

Jim Morrison, The Doors