The Unpolished State of the Union

The current state of the American union is one of a shiny red apple whose glossy outer appearance, the result of nature's handiwork up through the moment of ripening, belies a rotten inner core. America's treasure, the sap and pap of the apple, has been steadily siphoned off by the worm of corruption, leaving only the illusion of an intact fruit.

If the strength of a democratic nation can be measured by the hope its citizens possess for a peaceful and equitable future, then America quietly slid past its zenith sometime after 1980 whence began the current era of corporate baronies. American power has turned its eyes away from Main Street, where Americans live, to Wall Street, where corporate raiders reside.

The fate of America is not, and has never been, decided by those who are asked to execute it. For this reason, to whom much is given, much is required. Historically, this axiom has guided, more so than not, America’s leaders, generally the wealthiest among us. Were this axiom not generally followed, America could never have achieved its current level of modernity in a mere 200 years.

Specifically, sometime after 1980 the societal tenet of noblesse oblige, which had held America in good stead and advanced her as a people, followed a path of sorry and rapid reorder to the point where the sanctity of no religion, the sacrifice of no individual, the forfeit of no moral precept or founding document has become too great or too small to be surrendered on the altar of noblesse d'entitled.

In the citizenship vacuum left by the absence of noblesse oblige, non noble Americans try valiantly but often unsuccessfully to carry on and hold up the oblige on their own, the weight of which is staggering. Homes are lost, jobs displaced, healthcare for mind and body a hopeless, unaffordable tangle of jargon and inhumane rules. The playing field that once gave all Americans an equal chance to make ends meet, succeed, and even exceed now tilts crazily on its fulcrum, leaving the serfs charged with executing the plans of the noblesse running wildly from one end of the field to the other trying to find Level and a way to pay for it.

If the strength of a democratic nation is judged on the ability of its citizens to engage in productive employment and pay the bill both for the necessities and dreams of nation and citizen, then America's strength, like her citizens, is exhausted. The federal treasury has been emptied into the pockets of shadow appropriators, the resulting debt placed into the hands of nations whose loyalty can never be assured.

Those citizens who would willingly risk making the sacrifice of life in order to defend America have been driven to the breaking point of mind, body, and family, daily doing a dance of death while a noblesse Nero fiddles. Those citizens who wish simply to live in peace, care for family, and be productive in society are bombarded daily by those of greater resource who would legally and blatantly take advantage of them and then compel them to suffer the consequences of their own innocence.

Those citizens who would, to the furtherance of democracy, attempt to level the playing field by reporting on and speaking truth to power are ridiculed, spied upon, penalized, and even physically assaulted. Citizens who once fervently and reverently believed in the institution of democratic elections, have witnessed them become mere games of noblesse manipulation allowing only a limited number of voices to be heard and votes to be counted, and they have become disillusioned and mistrustful of the system.

The rules of societal fair play and the purity of one citizen-one vote are no longer overseen by a sovereign press which diligently and routinely sifts through campaign, governmental, and corporate muck to expose cheaters solely for the purpose of advancing democracy. And therein lies the source of rot at the core of the apple. The journalistic mirror into which America should ever be gazing has itself become corrupted and its transparency of purpose eliminated.

On January 28, the apple will once again be held aloft for the whole world to view. All witnesses will be shown that it still looks shiny and is still red. It will be polished and appear to look delicious. However, every non noble American watching the show may begin to feel a familiar and uneasy rumble in the pit of his stomach. The taste of bile may rise a bit in his throat because down deep in his soul, he knows the only part of the apple reserved for him is the worm.