Belief Is Often Blinding

I recently posted an article titled «Inconvenient truth behind Trump’s Big Lie” in which I tried to show Americans one single truth - that Democratic Party differs from Republican Party only in minor details.

Two major parties in the US are twin brothers which have monopolized the political life of the country long ago and parasitized together the economy which was created by American people. The US elites who created Democratic and Republican parties, constantly play the "good cop, bad cop" game with the people, and Americans sincerely believe that the "good cop" is better and willingly participate in the game at every election.

In fact, both major parties are equally short-sighted, incompetent, hypocritical and cynical. None of them will ever solve the problems of the United States because they are busy with solving their own ones. This simple truth is not yet visible by Americans, but it is very important for understanding who is the enemy. The sooner the American people realize all that, the healthier America becomes.

The most recent and probably silly (but very typical) example of the sameness of both parties is: FBI agents found classified documents at President Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware during last search. Before that, the classified documents in large quantities were seized from the home of former President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in August 2022.
I don't even want to go into the details of these events. I get a familiar feeling like the one I had many years ago in Ukraine - the feeling of inevitable participation in a theatre of political absurd that was tailored for people like me.


I got the only comment on that article from an elderly lady named Rose Ann Bachman, who particularly wrote:
“After everything I've witnessed in 70 years, I need to believe that there is goodness in many Democrats hearts. I'm not one to assume knowledge of what comes after life ends. I need to feel tethered to the love I've known on this earth.”

Mrs. Bachman needs to believe that “there is goodness in many Democrats hearts” and she wants “to feel tethered to the love I've known on this earth” to keep living in an illusion that is familiar and understandable to her: “Democrats are good and Republicans are bad".

And Mrs. Bachman is not alone. I think about a quarter of Americans share her misconception, because more than 81 million people voted for President Biden (and thus for the Democrats) in November 2020.

Renowned journalist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman apparently voted for the Democrats then, too. He published an article in early 2021 in which he blames all the problems of the US on Trump's Republican Party:
«For America to be healthy, this white-grievance, QAnon-embracing G.O.P. has to die. It is not a governing party».

(Here a funny thought came to my mind, excuse me: if hypothetically one (Democratic or Republican) party dies in the US, the Americans will have within 20-30 years an analogue of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or China with a different name, of course. Ok, I might be wrong here.)

Mr. Friedman believes also that «We cannot and will not realize our full potential as a nation unless we have both parties working to forge a new sense of shared association that can enable a much more diverse America to journey together into the 21st century. Today, sadly, only one party is in that business».
Here, of course, he was referring to the Democratic Party.


I also think that about a quarter of Americans believe Republicans are “good” and blame Democrats for all the troubles of the United States since more than 74 million people voted for President Trump (and therefore for Republicans) in the same election of 2020.

In all, there are about 330 million people in the United States. 81 million Democratic Americans versus 74 million Republicans in the 2020 presidential election - it is almost the equality. In 2016, the difference was even smaller: nearly 66 million people have voted for the representative of the Democrats (H. Clinton) and almost 63 million voted for Republicans (D. Trump).

Thus, a lot of energy (the nation's nerves and money) is wasted on a political struggle with zero result since the forces are almost equal. One party presses the gas pedal, another holds its foot on the brake, and both do not know where they are going. The people don't know that either, but keep electing the representatives of both parties to government and so the country as a whole stands still. This is called stagnation – “a state or condition marked by lack of flow, movement, or development.”


Everyone believes in something and has the right to be wrong, but sincerity of beliefs does not absolve you of responsibility for your actions. You will either be rewarded or punished, and the more you believe and act according to your faith, the greater the retribution is.

People always believe in something. Some believe that there is God and others believe that there is no God, but everyone believes. Belief is a strong mental energy in the human body, and like every energy it can either create (if you believe in right things) or destroy (if you believe in what is wrong).

For example, Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger believed much in himself and was rewarded for that: he became a famous champion, actor, multimillionaire, a governor of California… And a Republican, by the way. Such an interesting and diverse life is something to be proud of. It turns out that he believed in right things and did not delude himself.

An opposite example is Mr. Putin. He also believes very much in himself, in his special mission as the head of Russia and therefore he unleashed a savage, bloody war in Ukraine. What is happening now to Mr. Putin and all Russians is a shattering of long-lasted illusions after confronting reality. The most notable thing here is that Mr. Putin started it all himself. In a couple of years (or maybe sooner) we will know whether he was right in his belief in himself or not.
Either way, Mr. Putin is risking his life for his beliefs, and Russia risks being torn apart for sharing his delusions.


Mr. Friedman wants to unite the nation (apparently under the leadership of Democrats) in his article. I think Republicans want the same thing, but of course only under the leadership of the Republican Party. In this way Mr. Friedman promotes the division of the nation by advocating unification.

Yes, Americans need to be united, that's right, but how? Right now, the nation is split almost in half, which means that it cannot make any important decisions, let alone putting those decisions into practice which is the essence of stagnation. It is really funny to watch a big and respectable country withdrawing in 2017 and readmitting in 2021 from/in Paris Climate Agreement, start (2018) and stop (2021) the “Trump Wall” construction on the Mexican border or governmental shutdowns …

If we add 6.5% inflation (in December 2022) to stagnation instead of formally targeted by FRS 2% annually, you get what is called stagflation.
This is a situation when inflation, economic recession, and unemployment come together simultaneously and the treatment of one problem leads to the deterioration of the second and the third ones.

So, the situation in the country is deteriorating from my subjective point of view, and it happens, in particular, due to poor leadership. That means to me that both major parties are failing in their duties. Around 19% of Americans recently named the dissatisfaction with government as the nation’s top problem of 2022. This is already an element of correct understanding, but I think that most of those 19% see only one party as being at fault, and Gallup Institute did not go deeper in its study.


I would like to ask a few questions to those Americans who support either Democratic or Republican party. Asking the right question helps a lot in finding the right answer.

So:
1. Is it already time for us to save America or not yet? If “yes”…

2. The word "we" for you personally is who? Democrats? Republicans? All Americans? Maybe only men/ women/ politicians/ riches/ poors/ gays/ lesbians/ Catholics/ Muslims/ militaries/ civilians/ white people/ black ones/ workers/ farmers/ employees/ immigrants/ natives?

3. Whom or what should America be saved from? Global warming? Inflation? Corruption? Poverty? Unemployment? Republicans? Democrats? Nationalists and racists? Immigrants? LGBT? Russians? Chinese? Are they the root of all evil?

4. If Mr. Trump and the Republicans really are the main problem of the US, are the Democrats a rescue then (and vice versa)? Has the replacing Republican Trump with Democrat Biden in 2020 changed everything in your life from the bad to the good? Will the replacing Democrat Biden with some Republican change everything from the bad to the good in 2024? Do you really believe that inner conflicts, inflation, injustice, expensive health care, firearms crimes, voter fraud, immigration problem, COVID-19 will disappear then?

5. How did Mr. Trump alone (even as the US president) manage to harm American democracy within just 4 years? Is the democracy in the US so weak? Maybe it was harmed not just by Mr. Trump alone and not during 4 years? Then by whom and for how long? Maybe it is not democracy at all?

6. A technical, but interesting question: if the Dems have “goodness in their hearts”, why Hillary Clinton didn’t become the US president in 2016, having gotten almost 3 million more voters than Mr. Trump?

7. Americans have become very intolerant to each other's political views, which can escalate into hatred that will tear the country apart. This has been particularly evident since Mr. Trump's enthronement in 2016, but I watched the similar process in Ukraine and noticed that the intolerance between the citizens in a country turned into hatred during at least a few decades if there was no war. So the very important question is: do Americans really hate someone or something? And (if so) what for? Who or what is the enemy?

A separate big question which, in particular, can help unite the nation: in what direction should the country move? For that, you have to answer the next, hardest (as for me) question: what do you personally want? And one more associated question: who will (and is capable) to move the country?

When (and if) everyone answers those simple questions, the obvious becomes clear: what is wrong with the country (maybe everything is all right), who is to blame and what to do.


P.S. I don't blame Mrs. Bachman and the 3-time Pulitzer Prize winner Mr. Friedman for their blind belief in Democrats. People need to believe in something, but I think it's better to know that your wife loves you (or doesn't!) than to just believe in one or another. Illusions like people die, and the longer you live in an illusion, the more painful the collision with reality is.

Real understanding starts from your correct question while belief begins with someone else's reputable statement which as a rule is half-truth (i.e. lie) and wrong for you. If you start believing it to be true and acting on this statement, you will repeat the mistake of the American people who came to storm the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Belief is often blinding.


P.P.S. Dear Reader! I am very much interested in your opinion on the subject of this article. Please, write a comment or ask a question if you want to clarify something.
Yours,
Igor Chykalov