During World War II several hundred thousand Russian men, aged 20 to 30, joined the German army to fight their Fatherland. These anti-Bolshevik Russian nationals risked their lives in combat against their brother Russians. Not only could they have been killed in battle, but late during the war, many of them were killed after they no longer proved useful to the Germans. After the war, most were killed by Russian bullets after forced repatriation by the British or Americans. These men opposed the Russian Revolution and fought against the Soviets in World War II for what they believed was the better path for their families and their countrymen.
Stories recount how once the war was over and they were repatriated to Russia for certain punishment, they were at ease with their actions and they were welcomed back by other prisoners of the state. Solzhenitsyn even writes that the bond of countrymen was still so strong that they even took drags off of each other’s cigarettes.
Compare that with the current situation in the US. Our citizenry is clearly better fed and cared for, by every imaginable metric, than the Russian horses were from the turn of the century through the end of WW2. So, while the rampage of the Russian anti-Bolsheviks is understandable, the rage that is percolating within our border in 2023 is more curious.
Ours is a nation in decline. Its leaders are not serious people:
They play games with uneven application of the law.
The leaders of the US are more interested in funding the Ukrainian war instead of funding recovery for Hawaii and Ohio for natural and man-made disasters.
About the only truly bipartisan issue is spending and printing money. Our nation is currently greater than 30 trillion dollars in debt, with a Gross Domestic Product of roughly two thirds of that.
Race relations have been set back by 50 years by the sullen, resentful class of race baiting politicians that now rule.
In state after state there is a race by national political groups to influence local politics on matters of sex, gender politics and abortion.
2024 will be the next election our country has held in the last 10 years in which someone is accused of meddling. The expression “election integrity” is a joke, with both parties claiming fraud. We seem like a third world country in which the left is actively persecuting and jailing their political opponents.
A recent Pew Research poll shows that 81% of democrats now favor government or social media platforms restricting or filtering news and commentary that they find objectionable. The Left is so opposed even to hear opposing views that the First Amendment has become expendable.
Details are emerging of plans to bring back masks and shutdowns again, coincidentally, before next year’s election. Some colleges and movie studios have already put the mandates back in place. That will not sit well with about half the country and it may provide a Lexington and Concord moment. Or perhaps Bull Run, as members of the right wing are claiming that the national rift is irreparable and that a second civil war or national divorce is due.
Are they wrong? Large swaths of this country resent or hate the other side of political debate. What do the rosary rattling, red MAGA hat wearing, conservative and the bearded transgender “woman”, high on pot, in tight jeans, nose ring and ear stretchers, have in common? In fact, as opposed to the Russian comrades who actually shot at each other, we have less that binds us together.
Consider. Do we agree on culture, religion, family, what heroes or history should be celebrated, social mores, values, vocabulary definitions, genders, manners, holidays? What is there that holds us together as a nation? What is it that breaches these gaps?
We can pray, but the Lord plays the long game. The reality is that there is nothing in sight, no miracle, no national figure that causes hope for a tranquil future. Shy of war or an attack on our country, what comes next to give any reassurance that the next 10 years will be peaceful?
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