About two decades ago, a civil war started to brew beneath the surface of American society. In 2008, a large segment of the citizenry openly declared war with the election of Barack Obama. Then in 2016, another large segment retaliated with their own declaration by electing Donald Trump. This civil war will cut to the core of the United States. The issues which are being fought over are different versions of Truth, Justice and the American Way. We are no longer in agreement with these concepts as Americans. Who is the patriot and who is not? As Lincoln said,”A house divided against itself cannot stand”.
This war will not end soon. It will continue to create more divisiveness. It will have a great impact on the national welfare and on the personal finances of individuals. Investment implications are dramatic. It must be factored into any plans.
One of the main causes of this war has been the lack of disclosure by the government. With a better process of open communication, what could have been resolved years ago, albeit with difficulty, has festered into an outright fight over our values. For some, this can become a fight for survival faster than anyone realizes. Hopefully, violence will not increase and cooler heads prevail.
Take immigration, which is one of the deeper issues in this matter. The problem is mismanaged immigration, not immigration itself which can be very beneficial.. For years, the government was not releasing important information and apparently not enforcing existing laws. Their policies of “wet foot, dry foot” and “catch and release” only complicated the problem. They tried to hide policy implications that are now part of the struggle. So America wakes up and discovers there are millions of illegal aliens in the country. Then we wake up and discover sanctuary cities in our midst. So now there are millions in hiding and cities directly defying the Federal Government.
It would be better to protest against all the politicians and government officials who caused this mess. The immigrants are victims along with the citizens. Their placards should read,”You haven’t done anything for forty years, so why now?”.
This is not the only issue. This war will go on for quite a while fighting over racism, taxation, environment, social welfare, corporate welfare, etc. The outcome is far from certain.
Honest government disclosure and communication will be the only way to ultimately make what will be a hard peace.