Thoughts From OAM

Intro not required.

OAM
General Flynn recently released an OpEd, “10 Indisputable Facts on the 2020 Election That Argue for Audits”, published in The Western Journal. It’s long, detailed, cogent, and regardless of feelings about him, worth the read.

If it does not provoke thought, you can stop reading here now.

The facts presented are unsettling, and deserve consideration. I’m sharing my thoughts because they surprised me. Follow along for a tour of the admittedly dark twists and turns my mind took. In all honesty, I don’t know which remains more disturbing, the General’s thoughts or my own.

In a recent conversation on the topic of the people of Afghanistan and the resurgence of Taliban control, I said –

Most people just want to live their lives. They want a roof over their heads, to feed and raise their children and to live in relative, predictable, peace. It is not that they don’t care who their leaders are, because they do, but in an abstract way. They care mostly that their leaders allow them the above.

It is reasonable to say the Afghans are not really very different from Americans, or any other people. This is why I say that even with incontrovertible, proven facts, most Americans are deeply uncomfortable with the idea that our elections were other than fair and just. Those who suggest otherwise are asking them to do something that upsets their relative peace. As this is truly unprecedented in our history, that request is particularly frightening as both the next steps and the final act are complete unknowns.

All people, whatever the culture, history or system of government, fear the unknown. That is why there are relatively few explorers in human history. It takes phenomenal pressure on most people to motivate them to set out on a new, unknown path. History is replete with examples of stripping people of all rights, even of hope, yet people chose to remain in situations and conditions that are anything but humane.

This thought plays out in individual, interpersonal relationships, at jobs, as well as on societal levels.

Those who are abused in interpersonal relationships remain, choosing to believe that no matter how bad it is, they would be worse-off if they leave.

How many people remain miserable in their jobs or employment out of fear they would not be able to maintain a roof and food on the table if they leave?

In other words, the majority fear the unknown devil more than the devil they know because of predictability. The abusers and oppressors know this fear and capitalize on it by reminding their victims of whatever scraps of security they have been allowed. “No one will ever love you”, “You’ll never get another job”, “There are plenty who would take your place and be grateful”.

The last is the most insidious as it infers the flaw and fault lie in you, in your perceptions. When that needs to be reinforced, “You only care about yourself, what about your family (feeding, clothing, housing)”. Or, in one that all of us now hear on a daily basis, “If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for others”.

Not only does this validate your fears of the unknown for your loved ones and threaten the predictability you are desperately trying to maintain, it casts you into the role of villain and thrusts you outside the comfort of the known. Threats to our need to belong may be the most powerful motivators of the human psyche.

Asking the American people to embrace the possibility that our voting system is broken, was subverted, or manipulated is threatening one of the pillars upon which their world view is upheld – we are free to vote and with that vote determine who will be our leaders, according to our individual conscience.

Just like an abused spouse or employee, proof of that unfair and unjust treatment may not be sufficient to motivate them to change. Often, only when the abuser or tyrannical boss changes that which the abused was counting on as their baseline of security, that which however unfair or painful but familiar is disrupted, is the motivation to change found.

This is where we stand now as a Nation. This is why, despite any facts that could be presented proving otherwise, Americans don’t want the election to be invalid. There is no safe, predictable future when every step in front of us is unprecedented and leads to a place that is anything but known.

However.

The vast majority of Americans are descendants of those few humans in history who were explorers and those who were subject to the extreme pressures that motivate people to set out for the unknown. It has been many generations in most cases, but in most cases, the gamble paid off. The distance between the willingness to acquiesce and tolerate present abuse, injustice and unfairness and the motivation to change may therefore be shorter than in other societies.

There is one other, incontrovertible fact. Abusers, tyrants and oppressors everywhere and always abuse and/or oppress because the abuse and/or oppression is their end goal. An abuser doesn’t stop abusing because they have beaten their victim into submission; there will always be another excuse for the abuse. Eventually, the victim leaves. Or dies.

This is where we are now as a Nation. Our rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, our rights to speak and be heard, our rights to chart our own course dictated by our own conscience are being oppressed. We are at the tipping point. Will we metaphorically leave behind the abuse, or will die?

The article that precipitated these thoughts can be found here.

On point and thought provoking. Thanks, OAM.

Category: Guest Post