It is the leftist time, it is the rightist time. It is the age of freedom, it is the age of oppression. It is the epoch of faith, it is the epoch of apostasy. It is the season to fight, the season to reconcile, the spring of liberty, and the winter of tyranny. Our rulers can provide everything for us, and they can provide nothing for us; their media make us believe our country is going to heaven, when we know it is going to hell. In short, it is the free country that has always been, with some of its noisiest authorities insisting on our acceptance of their long-contrived reality, for good or for evil, where freedom is not a right, but a privilege from a master's hand.
Two citizens meet in this dystopic confusion. Jon, with the Tea Party since the beginning -- older, from conservative roots -- turned libertarian of late, another, Ethan -- an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) supporter, younger -- with fresh ideas reaching into the future of America's possibilities. Both know their country is gravely ill, both can see its shining potential.
Ethan sits in his tent, surrounded by donated food and coffee, a wood stove, and a duffel bag. As the temperature slowly creeps above zero, he begins to question his being there. Plenty of people have asked why he wants to be down there in the cold. He doesn't. His idea of fun isn't to fumble around for birch bark and matches when it's minus 40, while being confined to a 6-by-8-foot canvas cave, isolated from the world in the middle of downtown Fairbanks, Alaska. He is here because it is duty to be here, which is something a lot of Americans have forgotten. Ethan says, "We have become complacent and will follow any rules, even if they are unconstitutional."
The oligarchs have taken advantage of our apathy; they are confused and angry now that we are resolute. When the banks were on the verge of collapse, their operatives in our government took our money and gave it to their own money-changers, all the while saying it's being done to take care of the people, to stimulate the economy. $800 billion later, the crony corporatists continue to receive huge bonuses, while about one in four Americans are underwater with their mortgages, biding their time until they are finally foreclosed on, while real job prospects continue to be dismal. This collusion between politicians and lobbyists of every flavor can't continue.
The recent Citizens United ruling silenced the voice of 99 percent of Americans -- the 99 percent who don't have that kind of money. Super PAC money from both corporations and unions clog the airwaves with talking points and platitudes, distracting us from the crucial issues like the destruction of the bill of rights, and a general breakdown of our economic and social foundations. An individual can no longer make an informed choice, for every issue, every concern, and every problem we face as it is filtered through the red and blue lenses of a false reality that these powerful plutocrats have created to ensure we remain faithful and productive servants to their will. We then vote in people who put their henchmen into unelected positions of power and influence, regardless of their credentials. We have unwittingly allowed this pay-to-play mentality to become the standard of political conduct while we were busy with our daily lives.
Ethan's is not a call to smash capitalism or to embrace some anti-American ideology. He is calling on those in government and business to respect the level playing field -- not impose one through some redistribution of wealth scheme or entitlement program, but through ethical standards for all -- one set of rules for everyone, not one for the plebes and one for the patricians.
Jon supports a common set of rules that apply to every American as well, one that we already have, namely the US Constitution. He has been in the books since the Tea Party began. "The philosophies of freedom bequeathed to us by our founders are still valid today," he asserts. "Individual rights and the right to pursue one's own happiness, without harming others, is still the core of Americanism. Our problem is not the government -- that is merely a structure. Our problem is the corrupt individuals filling that structure." The shelving of our constitutional contract in exchange for the whims of expedience, for a perception of security, has turned our republic of law into a tyranny of gang lords, be they right or left flavored. He points out, "You can spot them easily -- they are the ones passing laws that take our money and our freedom."
Many politicians and their media supporters have clearly been partisan in their attempts to turn Americans against each other through calling Tea Partiers violent racists, and OWS people anarchists and communists. The solutions however, are non-partisan. They are solutions that protect individual rights, promote economic self-determination, and discourage elitist oligarchy. We will not be free unless we work together -- wisely and peacefully. Thinkers across the political spectrum need to connect and sift through viable (as opposed to ideological) solutions, working together to solve the problems in front of us.
"Ethan and I started by talking about what we had in common," Jon says. "We both agreed that freedom and individual rights have to come first." Between these two, the basic ideas of America are still shared values. The problems are occurring when one group or another gains special rights or entitlements without justification -- like a large corporation or union with connections, or citizens that expect the taxpayer to do for them, when they can and should do for themselves.
Ethan muses, "If you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for life, but if you control the knowledge or even the capability for him to fish, you make him subject to your whim -- essentially a slave. You can make him live however you want him to."
The socialist and corporatist aristocracies -- the masters of "left" and "right," are a self-appointed elite, charging the masses to do as they say, not as they do. Their media minions present the message of the Tea Party and the Occupy people as opposing beliefs, when in fact we are clearly speaking out against the same thing -- the corrupt misuse of government power. They enrich themselves while creating equality in subjugation for the American people at large. They have forgotten that they are the servants, and the people themselves are the masters.
They have demonized every group who has been critical of the sleazy and often criminal acts committed by their appointed charlatans. They paint the average "terrorist" citizen with broad and malevolent strokes in the hopes that we will yet again turn on ourselves. They want every group of concerned Americans to be inimical to every other group, while they, like the Ottomans of old, remain above the fray and in control.
They may not have considered the possibility that we could talk to each other instead of yelling at our televisions. Even now, we are contacting Tea Party and OWS groups across the country to unite for freedom. If our gullibility has enabled our exploitation, our solidarity can create the restoration of real freedom and prosperity for all.
We finally see who the real problem is, and it's not each other.
Jon Watts is an economic and political libertarian, individualist, and writer. He is a 25-year Air Force veteran and founder of Free Range Patriots. He is not a member of any party and stands by those who restore and defend individualism and liberty, regardless of affiliation.
Ethan Sinasbaugh moved to Fairbanks three years ago to pursue a degree in Anthropology at UAF. He has a house, a job, and a car, yet has lived in a tent next to Fairbanks City Hall since October to raise awareness about the political influence of global corporations and to protest apparent corruption. He also claims to hate the cold.
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch. Alaska Dispatch welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.