Our Problem Isn’t Political
My fellow Americans:
I wish there was something I could say to assuage your fears at this moment. I wish I could tell you that removing ourselves from this situation will be easy, and that we can do most of the work while you participate when needed. But none of that is true.
We made a democratic choice and are saddled with its consequences. If it was easy to walk back, our democracy wouldn’t be meaningful. Our choices have weight and our mistakes have consequences.
I know it may not seem like it now, but that is a good thing. Our ancestors built governance constructs that still matter. In some ways, the seriousness of the threat we’re facing weighs as much as our continuing commitment to our nation. That puts us in a curious position: We are struggling to get out from under the weight of a mistake, and it is difficult because our democracy still has gravity.
In other words, what’s still right with our nation is preventing us from fixing what’s wrong.
The question before us is how we move forward. How we remove this regime without destroying our system. How we walk this mistake back without losing our nation.
I know it feels daunting. Not just because we’ve put ourselves in a tough spot, or because we’ve empowered the worst among us, but because we’re disconnected from each other and lonely, and trying to solve communal problems would require us engaging with people we’d rather not talk to.
That is happening in a broader context that includes a collapse of our educational systems and outcomes; a technological revolution that prioritizes pretension and attention; a global pandemic that separated us from each other; and a loss of shared ideals that makes it difficult to understand what a dignified and enjoyable life would look like in this system.
Beyond that, there are practical problems: Most of us are broke and under existential pressure. Mentally drained and physically exhausted. Witnessing a generation rise that is untethered from all we valued and surfing a culture that has simply rejected the value of skill, experience, wisdom and everything else that can only be earned through time, discipline, commitment, patience, and determination.
Character is hard. Morality is hard. Skill is hard. The things that matter are hard, and our culture has largely become a system of shortcuts built and elevated by people who want to avoid doing the hard work.
As always, our political reality reflects our social order. Our politics are broken because our society is broken. And until we fix it – until we confront our laziness, permissiveness, and lack of care and take corrective action – it’s going to keep haunting us.
We won’t remember the value of respect until we restore our respect for ourselves and each other.
American Opposition will continue to fight to give this nation another shot at redemption. Another free and fair election. Another chance to set a new direction.
But it won’t work unless we choose it. Unless we stop accepting our doom rather than our responsibility to avoid it.
We must choose to do the hard things. Relentlessly. And we must strive do them well.
If we do that, we can reignite our common purpose and give renewed meaning to the constructs that govern us. We can make our nation a serious place governed by serious people and deliver serious progress in short order.
If we don’t, we will wither as a lazy people rejecting our shared responsibilities and celebrating spectacle.
In so doing, we won’t just destroy our children’s future, we will also take the rest of the world down with us.
I sincerely hope we make the right decision.
In solidarity,
Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos
Founder, American Opposition
