When I was in college, we were required to read the literary
classic 1984, by George Orwell. If
you are not familiar with Orwell’s stunning work, here’s a summary: A country
called Oceania is governed by the all-controlling Party, which has brainwashed
the population into unthinking obedience to its leader, Big Brother. The Party
has created a propagandistic language known as Newspeak, which is designed to
limit free thought while promoting Party doctrine. The Party maintains control
through the Thought Police and is continuously snooping on its citizens. People
who dare to think differently are carefully monitored and eventually arrested
on bogus charges, and then sent to special “rehabilitation” facilities, until
they submit to corrected thought.
One wonders if America’s woke
leaders, in conjunction with their media allies, are using the ideas from 1984 as their outline for governance. In
the Orwell novel, the Ministry of Truth (representing the Party) alters
historical records to suit the Party agenda and promotes various slogans, like “freedom
is slavery” and “ignorance is strength.”
At the close of 2022, the US
government passed the “Respect for Marriage Act” (gleefully supported by the
Jewish leader of the Senate and various prominent Jewish legislators).
Essentially, the new law was unnecessary since its so-called protections,
including interracial marriage, were already accepted and in place for years.
Therefore, why pass an unnecessary new law? Simple: The new law (once again)
rejects the concept that marriage is the unique sacred union between a man and
a woman. Sadly, after years of slow and steady brainwashing, many Americans
neither appreciate the sanctity of marriage nor the reasons why it has always
been the essential underpinning of
universal moral and cultural values.
There was a time when traditional
religious values were protected and respected in America, and belief in G-d was
near universal. In fact, in 1954, President Eisenhower signed a bill, passed
overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress, adding the words “under G-d” to the
Pledge of Allegiance. In 1955, he signed a bill enshrining the words “In G-d We
Trust” on U.S. currency. During his time as Supreme Allied Commander in World
War II, and as president, Eisenhower openly prayed for G-d’s blessings. But Big
Brother no longer wants that. G-d must not
supersede the will of the woke. Woke-ism is becoming the fastest growing
American religion.
In Orwell’s book we learn that “the
Party must be believed above common sense and logic.” Although 1984 was written in 1949, Orwell
predicted “vision screens,” which people would watch for information and which
would, in turn, gather information from those watching. That’s frighteningly
prophetic.
Americans today are being
subliminally programmed not to
believe absolute facts – even when they know, for certain, that those facts are
true. Whether about Covid, illegal immigration, or corruption at the highest
levels of government (including our (previously) “sacred” institutions of law
and justice), we are expected to suspend common sense and logic. Only “approved”
facts receive mainstream media attention and governmental sanction. On a
regular basis, truth is being distorted and withheld by the government/media
complex.
Thinking people know that we are
being lied to by corrupt institutions, dishonest media, and various
politicians. Nevertheless, many Americans are slowly succumbing and
surrendering in silence. We are being trained (and, in some cases, threatened)
not to dispute facts for fear of some sort of retaliation. I now better
understand how Lot (Bereishis 19)
could offer his unmarried daughters to appease the crowd of degenerate
Sodomites at his doorstep. Having lived too long in Sodom, he completely lost
clarity, and his ability to make proper moral decisions was compromised.
As our federal government is busy
spending itself into bankruptcy and weaponizing various agencies against its
citizens, most Americans missed the recent “Orwellian gift” from the previous
Congress. House Resolution #8 mandates new gender language. Words like father,
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, and wife, as well as himself
and herself, are no longer acceptable. I know, you think this is a joke. I wish
it was! As in Orwell’s novel, our language is being scrubbed. The 117th
Congress decided to neuter our speech by referring to us as them and they. No
more (of that terribly discriminatory) language having anything to do with
gender identity. Our latest Supreme Court justice was unable (or unwilling) to
define female at her confirmation hearing. She was stumped by a simple biology
question. Of course, in 2022, that was not an impediment to her being confirmed
to the highest court.
The insanity now extends to the Cambridge Dictionary. They recently
decided to join in the charade of denying biological facts, adding to the first
definition (an “adult male human being”) the “new approved” definition: “an
adult who lives and identifies as a male, though they may have been said to
have a different sex at birth.” (The woman definition uses similar language).
Eventually, with ample press and political reinforcement, outlandish concepts
can become normalized and acceptable. If, at any point, you object to something,
then you are an intolerant racist extremist in need of cancellation and
reprogramming.
One of the few objective newspapers
still hanging on is the Wall Street
Journal. On December 14, their senior columnist, Holman Jenkins, wrote, “It
ought to register with you how cravenly some in the mainstream media are trying
to convince you something isn’t true that they know is true.… So compromised
are the national reporting staffs of the Washington
Post and the New York Times and
many other outlets that they can’t be trusted with the biggest story of the day.”
(He was referring to the Hunter Biden laptop story.) Jenkins continues, “One
question I think we can say is already resolved conclusively: 51 former (top
intelligence) officials lied to the public with deliberation and premeditation
to influence a presidential election, and the national press abetted them.”
Jenkins then says, “Our press would bring these stories to light if it could
refute them, but it can’t, so it ignores them. The truth is being kept from you
now to protect the guilty, not to save the country.”
?It’s interesting
to track the downward trajectory of moral standards since I was a young student,
not that terribly long ago (based upon the age of the universe). When I
attended elementary school, everything was quite proper. Essentially, we did
what we were told. We knew that we were kids and understood that the adults
were in charge. These days, finding adults in charge isn’t all that common – certainly
not in Washington. We went to school to learn to read, write, and become good
citizens. Every day we prayed to G-d, recited the pledge of allegiance with our
hand over our heart, and sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” We loved our country
and looked up to our heroes in sports, movies, and TV (they knew they were role
models and behaved accordingly). Back then, movies and TV may have been bitul Torah, but because of strictly
enforced moral standards, the language and content were always decent. We
respected the police and were in awe of the FBI. In those days, heroes meant
good guys who did good things, fought for worthy causes, and were role models
for good citizenship. We lived through and learned about discrimination. Until 14
years ago, most of America had become colorblind and coexisted quite nicely. We
hadn’t yet been encouraged to become a grievance culture concentrating on “micro-aggressions.”
In previous generations, good, bad, right, and wrong were not matters of opinion, and
biological truths were facts. Things were clear and logical. Because America
was, primarily, a G-d-fearing religious country, morality was defined by the
laws brought down by Moshe from Sinai.
In the mid-seventies through the eighties,
I was a day school principal. By that time, there were already societal changes
taking place, especially with regard to respect for authority and sensitivity
to propriety. Dress codes were being challenged, and violent movies were
starting to appear laced with inappropriate language and content. And the (now,
mostly toxic) video game industry was just cranking up. But there was still a
clear majority of Americans who wanted decency and demanded leadership.
In 1980, when the feckless Jimmy
Carter was running against Ronald Reagan, an editorial cartoon appeared a week
before the election. The cartoon portrayed American hostages in an Iranian
prison looking up at a sky covered with F-16s. One prisoner, pointing up,
shouts “Reagan won!” Oh man, did Reagan win! He got 489 electoral votes!
Reagan’s coattails shifted the Senate and gave birth to the “Reagan revolution.”
Four years later, Reagan won by an even larger landslide: 525 electoral votes
to Mondale’s 13. The country was united behind an articulate, strong, values-based
leader, with core principles. We had a decisive president who despised big government
and wasteful spending. He called out evil when others were too timid.
Two days after the 1980 election,
Reagan dressed in cowboy attire and standing next to his horse at his
California ranch, told the Iranians that if they intended to make a deal concerning
the 66 hostages they had been holding for over a year, they’d better do it fast,
because at noon on January 20 (inauguration day) “all bets were off.” The
liberal press went crazy – said he was an unhinged cowboy oversimplifying a
complex situation in a very dangerous manner. Well, as Reagan was taking the
oath of office, at noon on January 20, 1981, the hostages were released.
In the eight years that followed,
America had renewed confidence in itself. Because of Reagan’s straightforward
and clear policies, the Soviet Union collapsed a little over two years after he
left office. Ronald Reagan was a G-d-fearing leader who believed in moral
values. He projected decency and confidence, which inspired America and its
allies and frightened our enemies.
So, what’s the connection between
presidential administrations and the current state of American’s children? As
Joseph de Maistre famously said, “Every nation gets the government it deserves.”
Since the majority of Americans (based upon their voting preferences) are
seemingly okay with what’s been going on in our country, we are now living in a
dystopian reality. Considering de Maistre’s statement I reflect back upon the
values that were instilled in me by my parents and teachers, which were at that
time supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans. G-d was at the
center. Whether you were an observant Jew (or not) or an observant Christian
(or not), G-d featured. When people believed that America was “one nation under
G-d” they by and large behaved accordingly. When G-d was officially removed
from the equation, the standards for good, bad, right, and wrong became
flexible. Feelings became more important than facts. Thoughts become more
important than actions, and “virtue signaling” became the new “good deed.”
When prayer was removed from public schools
in the early 60s (which the Lubavitcher Rebbe strongly opposed), the slow and
steady erosion of values and standards in our public schools was set into
motion. When children no longer grew up fearing (or even believing in) G-d,
then why should they not do whatever
appealed to them. Eventually, hedonistic behavior and the worship of oneself
became the new (all about me!) religion. Life became cheap, and the next thrill
was all that mattered. The tragic breakdown of normative marriage has led to
the collapse of healthy families capable of raising respectful, self-reliant
children possessing core values. The direct result is the destruction of our
inner cities as the corrosion seeps across the entire country.
We recently celebrated Chanukah,
which commemorates the triumph of a small group of G-d-fearing Jews who
challenged, and eventually defeated, the hedonistic, pagan, Assyrian Greeks.
It’s the story of courage and self-sacrifice by a minority of the Jewish population.
Unfortunately, then, as now, the majority surrounding them were practicing
Hellenists. The Torah readings from Bereishis
are predictive of the trials, tribulations, and challenges which have
confronted our people for over 4,000 years of feast and famine. We Jews have
lived through some of the worst and most oppressive conditions, yet,
inexplicably, we are still here. That’s because in every generation there was
always a small group of “Maccabees” who, against all odds, remained faithful to
G-d. “And Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed through him. For I have singled him out that he
may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the L-rd by
doing what is just and correct.” (Bereishis
18:18-19).
On the High Holy Days, when mankind
is being judged, there is a concept that the world hangs in the balance. Any
positive deed that we do tilts the scales towards redemption. The onus is therefore
upon each of us to be a kiddush Hashem
in order to merit salvation for ourselves and others. We are “our brothers’
keepers.”
As vicious antisemitism spreads – primarily
in the jurisdictions led by incompetent, feckless, woke politicians, where
crime rates are skyrocketing – and police are handcuffed, Jewish “leaders” seem
ever grateful to those same politicians who claim not to tolerate antisemitism.
Some Jewish “leaders” even believe the (mostly) phony political rhetoric.
Unfortunately, soft-on-crime politicians are also soft on antisemitism since,
in most cases, the same criminals who attack Jews have escaped prosecution for
numerous other crimes. In New York, antisemitic acts regularly go unpunished,
as does crime in general!
In the midst of this swampy morass,
Governor Ron DeSantis stands apart. In his recent inaugural address (for his
second term), he said, “Florida is proof positive that we, the people, are not
destined for failure.” He continued: “The floundering federal establishment in
Washington DC wields its authority through a sprawling, unaccountable, and out-of-touch
bureaucracy that does not act on behalf of us but, instead, looms over us and
imposes its will upon us.” Florida, he continued “is a refuge of sanity where woke
comes to die.”
DeSantis is a principled leader who
successfully led his state through Covid, keeping schools and the economy open.
Laws are enforced, criminals are prosecuted, and freedom and liberty are alive
and well. Notwithstanding being relentlessly lambasted by the corrupt media,
DeSantis remained (and remains) firm and focused. DeSantis is an example of
what a real leader looks like. I pray that those who are abandoning the unsafe
cities in the mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and West coast for Florida have learned
not to continue to vote for the types of people and policies that are
destroying the cities they have abandoned.
The
Maccabees demonstrated what a tiny group of principled Jews could accomplish by
standing up to moral corruption. Governor DeSantis dramatically proves what one
determined, principled individual can accomplish by standing up to the woke. It
is our responsibility, as G-d’s chosen people, to remind ourselves of our
sacred mission to be a light unto the nations. When our behavior in our homes,
in our communities, and in our workplaces is a kiddush Hashem, then we tilt the world toward redemption. It’s not
about the Orwellian woke – it is, as always, abou
