{"id":1815,"date":"2024-10-22T19:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T02:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aculpableinnocence.com\/home5\/aculpabl\/anthony_blog\/?p=1815"},"modified":"2024-10-22T19:30:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T02:30:06","slug":"this-moment-in-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aculpableinnocence.com\/home5\/aculpabl\/anthony_blog\/this-moment-in-time\/","title":{"rendered":"This Moment in Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

The moment lived is history, that is, history in its progress through time. If so, how do we truly \u201clive in the moment\u201d that is irretrievably receding into our past? In truth, we humans are constantly reconstructing our present experience from our past. And that reconstruction determines our future. In other words, each of us exists in a world we partially create from our sensual perception of a world as interpreted through the lens of our past experiences. If this line of reasoning sounds like a circular argument, then you perceive the mystery of human perception at the very moment it is individually experienced. Is it any wonder then, that we can differ so widely between what <\/span>we <\/span><\/i>perceive as reality or what <\/span>others may <\/span><\/i>determine as reality?\u00b9 <\/span>As a result, the preconceived notions of others can hold sway over our lived experience. If confronted with indisputable evidence or scientifically proven facts, we often choose to accept a reality we did not previously identify. Or we might simply accept as reality whatever a trusted person tells us. And therein lies the secret of any dictator\u2019s success over a supplicant society. The dictator might tell us to believe in a reality not proven by either scientific or factual evidence nor personal experience and judgment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, Americans at this point in our country\u2019s history are torn between two vastly different perceptions of reality. In the world created by political operatives, the present is too often redefined by preconceptions, that is, a predisposition to displace the reality perceived by an individual\u2019s experience. The individual\u2019s ability to validate and learn from his\/her experience is negated by such predispositions. There are many examples of this phenomenon in very recent American history\u2014and a warning as well.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first predisposition.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On January 6, 2021, there was either a peaceful citizen protest against a rigged election or a violent insurrection intended to impede the peaceful transfer of power and the results of a free democratic election. Donald Trump, and his unquestioning followers, claimed that the incident was peaceful and\/or justified. But 140 officers were seriously injured and at least one of them died because of this wild melee at our Nation\u2019s capital. The notion of a peaceful assembly is the result of a false narrative deployed to preempt the obvious reality and predispose fellow citizens to accept a lie. Instead of a <\/span>peaceful demonstration<\/span><\/i><\/b> there really was a violent insurrection designed to at least forestall, if not kill, the certification of a national election.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second predisposition.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hundreds of protestors have since been convicted and sentenced to prison for their participation in this attack on the American capital. And no evidence has ever been presented to justify their claims that the election was rigged. Nevertheless, Donald Trump and his followers have superimposed a false justification for a violent attack on the nation\u2019s capital–reprising the only previous attack by the British in the war of 1812. The British attack is recorded history. And the Trump-inspired attack was seen and recorded in real time\u2014thereby documenting it as an historical event. When Trump sent his followers to the capital with the words \u201cyou have to fight like hell, or you will not have a country anymore,\u201d he was not defending our democratic state, but directing its overthrow. His preconceived ambition for America, therefore, was a dictatorship under his sole control, rather than a democracy ruled by its citizens. He was predisposing his followers to demonstrate <\/span>allegiance to him<\/span><\/i><\/b>, rather than to America\u2019s democracy.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The third predisposition.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But do his followers realize their support of his fascist ambitions would spell the end of the American democracy? When he states his intent to disband various institutions of government and the very Constitution that defines America\u2019s democracy, should his subjects simply fall in line behind his leadership? How is it that he can claim such power? The answer is quite simple: he cannot, unless we citizens grant him that power. And bequeathing him that power would be a betrayal of the responsibility that every citizen has in a democracy, that is, the power of self-government. Our Constitution not only gives us that power, but it outlines the basis for self-government in values, principles, and laws. \u00b2<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0Although our world is constantly changing, every American citizen lives within the parameters of the American Constitution and the responsibilities it demands of us. And that demand has perhaps never been more pressing than at this moment in time. For Donald Trump is predisposing Americans to believe our institutions\u2014including a national election and the peaceful turnover of power\u2014are the <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>enemy within<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u201d<\/span><\/i> that represent what he terms the \u201cAmerican carnage.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The fourth predisposition<\/span><\/i>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Donald Trump\u2019s bastardization of the capitalist \u201cvirtuous cycle,\u201d the rich both control and benefit from a growing economy abetted by their influence over government. But his interpretation of Adam Smith\u2019s logic is perverse and not at all virtuous, for Smith placed the advance of domestic industry not in the hands of the rich and powerful, but in the contributions of every individual led by \u201can invisible hand.\u201d\u00b3<\/span>\u00a0And Jefferson clearly believed it \u201cself-evident . . . that all men (<\/span>sic<\/span><\/i>) are created equal . . . endowed . . . with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.\u201d And that pursuit is not just a right guaranteed by the American Constitution but enhanced by Adam Smith\u2019s definition of the virtuous cycle wherein he gives voice to an individual\u2019s pursuit of happiness. Donald Trump, however, believes that not only his wealth but also his narcissistic self-characterization demand he stay in office for the duration of his life. After all, his oft-repeated declaration that \u201conly he can make America great again,\u201d presumes he should<\/span> never concede his Presidency<\/span><\/i><\/b> to impeachment or a plebiscite. <\/span>4<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The fifth predisposition.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Donald Trump presents himself as a business tycoon and a glorious winner who demolishes his rivals in any competition\u2014whether in the Presidency, in the courts, in business, in golf, or in the wrestling ring. \u201cMake America great again\u201d and \u201cAmerica first\u201d are goals he asserts that only he could attain and realize\u2014assumedly, <\/span>for the benefit of all citizens<\/span><\/i><\/b>. Of course, his wrestling prowess was staged, his golf trophies were rigged at his courses, and in like manner were his other touted successes. After bilking his brothers and sisters out of their inheritance, he squandered his father\u2019s fortune into six bankruptcies. But, in the tabloids, he displayed the lifestyle of a billionaire \u201cplayboy.\u201d In truth, his only business success was achieved by his first wife. On his own merits, he ran every one of his enterprises into the ground\u2014including his wife\u2019s achievement\u2014while declaring six bankruptcies. When he refused to pay laborers, he avoided accountability in the courts, by exhausting the resources of his plaintiffs with endless appeals.\u00a0 As a candidate for the Presidency and as President, his criminal activity did not subside but expanded (reference the footnotes in the previous blog, \u201cThe Blessings of Liberty<\/a>\u201d).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My fellow Americans, ask yourselves how it is possible to believe Donald Trump:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n