How to Destroy the United States of America

For me the recent appearances of "angry citizens" at town hall meetings demonstrate what is worst about the current U.S. political process, and something that I believe could destroy this country. 

When a strategy is formulated whereby disruptive participants in town hall meetings get the media attention they desire, thereby dominating the public discourse on important issues, they may be helping their cause, but they are not helping this country.  Energy that could be used to solve problems is being directed to derailing the other side's agenda.  When both sides employ the same tactic you are guaranteed that no useful solution will be achieved, only more turf wars, as the waters slowly rise and the ship eventually sinks.

Let me be clear, I don't care how valid your position may be or which side you are on, employing adversarial techniques, whether in town hall meetings or in the U.S. Congress, does not solve any problems, so in the end we all become the losers.

Technorati Tags: angry citizens, politics, town hall meetings

Comments

[Felipe Zapata]

Americans are, with some exceptions, spoiled rotten.

[Michael Fryar]

More stunning than the arrogance of elected officials to act as an elite aristocracy is the continued ignorance of the source of the anger of a population of the country too long ignored and shut out. As an attorney with resources I cannot get a one on one meeting with a legislator to discuss issues (an I'm not talking about health care). I ... Read Morecannot begin to imagine the frustration of a citizen with no resources attempting to be heard.

While health care is the issue at hand it is not the source of the anger. The anger stems from a realization that too many freedoms have been sacrificed, too much given up to the state and it is an uprising against the final switch being thrown to convert us to socialism.

Until that anger can be appreciated and understood, there is no possible resolution to the situation. It will only continue on. But will it destroy the country? No - we're a democracy that has seen far worse occur and we have emerged the better for it.