I remember being assigned to read ‘The Jungle’ by Upton Sinclair and ‘Elmer Gantry’ by Sinclair Lewis way back in what is now called middle school. Admittedly, I often confused the two writers’ names, but I enjoyed the two books immensely. And, learned that our commerical (and religious) industries still need a lot of work. (That still hasn’t changed all that much in half a century, either.)
But, I never read Sinclair Lewis’ novel, “It Can’t Happen Here”- until recently. While it supposedly was a take on Huey Long (or maybe Hitler), I’ll let you consider the facts of the novel.
Senator Buzz Windrip is elected president. The US conditions? The economy is in a shambles, and drastic economic and social reforms are promised- along with “traditional values” and super-patriotism. And, now that he’s president, Windrip converts the government into a totalitarian dream. Of course, the problems in America are due to the media, the Jews, the Blacks, the foreigners in our midst. Now, Senator Windrip really wasn’t a Nazi- but he certainly was a con-man, a Rotary club member, a master manipulator (appealing to the desperation in folks’ lives), and an all-around scary person to someone with a sense of history.
I don’t know about you, but Windrip sounds like 2/3 of the Republicans who are currently running for President. With their calls for traditional values and the eradication of our civil rights to afford the government the ability to deal with terrorism.
Of course, we already have seen that Hillary Clinton voted for the abrogation of our civil rights (you know- the inanely titled ‘Patriot Act’). So, it’s not just the Republicans that believe that potential terrorism trumps our basic rights.
And, you wonder why our faith in government is eroded? When government feels free to track our every move, to monitor our phone calls and our eMails? (Officially, they are only tracking foreigners’ actions- but once they collect the data, they feel free [illegally] to examine our private affairs. Let us not forget that they also did the same for our troops overseas, with their private conversations with spouses from whom they were separated for 12, 15, 18 months or more.)
This country is predicated on the concept of fairness, proper governance, and free expression. Yes, we have failed minorities and the poor over the years- but seemed to have been moving to eradicate these failures- until the recent “I’m a bigger patriot than you” calls by those grasping to become our leaders.
Like those are the leaders we need.
Are you still so sure “It can’t happen here”?
