Our Republic

 

An article titled "My Love for America Is Unconditional,"  written by David Brooks ,was published in the November 30, 2025 edition of The New York Times. A few definitions follow before my response.  America is defined as a continent of North America, South America, and lands of the Western Hemisphere.  Patriotism is defined as devotion and vigorous support of one's country. Love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection and can be used as a noun or verb . It's a feeling of deep affection for someone to be in love with, to be infatuated with that arises out of oneself, or personal ties.  And proud, defined as feeling deep pleasure or satisfaction as a result of one's own achievements, qualities or possessions, or those of someone with whom one is closely associated.

In this article, Brooks wrote that in 2001, 90% of Republicans and 87% of Democrats said they were extremely or very proud to be American.  And today, 92% of Republicans say they are proud to be American, while 36% of Democrats do  according to a recent Gallup survey.  He also pointed out that Gen Z.  Democrats say they feel little or no pride in being American compared  to feeling very proud. For those respondents, proud refers to self, another , both  or something else ?

Brooks goes on to say that his patriotism is more like that of a Republican in that it is unconditional and is based on what America has always been.  He added that his patriotism is rooted in the nation's ability to arouse ambition and energy and goes on to quote, an example  given by a Frenchman involved in the French - Indian war in the 18th century . And he follows with this energy is related to a force that  also produces crassness materialism and from time to time immaturity.  He mentioned Abraham Lincoln  and then states  the "gaudy display of a Donald Trump and the occasional recklessness of an Elon Musk.

 Further, he quoted Walt Whitman  "Americans have an almost maniacal appetite for wealth."  And that Whitman never stopped celebrating the nobility of regular working people.  Additionally, he quotes FDR “happiness lies not in the mere possessions of money, it lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of created effort. “ And finished with  a statement about Ronald Regan’s optimism, patriotism and hope.

First, there is a difference between love, patriotism and being proud.  Love , as a verb, pertains to not only an emotion or feelings, but behavior associated with that object as it is highly inter-personal .Emotions  constantly change , related behavior and thinking also changes.  With this being so,  feelings , thinking, actions and interactions also change in a ratio of positive or negative direction depending upon a multitude of variables  associated with another over time . Also, depending on the degree and severity of another’s  inappropriate , toxic,or  sadistic  character orientation  that’s expressed in words and behavior,  I am unable to love that other who consistently and pathologically lies cheats with threatening and abusive behavior. I do not love thy enemy.

I  am an American and marvel at the perseverance,  outstanding accomplishments, contributions , and the humanism of so many Americans.  Although Benjamin Franklin wasn't mentioned, I recognize his brilliance and moral change when he became an abolitionist.  Abraham Lincoln, was  the most instrumental humanist president of all time, and second to none.  Walt Whitman was a brilliant poet and I applaud FDR's efforts in combating Nazi-ism, but not his political position regarding placing limits on European Jewish refugees.  He was morally wrong in that regard.

I agree with Brooks regarding the people of our republic's ambition and energy but find it limiting.,too narrow and not the full story  of our republic .  Our republic's history is very complex and contradictory and I cannot dismiss Brooks  referring to Trump as only being gaudy. Trump, the convicted felon and pathological liar, betrayed the idea and  peaceful implementation of democracy and the constitution with his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results and his constant whining and fraudulent claim about the  election. He was and is a pathological  liar.

 Our elections and peaceful  transfer of power, according to the founding fathers, was supposed to be  unique .  What might Lincoln ,Whitman, FDR and Ronald Reagan ( Iran-Conta Affair) say about Trump’s role in the January 6 riot at the capital?  If Brooks' love for Trump is unconditional , that's based on his denial, rationalization, and intellectualization at best.Intellectually, Brooks is no fool?  Keep your head above ground and acknowledge reality .

Our Republic’s policies , not America, to be more precise, have been extraordinary at times; and at other times, inhumane ,discriminatory, sadistic and inappropriate.  Just recently, there was a murder by Ice in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  A 37-year-old mother  of 3 children was shot and killed by a murderer working for the president.  Brooks, how would you describe that action and Trump’s response ?  What about your unconditional love for the Ice, the president and all the sycophants with their lying propaganda ,deceit and fictional stories?  How can you be proud of all the lies, corruption, moral failings, criminal behavior and constitutional disregard by this fascist GOP government in America at this time ?  

Moreover, Benjamin Franklin, in the 1700’s stated four important behavioral ideals t 1.  Be extremely frugal.  2.  Endeavor to speak the truth.  3.  Apply myself industriously.  4 Speak ill of no man.  Brooks, how does  Trump and his followers compare and measure up with Franklin’s ideals ?  Furthermore, Paul Ekman developed a list of 6 primary emotions that include: 1 anger .2 disgust .3 happiness.  4  sadness, 5 fear and 6  surprise.  Pertaining to Trump and his behavior, policies, and statements, I've experienced every emotion except happiness.  And, I take exception to your vague and misuse of the word love.Love is an active  emotional based interactive act resulting in a response.  Your wide range or gross meaning  of the word love has lost the clarity and  essence. 

Reference

Ekman, Paul.  Emotion in the Human Face. 

Discrimination

 

It's been said that history repeats itself.  It’s human history that’s repeated.There are similarities throughout the history of man which are based, in part, largely on the consistency of character and personality within the various  socioeconomic societies . Briefly ,this essay characterizes America about 100 years ago as authors F. Scott Fitzgerald , Theodore Dreiser ,John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway , John Dos Passos,Jack London and others presented stories depicting that time period  in our Republic. How relevant are their stories compared to today ?

Racist psychology ,in the 1920s ,promoted pseudoscientific ideas pertaining to WASP racial superiority . Also, there was  an eugenics movement that advocated selective breeding to improve our population by targeting marginalized groups.  In fact, social Darwinism was used and abused  to justify  racial hierarchies. survival of the fittest. White nationalism is still alive.

We had immigration laws that were enacted to limit immigration from certain countries deemed racially inferior.  There was also media and literature that perpetuated negative stereotypes about racial  ethnic minorities. And, segregation laws , with institutionalized  Jim Crow racism  promoted and enacted  racial separation .Do the majority of today’s rapists,murders and drug traffickers come from -across the border ?

The Robber Barons or the Titans of the Gilded Age included Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, Jim Fisk, and John D.  Rockefeller.  These figures dominated and influenced the labor movement battling against collective bargaining ,living wage, employee benefits etc.  On the other side and perhaps the most significant person in the history of the American labor movement was  the Dutch Jew Samuel Gompers.  He represented the "underdogs" And, he persisted in his effort to improve the lives of working people by establishing unions.

 There were many battles and casualties against the workers perpetuated and enforced by government police agencies.They broke the “strikes.” There was significant income inequality then..Today’s tech billionaires come to mind with their power and influence .Today union membership , workers aged 45 to 54 had the highest union membership rate in 2024 at 12.6% . In comparison, workers aged 16 to 24 had the lowest union membership rate at 4.3%  Trump, no friend to unions or workers, undermines them .

The immigration act of 1924 slowed immigration from undesirable countries and favored Northern and Western Europeans..  It limited and set quotas on the number of immigrants from Asia, eastern and southern Europe and also authorized the creation of the country's first formal border control service.  The US border patrol  was established as a control system allowing entry only to those who first obtained a visa from a US Consulate abroad.  The rationale ,at that time, pertained to  public and political concerns about the  country's changing social and demographic landscape.  It significantly reduced immigration from countries outside the Western Hemisphere and the total annual immigration quota.  The rest of the world was capped at 165,000, an 80% reduction of the yearly average before 1914.  Its purpose was to preserve the ideal of US homogeneity.  Note, I was taught in school that we were a melting pot . Sending individuals elsewhere, without due process is simply discrimination ..

Today, we have approximately 20% less foreign students applying to our universities than  we did last year.  Also , Afghan immigration applications are stopped as well as immigrants from other countries. Trump said Somalis are garbage and they should go back to where they came from.  His administration claimed it can classify undocumented 14-year-old Venezuelans as alien enemies and deport them without judicial review.  Miller said migrants and their descendents re-create the conditions and terrors of their broken homelands. 

 A few titles of articles from the December 21, 2025 edition of The New York Times are other illustrations of Trump's discrimination regarding immigration: 1.  For Sikh Truckers, a New Wariness on the Road-a Trump administration crackdown is distressing an immigrant community of long-haul drivers 2.  Administration Pushes Asylum Seekers to Apply in Other Countries.  3.  Queens Man And Son, 6, Are Deported Back to China.

The voting right act of 1965 allocated visas based primarily on family unification and applicant's ability to contribute to the labor market.  Every immigrant is individually vetted and immigration is worldwide, and no longer are any nationalities automatically restricted.  Actually,America is stronger for it.  Nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children, and many came from countries that were heavily restricted before 1965.  Immigrants generally commit fewer crimes than native born Americans. And, Afghans are no exception. 

The KKK is an American Protestant led white supremacist far right hate group.and was founded in 1865 during reconstruction in the South. Historians have characterized the klan as America's first terrorist group.  The group was structured as a secret society containing several different organizations that had historically resorted to terrorism, violence and acts of intimidation to impose their sadism and oppress their victims mostly African-Americans, Jews and Catholics.

The KKK of the 1920s had a nationwide membership in the millions and reflected a cross-section of the nativeborn white Protestant population;. The klan was largely a reaction to the growing civil rights movement and issued murder and bombings to achieve its aims.  They called for the "purification" of American society.  In fact, the KKK had a rally in New York at Madison Square Garden and one of Trump's relatives, his grandfather, was in attendance. Today’s Heritage  Foundation comes to mind with their anti -Semitic cronies as well as the hate expressed on social media . The ADL responds quickly to anti-sematic attacks: monitors ,exposes and disrupts  anti-Semitism online; supports Jewish students facing harassment at school and uses litigation to protect and defend Jewish communities.

Henry Ford fanned anti-Semitism and made racial hatred bear the false resemblance of respectability.  In fact, his 100 or more hate publications perpetuated his power and his hatred and ignorance.  He waged a war against Jews and asserted that some members of some ethnic and racial groups should not be allowed to immigrate to the United States.  His columns accused the Jews of radicalism.  He also used his influential business power and fortune to promote anti-Semitism  in the United States and was admired by some Nazi leaders, including Hitler.  

Also, the Canadian American Catholic priest Charles Coughlin was a demagogue and one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience who supported social justice and anti-Semitism.  An estimated 30 million listeners tuned into his weekly broadcasts.  A few of his quotes.  "We have lived to see the day that modern Shylock's have grown fat and wealthy, praised and defied because they have perpetuated the ancient crime of usury under the modern racket of statesmanship."  "I have dedicated my life to fighting against the  US rottenness of modern capitalism because it robs the labor of this world's goods.  But blow for blow.  I shall strike against communism because it robs us of the next world's happiness ."  Coughlin expressed sympathy for the fascist governments of Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy terming them as an antidote to communism.."  From Berlin, they identified Coughlin as a German hero in America for the moment, with his sympathetic statements or Nazi-ism as a defensive front against Bolshevism.Today  the authoritarian Putin is supported, not Zelensky, a Ukrainian Jew. and president since 2019.

At the university level, Harvard had racist admissions practices in the 1920s by implementing a quota system to restrict the number of Jewish students.  This Harvard plan was enacted to maintain a balance of ethnicities favoring Anglo-Saxon applicants. Actually these practices reflected broader societal prejudices and anti-somatic sentiments of the era.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-sematic incidents in the US  have reached an all-time high.  In recent years, hate crimes against Jewish individuals have increased significantly, making up a large percentage of religiously motivated hate crimes.  Also ,online.  anti-Semitism has surged with a notable rise in hate speech and conspiracy theories on social media  platforms.  Moreover, surveys have indicated a significant portion of the population holds anti-Semitic beliefs often unknowingly. And, the ADL reports that anti-Semitic rhetoric has been linked to extremist groups and movements as in the Bondi Beach  attack.

The number of incidents against Jewish students has been reported and documented during the Israel and Gaza conflict.  As if American Jewish students have anything to do with or have influence with the Israeli government?  Discrimination and hate continues.

Disliking, exploiting, discriminating and oppressing others  either aggressively or passive aggressively is a significant aspect pertaining to Homo sapiens and certainly not limited to the 1920s or today . Sadistic cruelty toward others is a matter of fact.  And, the powerful have had no difficulty in rationalizing , denying or dismissing their  hateful and flawed morality behaviors .  Unfortunately,many voters and non voters in the United States Republic’s 2016 and 2024 presidential election ; conservative Supreme Court Republicans with their unitary executive idea which is contrary to the beliefs of the brilliant Thomas Paine's writings in "Common Sense" regarding the separation of power ;congressional Republicans and unaccountable architects like  Vought, Miller, Rubio, Hegseth, Kushner and Witcoff  with Monroe doctrine beliefs and other discriminatory policies support a morally bankrupt  authoritarian  to implement the racist  “America First” agenda.  And, do not deny that our Republic was founded and had flourished with discrimination.  However,  in our  Republic’s history, some of the powerful  made significant improvements with  humanistic  policies in combating discrimination .Today ,many more are better off than those in the 18th and 20th century. The battle for liberty and the pursuit of Human rights is in danger and  requires perseverance of action .

Reference

Once Nativism Escalates, It Is Hard to Stop.  The New York Times, December 7, 2025.

The White House Is a Lost Cause.  The New York Times, December 21, 2025.

Trump's Monroe Doctrine Will Tip Our World Into Chaos.  The 

 New York Times, December 21, 2025

Mendacity or Fact

 

 A pertinent article was found in the November 30, 2025 edition of The New York Times.  That article was based on a book written by Joseph J.  Ellis, a Pulitzer winning historian, in his book " The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding."  This essay points to Washington and Jefferson’s moral character of prejudice and discrimination.

To begin, the importance of this quote can not be understated.. It’s a letter written to George Washington in 1785 from Robert Pleasantis, a fellow tobacco planter. Significantly, Pleasantis, a Quaker, freed his enslaved workers as soon as the  Virginia law allowed him to do so.  "Remember the cause for which thou wert called to the Command of the American army, was the cause of liberty and the Rights of Mankind." “ This Quaker reminded Washington of the irony  that many who had recently fought for freedom were now sitting in this state of ease, this dissipation and extravagance on the labour of Slaves."

In his book, Ellis acknowledged both the institution of slavery and the disposal of Native Americans.  Were these events  a flaw in the character of those in power or were the egalitarian principles founder's achievements, the obstacles they faced in achieving more and the progress the  nation has made more morally and significantly more important and relevant ?What about the morality of those in power?

Ellis acknowledged two unquestionably horrific tragedies the  founders oversaw . The American revolution disrupted slavery's as thousands of enslaved people fled to fight for the British and in Charleston . And, South Carolina patriots refused to arm enslaved men in exchange for their freedom, forcing the city  to surrender to the British in 1780. In essence, these  white ,in power, deprived others of liberty which  mattered more than securing their own. These fools dismissed morality and pursued  power, domination and economics .These greedy  were stupid.

Washington, who had owned people since he was 11 years old, later warned that by imposing new taxes, the British were seeking to make the colonists "as tame, and abject slaves,as the Blacks we rule over with such arbitrary Sway."  And,after the war, Washington was angry when British ships carried off enslaved servants who had fled Mount Vernon.  However,in  1790 Madison called slavery "a moral and political evil,"  but deemed it "improper to push for  abolition “ at that time. Ambivalence and contradictory .

Ellis  believed revolutionary leaders were well-meaning prisoners of circumstance and that they could not have abolished slavery even if they wanted to and that pushing for it would have divided the fragile union.  And, that slavery's rapid expansion stalled any resolution, turning at least some of the founders' hopes that slavery would eventually disappear  after  decades of paralysis broken only by the Civil War. So what ,we continue to have a fragile union. 

Additionally, in a  chapter about the forced expulsion of native peoples from their homelands,  Ellis downplayed Washington's lifelong involvement in the project of settler expansion. Also,  the total destruction and devastation of Iroquois's villages in 1779 goes unmentioned.  He presented Washington as powerless to obstruct the relentless tide of white settlers venturing westward and he also ignored the  American soldiers who waged war  against nations aligned in Northwestern Indian Confederacy across Ohio and Indiana.Yes, the “Father “ of our Republic was a racist who discriminated against his fellow man.

Would  the abolition of slavery have impeded the American revolution?  If so, an argument can be made about the importance of character and economics of our revolutionary heroes.  This means that the orientation of owning another fulfills the ego needs of aggression( to oppose and punish another), counteraction (to maintain self respect and pride on a high level) , dominance (to  direct the behavior of others by command) and  rejection( to exclude,expel  or remain indifferent to an inferior object).  And for Jefferson and others.  affiliation(to please and win affection  of a cathected object),, succorance (to have one’s needs gratified by the sympathetic aid of an allied object) and sex(to have sexual intercourse). And ,economically for profit and for the neurotic tendencies for power ,possession and prestige.

If we had lived in the 18th century, would we have done it any differently?  People with a character orientation like Trump would have pursued similar behavior based on the ego needs previously mentioned. In other words, ego needs, character orientation, within the influences of culture and society result in similar behaviors.per history..  

It's not about what we say or write as we, in various degrees ,lie, omit, rationalize,deny, distort,and  overlook in order to persuade, influence,escape responsibility, reality and to dominate.  It's about  our behavior ,actions -what we do .That’s our story and the rest is simply fiction and illusion.  For example,take  the terrific studio recording by the Beatles  "All you need is love.”.  The words and melody are  wonderful ,pleasing ,soothing, familiar and entertaining  but are  wish fulfillments- a fantasy . The " father" of our country.  Washington was acknowledged for his military brilliance but  was  also greedy, morally suspect, prejudiced and discriminatory . And, the brilliant intellectual Jefferson was greedy, prejudiced, discriminatory, ambivalent and morally inept but met his affiliative and sexual ego needs  with Sally Hemings ,his enslaved object . Essentially, our Republic’s ground floor was oriented and aligned with  prejudice and discrimination which continues today. The  discrimination  and  prejudice of the many  others  were demonstrated clearly every day , every year by their laws, politics,socioeconomics and ,religious acts .Therefore, their  unjust ,prejudicial and discriminatory actions on grounds of ethnicity  were embedded in their orientation of character and personality within the history, culture and society of Homo Sapiens  Freud  and others  have clearly described man and his contradictions , authoritarian conscience ,narcissism, irrationality and sado masochistic actions .The history of  this Republic  is repetitive and based on  the “kaleidoscope" of ego needs , character  orientation within  culture and  a capitalistic society. Discrimination with acts  of dominance, exploiting others for sex ,power , possession, and prestige suggest a  narcissistic quality for  personal gain, survival and define a group of  privileged Americans . .

Reference

Murray, Henry A. Explorations in Personalty