By Edwin Cooney
As regular readers of these weekly wonderings and wanderings
know, for some time now I’ve been searching for ways out of the social,
political and spiritual culture war in which America has been engaged since the
late 1970s -- and the way out hasn’t been easy to find. Even more disheartening is the possibility
that most Americans have come to really and truly enjoy quarreling with and
berating their fellow citizens even as they sing “God bless America.”
The soul of our national discontent can, I believe, be found
in the establishment of a myriad of intellectual and emotional domains from which
we tend to view the rest of this imperfect society.
These domains I define as lofty bastions of intellectual,
emotional and spiritual realms of superiority from which we tend to look down
on most of our fellow citizens as we either take pride in our separateness or
rue the lack of appreciation people at large extend to us.
Politicians, whom we both abhor and depend upon to do our
bidding, invariably appeal to us as rulers of various domains for it is likely
that you and I reside in more than one domain.
First, there’s the domain of the taxpayer. Never mind fifth grade civics, everyone knows
that every person should get his or her own way as a “taxpayer.” Taxpayers are more knowledgeable than educated
professionals, wiser than conscientious public servants, more worthy of
consideration than our mothers, and more patriotic than any national leader –
especially the president. Once you’re a
“taxpayer,” you are endowed with wisdom far beyond that of King Solomon of Old
Testament fame!
Next, there’s the domain of the patriot whose view and
assessment of other nations is always objective even as he or she asks God to
bless America and to comparatively damn the rest of His created domain!
One of the most popular domains is that of the victim. This domain was originally blessed by
Marxists and radical liberals, but alas, conservatives who have traditionally
whined about “victimhood” when it was linked to the poor now insist that
affirmative action has created a level of soul-destroying victimhood borne by white
Anglo-Saxon Americans – a victimhood far worse, of course, than any ever
visited on a minority of any kind.
Domains of the oppressed inevitably dot the landscape of 21st
Century America. There’s the domain of
the beleaguered gun owner who has little to sustain him or her except a trusty gun. There’s
the domain of frustrated parents whose children are being educated by teachers
who know less about teaching than they do. These parents would homeschool
the kiddies except they’re too busy making quite a comfortable living.
A really fascinating domain is hosted by a prominent talk
show host. It’s actually a sovereign entity
known as “The Savage Nation,” a nation fierce enough to do the bidding of one “mighty
Mike” (excuse me!): Michael Savage.
Almost as fierce as “Savage Nation” is Raider Nation of
football fame. Hmmm! A game between Raider
Nation and Savage Nation might not only be entertaining, it would be downright
compelling. That game, without a doubt,
would immediately make an Oakland Raiders football fan out of me.
Throughout that game I would stuff myself with more goodies
and beer than Dr. Oz would advise. In addition to the “nations” or domains
mentioned above, there’s both Cardinal and Red Sox “Nation.” We’ve just recently enjoyed the ultimate
contest between those two harmless but nevertheless expensive “nations” which
was quite entertaining.
There’s also consumer domain in which the users of products
and services have more weight than the inventors or providers of all goods and
services.
Wisdom demands that I not forget the domain of the realist in
which the dreamer is the “village idiot.”
The domain of the cynic is a must visit for the gullible
believer who is convinced that there’s more good than bad in this nation or in
the world itself!
Yes indeed, this is the era of the personal domain. Under our republican (notice the small r)
form of government, the people are sovereign and if domains are nothing else,
they are invariably sovereign. They
inevitably form our individual dream worlds in which you and I are absolute
ruler.
Every hope or fear, whether material, political or spiritual,
invites you and me to create a domain that masters that fear or hope. My personal bastion of righteous superiority
is my weekly visit with you. Here I’m
the “lord and master,” the renderer of all praise, the pronouncer of all wisdom
-- that is, until you stop reading these weekly wonderings.
Wait a minute! Is the world changing? What’s happening to my dream…to my little
domain of exclusive reality? Ah nuts! My domain is crumbling even as I write
these words! Someone I’ve never met is being born. Some opportunity I’ve never had is in the
process of being created. The nature of
both peace and war are changing just as it would for our Founding Fathers if
they were still living among us.
Somewhere out there is another Galileo, another Da Vinci, perhaps
another Lincoln.
Oh, my God! Is that another Bill Mazeroski being born? From the lofty heart of my New York Yankee
domain I devoutly hope not!
I wonder, is your lofty domain real or is it merely a mirage
just like mine?
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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