There are two different societies in the West, perhaps particularly in the U.S. and Canada.
This striking dichotomy is not, per se, between Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, white folk and people of color, or even rich and poor.
It is the profound difference between those in large urban areas and those who live in the country and more remote places. It is nearly all-encompassing.
City-dwellers tend to be far more “progressive.” By necessity they often need to rely on others for transportation. Many of the “elites” in coastal metropolises couldn’t change a tire or fix a leaky faucet to save their souls.
By contrast, those who reside in the country tend to be much more self-sufficient, and far less entitled. Most are capable of growing, building, and fixing things. These “flyover country” folks (except for those in the flyover urban areas) provide everyone with food, lumber, and energy. And they are too often reviled for doing so.
In large part, the majority of Canada's Albertans share the same values and outlook as the majority of those who live in, say, Wyoming or Oklahoma.
It would certainly be less frustrating — and likely more beneficial — for these hardy souls to join together. Especially to help overcome the punitive policies and smug attitudes of the massive federal bureaucracies that comprise and surround Ottawa and Washington. The same could be said of Dutch or German farmers, fishermen — and many others who labor with their hands and hearts.
How do we make this happen? Who makes the first move? This potentially could be so much more than “sister cities.” It would be a coalition of the willing and productive … and yet would stand expressly and steadfastly against “One World Government” and rampant globalism.
The leftist Leviathan never stops pushing to make the world Marxist.
Islam never stops trying to make the world Muslim. The WHO, the WEF, the UN, and various other international agencies and organizations are always all too willing to take our money and tell us what to do. And now, entrenched bureaucrats in the Deep States and the leftists in positions of power combine to try to prevent their political opposition from getting on the ballot…or even existing at all.
This is radically anti-democratic, no matter their preposterous rhetoric. And it poses an existential danger to freedom, natural rights, and the very livelihood of countless millions.
Moreover, too many Western leaders in too many Western nations seem hell-bent on replacing their native populations with illegal/undocumented immigrants. Or, at the very least, ignoring their wishes while catering to the migrants. This egregious usurping of control must not stand.
Marx’s Communist Manifesto famously contained the slogan, “Workers of the world, unite!”
Communism didn’t work out well for the workers. It never does and never will. It can’t, because of human nature and certain irrefutable economic principles.
That said, the producers of the world should unite. Extraction workers, energy producers, fishermen, farmers, lumbermen, builders, etc. And all those who rely on them. In Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” they just disappeared.
We need to do the opposite. We need to publicly and visibly reach out to each other and stand with each other to the greatest extent possible.
When Germany’s AfD party is threatened with being outlawed, when a tweet disagreeing with the English government can get you fined and/or imprisoned, when a political leader that wishes to “drain The Swamp” is nearly assassinated — twice — when those in Washington, Ottawa, and Brussels essentially attempt to ban farming and the production of oil, coal, and gas, and when globalists want you to eat bugs not meat … it is time to take a stand. Against tyranny, intolerance, and insanity.
Dutch farmers, Edmonton and Texas oilmen, and West Virginian coal producers all have a common interest. In truth, most of us who live in rural areas do. Yet we are outvoted by a few large cities. And used by those in power who mock us.
There is a great scene in the hit television show “Landman” (language alert) in which Tommy explains to a young Eastern hotshot lawyer why petroleum is so necessary to the world. He tells it like it is and she is flustered. She gets even more flustered when a rattlesnake threatens to bite her. She is paralyzed with fear until Tommy chops the head of the snake off with a shovel. The lawyer is then upset that he killed the snake.
Progressives can bitch and moan about anything and everything, but the world owes a debt of gratitude to the producers, the men and women of vision, courage and capability who provide us with food and energy. It is time we (figuratively) cut off the head of the snake that threatens us. Our governments too often try to divide us. Let us come together in our quest for liberty and justice.
As someone once said, “We shall overcome.” Let’s do so together. Rise up, rubes. Fight back, flyover folks.
I know it is far-fetched and naïve to think that this could really happen, but, after I finished writing this piece, I stumbled across this article. Could there really be a chance?
On this Independence Day, I say: “Let freedom ring!”
Image: Los Paseos, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed
