Protecting the Obvious.

It becomes obvious that the obvious needs no protection: after all, is obvious!

The peregrines had a very different obvious: their environment allowed them little certainty other than the love of their families and faith in God.  All else had to be won at great effort and peril, from their basic food, protection from the elements, the indians and even the King.

As they toiled and fought for everything, the only obvious at the time was that they had nothing and were entitled to nothing.  Survival was the order of the day, and many did not.  This obvious needed not be protected, it was only natural and taken for granted, painful and difficult as it was.

Thanks to time, destiny, luck and great men, that initial rugged bunch became the grandest nation the world has ever seen.  Talent, ingenuity, risk-taking by pioneers, entrepreneurs and warriors transformed a very hostile reality into what we enjoy today.

Today our 'obvious' taken for granted is quite different, but the attitude is the same: there is no need to protect it.  Our obvious is the result of our Constitution and the Declaration.  Furthermore, as it often happens in human nature, we allow ourselves to include into our basic entitlements (supposedly limited to life, freedom and pursuit of happiness) claims of protection against anything that could potentially ruin your day: discrimination based on any grading system; actions, words or thoughts which even if well-meant could make someone feel bad according to their own standards; losing at a game; inclusion in a menu of foods that 'your people' do not happen to enjoy; free medical care to fix your moods; others paying for your 'right' to have sex without fear of pregnancy, and so forth almost endlessly.

But there is some other aspects included in our today's obvious that are even more comic or sinister and provide a portrait of the contemporary American in a worst light: the obvious understanding that we are so far superior to the rest of the world.  As it is often the case, at first view this characteristic shows up as the exact opposite: humbleness and compassion when in reality is unfettered arrogance,  petulance and hubris.

America got to the pinnacle of civilization because we fought for it, including many who died for it. We won't stay permanently or even temporarily in that envious position by act of God or nature, with the help of our competition (all other nations) or worst off: because we are SO MUCH BETTER than everybody else.  Irrational, unfair (and wrong) as it is, this is the new obvious of our entitled fellow Americans. 

Since it is obvious... we don't need to fight for it, or even protect it.  Quite the contrary, in their eyes, we should give it away, share it with the rest of the world, spread our riches with all for everybody's benefit.  Wouldn't that be FAIR after all?

This apparent generosity hides the understanding of a fake obvious: we can give it all away, waste-away our competitive advantages and optimistically expect with the comfort provided by certainty and superiority that we will keep the freedom, property, protection by the Rule of Law and the Constitution, standard of living and opportunities we manage to build and enjoy precisely because we had the exact opposite understanding: nothing of what we enjoy is either obvious, natural, birthright, an entitlement or a God-given right. 

If all (or any) other countries do not match our national context, is not because they are stupid and we are so far superior. Only incredible arrogance allows anyone to develop that false confidence.

Opulence does not come naturally to America or Americans (or anyone else, since we are not that different), it has to be earned, protected and enhanced as we compete with very driven and resolute nations that dream and plan on taking our place at the top, switching with them at or near the bottom (where they believe we 'obviously' belong). They are smart, very determined and unlike the contemporary American, they will stop at nothing to get themselves (and us) there, where they believe we both belong.

They work very hard at their plans.  We also work (although not as hard) often to help them win against us.   American's in our nobility always supported the underdog, even when that dog is under us, and chewing at our feet. We still sympathize with them, after all 'don't they deserve a fair chance' at taking us down and enjoy the view from the top for a while?  To feel otherwise would be unfair and un-American...

While we advocate for global income redistribution, we secretly believe in our delusion  that we will still be well and independent.  Some of us believe that we are so far superior, that we can give away our power, money, sovereignty deciding just among Americans our own future, and we will still enjoy 4 plentiful and clean meals a day, plenty of cheap energy, a decent job with decent pay, time off, vacations, etc.   That could only be achieved after so much spent, if we are truly supermen and all others are stupid.  How arrogant is that?

If we were add up all the world's personal income and divide it equally, each individuals portion of the total global wealth will not suffice to pay for the average American's jeans. Will that wardrobe suffice to our typical generous, compassionate, well-meaning liberal? Well, say goodbye to your triple late wet cappuccino costing more than the world's average daily spent on meals.

When a civilization reaches this point of arrogance, content, contempt for those who fought to propagate the Pax-Americana (to the point of apologizing for them), to insure respect for our overwhelming power, to make the Dollar the world de-facto currency, when we take all this for granted and relax, the collapse ensues.  Civilizations mostly commit suicide, they don't die by the hands of the enemy.  

One likely scenario which can be well underway, is we become property of those we are increasingly indebted as we borrow the money we gave them in the first place, as they sold us things we taught them how to build and produced with our ideas and money.  Funny, silly, elemental as it sounds, that is precisely what we are doing.  We are driving the train at 150 miles per hour into the sea, only to claim surprise and unfairness as we hit the bottom to drawn.

As a side note, with the money we continue to give them in exchange for all those shinny gadgets, they are building aircraft carriers to 'protect' their shores; or perhaps to attack their sworn enemies which by coincidence happen to be us.