The only enemy is enemy-making.
I’m back again with more “war propaganda” produced by our current-day United States government.
Except: There is no war.
The United States is not at war.
The United States is not being invaded.
The culture of the United States is not in danger.
The United States is still a place where anyone can worship freely.
It’s all a lie, being used to stir up racial and nationalistic hatreds. And our government is the one doing it.
Two pictures, once again.
On the left: a brand new picture from our own, present-day, United States government.
(The link to join ICE is redacted…)
On the right: a picture from World War II, and propaganda designed to stir the racial hatred and nationalism of White Americans during that conflict.
It’s the same dynamic, both times. The difference is, back then there really was a war. There really was an identified “external enemy.” That is not to justify the racial hatred of this WWII propaganda. It was bad, then, too. It permanently scarred generations of Japanese Americans. It is only to note that this propagandistic process has typically been used on external enemies by the government itself.
America has external enemies today. But they are not the Latinos/as being rounded up off the streets of America. They are not your neighbors. They are not the majority of those being taken into custody by ICE, who, according to ICE’s own data, have no criminal records.
Yes, 10% of those do have serious criminal records. But the majority currently detained do not. They are not any kind of identifiable “enemy” other than that they are Brown human.
This is the old “Communist next door” fear of the 1950s, repackaged for today.
Joe McCarthy never did produce that extensive list of communists in the government, because it didn’t exist. It was a lie. It was a witch hunt. Just like this is, today.
I’d invite everyone to read this previous essay, describing the “Enemy-Making” process in depth. I promise it is worth your time:
Here’s a video about it too:
We are well down the path of this process in contemporary America. In ways that will make any kind of recovery or healing challenging for the rest of our lives.
The problem is this: When you turn the weapon of “enemy making” INSIDE a nation itself, rather than some foreign land, “over there,” the only actual outcome is: the destruction of that society, itself. It becomes its own self-fulfilling prophecy, really.
The fear itself drives…more fear.
The division itself drives…more division.
The hate drives… more hate.
What troubles me is that absolutely certainty of those who are convinced “we are at war.” (we are not) The danger to America is from those who claim that “enemies are at the gate.”
Faith teaches us, this is not so. Faith teaches us that kind of fearmongering IS the problem.
The only enemy is the enemy-making itself.