Dear Editor,

Washington noted that the two pillars upon which society rests are religion and morality, with each supporting the other. Widespread support of these pillars has changed into apathy within a large segment of our country. Many aspects of our culture including religion, education, work ethics, immigration, respect for the law, the power of government in our daily lives, and the role of the media are undergoing rapid change.

While the lack of performance is the disappointment of every generation, if we continue on the present course, the older generations will have lost what younger generations will never know.

The changes we see in respect to government and the media are of singular importance since the first exercises almost unlimited power and the latter enjoys Constitutional protection.

As all who have taken the oath knows, the duty is to support and defend and not to control and punish. A permanent bureaucracy now works to advance an agenda which guarantees their permanent position. The IRS under the guidance of Lois Lerner delayed or rejected the application of many conservative 501c3 nonprofit organizations. The intelligence organizations under James Clapper (National Intelligence) and John Brennen (CIA) both were involved with clandestine operations against American citizens. James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strozk of the FBI are accused of illegal actions. Sally Yates and Lisa Page of the Attorney General’s Office are under investigation.

Printed media was at the beginning both balanced and impartial. Early TV was balanced but myopic. Cable TV brought more competing views and gave rise to talk radio as a balance. Both now are mainly advocacy journalism. Social media has given us opinion and content not often grounded in fact and social media companies increasingly engage in arbitrary and discriminatory censorship.

The will to power operating under the guise of the voice of democratic people has been so successful that its audience’s sense of freedom is actually flattered by almost universal enslavement. Truth for the multitude is that which it continually sees and hears (reads?). A bit of truth may surface here and there but the other, the public truth is a product of the media. What the media wills are true.

Enantiodromia is the tendency of things to change into their opposites, sometimes reverting to the previous norm but often going farther in the opposite direction. The change may be gradual or abrupt, peaceful or violent. Yet we should be optimistic for, although men are fragile and corruptible things, justice will live as long as the human soul, and law as long as the human mind.

Sincerely,

Dean Berry,

Warren