The Big Lie

("Enemy of the State Merit Badge" - #41, 2011, original oil) The Big Lie The big lie in American politics today is that if you’re not supporting Big Government then you are against the little man. The corollary of course is that Big Government works and is to be trusted as the source of truth, security and a nation’s well being. The 20th Century proved that dream a lie. The political spectrum is simple; total government on one end, zero government the other. This is what defines the true Left and Right, yet the majority of US haven’t a clue what zero, let alone small, government even means haven't a clue they in fact are almost all left of center often far left. The big lie in America today is that we are a nation divided by politics when it is simpler than that; we are a nation of both conservatives and liberals divided by fear, divided by definitions and desires for liberty, too many of US having chosen security of the group, the faceless masses and anonymous civil servants over our individual freedom and liberty long ago. The divide is thus within us, a pulling at our own heart, within our own cognitive dissonance. We are a nation of little men indoctrinated by politics as old as tribal boundaries to fear the other, to hide behind the Big Man to celebrate his greatness - as the greatness of the State - to extoll the beauty of his new transparent clothes and in our weakness join with tyranny in solidarity with our brothers and sisters to silence those who question the dream, lynch those who dare to choose, and forget those who somehow, against all odds, find their own way. (10/20/23)