Part I- We're Missing the Forest for the Trees
From Deep Unity to Fractured Tribalism- Understanding the Cause
Everyone in America, aged roughly 30 and up, remembers precisely where they were and exactly what they were doing when the Twin Towers fell. We all watched as thousands of innocent American lives were violently taken, and families across the nation were shattered. We all remember the pain, sadness, and rage we felt on 09/11/2001. We had been attacked. American blood had been spilled on American soil. The only acceptable action was to respond in kind- with unadulterated violence. We were badly bruised, so they had to be broken.
What is equally memorable to me is what happened on 09/12. The collective unity that we all experienced, as the sun somehow managed to rise again, now seems like a fading memory; a story in an old dusty book that reads more like fantasy than fact. There was no division, no apparent tribalism, no passing of judgement on our fellow Americans. We were all American, and that’s all that mattered. It was a feeling so deep that complete strangers embraced in public, and a simple meeting of the eyes in passing would offer unspoken love and empathy. Our differences and petty squabbles were suddenly too small.
However, twenty years later, our differences seem to have become the only things that matter. We vowed, as a nation, to “never forget”, but we failed. We have forgotten.
So what happened? How did we all lose our grip on the unity that we swore to never let go?
We’ve had our disagreements, no doubt, but it seemed like we were managing to keep the wheels on the wagon until roughly the time that Donald Trump announced his first campaign for the presidency. It really seemed like thats when the wheels came off…but they didn’t just fall off, they exploded off like some cartoonish villain had rigged them to blow. Instead of continuing our journey in peace, we’ve now all been trapped together, in our busted wagon, tumbling down a cliff while we viciously accuse one another of setting the charge. We lost our collective focus on the horizon and something, or someone, has to be at fault…right?
So was it Trump or Hillary Clinton? Could it be that the other half of an entire nation, comprised of 300+ million Americans, were morons that had suddenly all lost their minds?
I have most definitely felt that way, but I also had this nagging feeling that there had to be a deeper explanation for the long list of issues we face, and for the sudden tribalism and anger that was burning through western society like a raging fire. I knew that true knowledge and understanding wouldn’t be found in the shallow, one dimensional cock-fighting we have heaped upon us by political commentators within corporate media.
The answers are out there somewhere, but finding them is quite difficult to say the least…
Do you know that feeling you get when you’re trying to remember a name, or maybe a particular word, and it seems like it’s right there on the tip of your tongue? It’s there, somewhere, tumbling around in your melon, which in that moment feels utterly devoid of even a single functioning brain cell. You know it’s there, and you can almost feel yourself saying it, but for some reason, it just won’t materialize; it’s just about enough to drive you insane.
I’ve had that sort of lingering feeling over these past few years, like something hanging there, just outside of my grasp. I wasn’t stuck on a word or a forgotten name; I was wrestling with my intuition- I knew the answers were there in front of me, but my ability to bring them into view was obscured in a fog, a mental fog, dense with the chaos of the news and my own biases, so I started tuning it out.
If our society was going to fall apart, I needed to really know why. If Americans were suddenly going to take the gloves off and rip each other apart, I needed answers. I didn’t, and still don’t, want some shallow explanation from some ratings-hungry grifter. I want the truth.
So began my journey, a search for the truth.
There are a couple of well known adages related to truth-“The truth will set you free” and “The truth hurts”. If you think about it, these adages may seem somewhat antithetical to one another- one suggests that the truth will bring relief, while the other is a stinging implication of personal responsibility.
My search began with the hope of finding relief, a hope that my personal worldview and my own biased opinions would be vindicated; my search for the truth didn’t start out honestly. I realized that I wasn’t really trying to understand those with whom I disagreed. I wasn’t operating in a manner that might help, in my own small way, to bring society back to the unity of 09/12. Some genuine introspection brought with it the revelation that I hoped to be rescued from the sort of truth that would serve as an indictment; the truth that hurts.
So, I adjusted my approach accordingly- I smashed those two old adages into one; something like “The truth can hurt, but it will set you free”. This still implies both pain and relief, but it also offers something new- growth.
Instead of allowing myself the warm comfort of confirming my own presuppositions, I decided to put them on a leash. We must allow even our deepest beliefs and convictions to be challenged, to be stress-tested, so that they can either be changed or fortified by the truth.
I began watching lectures online from intellectual giants in areas such as philosophy, economics, psychology, and history. Then came the books…One would lead to another and before I knew it, I had amassed quite the collection, spanning a range of subjects far broader than the few listed above. My hunger for understanding, knowledge and truth seems to grow deeper with the turn of every page. I’m just in the beginning stages of my journey, but I feel confident in the fact that I’ve begun to unearth something resembling the truth; the type of truth that brings pain, relief, and growth.
To be clear, none of this should be misunderstood as a renouncement of my basic set of beliefs. I do see many things in a new light, but for the sake of transparency, I’m a pretty conservative guy. A number of things that were once simple opinions, built on my anecdotal experience, so far seem to be withstanding some honest critical analysis. My search for the truth has not suppressed my desire to speak openly about threats to our collective prosperity and liberty. If anything, that desire has been fortified, not because I’ve drank the Kool-aide of some ideological cult, but because I think the truth matters, even when it’s inconvenient.
I’m going to be honest with you (the whopping 25 of you, whose support I do deeply appreciate), but I know being honest and being right are not always the same thing. I know that I will be wrong probably more often than I would like, but I’m glad to have you here with me.
Although I have posted a few newsletters before this one, I’m going to let this one serve as something of an introduction to Smitty’s Synopsis. I haven’t written in a while, in part, because I do still have a day job; but also because I have just been reading, searching, and clarifying my thoughts.
With that said, - I’d like to share the answers and insight that I’ve found; answers that are both fascinating and terrifying, but also offer a bit of hope for the future- Don’t miss part two, a video will also be included.
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PS: If you feel like what I’m doing here is has any true value, share it, invite others to join in our discussions. If you ever believe that I am wrong or have somehow missed the mark, I invite you to challenge me (openly or privately). I’m looking for a way to make a difference, even if that means having to accept when I’m wrong.
PSS: If you have an iPhone, there is a new Substack app thats pretty great. If you download it and sign in (totally free), you can read my content there.
Thanks y’all- see you in Part II
Looking forward to hear what you’ve found!!