The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back into bondage. --attributed to Alexis de Toqueville

As the new year dawns, now is a good time to think beyond our personal goals and resolutions, and to visualize how we can bring about new and honorable changes in our nation and in our government. As boring as those thoughts may seem, they could become a matter of life or death sooner than we think.

Our country and our government were founded on the belief that diversity by regions, and religions, and ethnicities, and goals, would average themselves out and bring about a commonality of interests, a cohesion of loyalties, and a unifying force for good. We called it democracy. It was a theory that worked for about 200 years, then greed began to swamp all our good intentions. Now we are in a state of moral crisis beyond the darkest nightmares of our most far-thinking founders. It seems that de Toqueville, a Frenchman, was a better student of our history than any of us were.

The result after 238 years of experimentation reveals that greed in the form of money and power are at the heart of it all. They are heavily concentrated in the hands of the few—who are also under the influence of a tyrannical political extremism. That formula proved to be devastating to Germany and the world in the first half of the 20^th century. It is having similar consequences today. Call it bondage if you will, but tyranny by any other name is the scourge of the earth.

Today's crop of national destroyers are incredibly crude, cold, and callous. Their numbers include the very stupid, the boringly dull, the heartless, and a few bright but evil slicksters. Put them altogether and they comprise a formidable group of thugs who never went to prison, but who definitely belong in one. They personify me-ism in its ugliest form.

The issue before all sensible citizens today is this: How do we corral and contain those who want to completely hijack our nation, and isolate their bankrupt ideology with them while expunging its tentacles from our land? Let's begin by showing how utterly bankrupt their thinking really is:

--The first 8 years of the new century gave us the worst economic recession since the Great Depression. We elected a new president, with a new agenda for recovery and rejuvenation. But a minority in Congress fought all his efforts to restore the economy in spite of the great pain their actions heaped upon the majority of Americans. Their actions stalled the recovery long enough for them to take back the House of Representatives and a large number of governorships and state legislatures.

--Then they set about gerrymandering voting boundaries and restricting voting requirements in those states with the expectation of winning by manipulation what they could not win in honest elections. So far, they have been very successful in this game of dishonesty, deception, and deceit.

--They have fought tooth and nail to assure that fetuses are born, while simultaneously denying their human form the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness after they are born. They have cut life support assistance at every chance, while squashing jobs and opportunities for new arrivals.

--They have shut down the government when they found their own views did not represent the will of the people.

--They have reveled in delight as trillions of new dollars meant for us all flowed vertically up the corporate shafts to CEOs and to their network of minions. Their wealth is at an all-time high while poverty for millions is at an all-time disgrace.

--Projections show that these trends will continue with greater intensity until the dam bursts, and the most devastating outcome will inundate the land.

This is not a time for small changes. It is a time of urgency when we must change the course of history, or we will surely pay for our apathy and our inaction with our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

It is also not a time for politeness. The enemy takes politeness for weakness.  This is the information age, but few of us use it wisely as a way to communicate our thoughts to our electors. Here is my suggestion about how to make better use of an old tool. Look up and write down the fax number for each of the two U.S. Senators from your state, the fax for your representative, your governor's fax number, and fax for your state senator. Your fax will not have to compete with a thousand emails. It is also printed out, on paper, and can't be easily ignored.

Every time they screw up, send them the following fax:

Dear ____________________

I find your vote for/against the ______________ act utterly disgusting. It violates every fiber of my being, and every principle that this country was founded on. If you ever again vote so egregiously against my values and interests, and the interests of all my friends and relatives, I promise that I will organize as many of them within my abilities to do so to get your sorry ass thrown out of office. This is not a threat. It is a promise. And even someone with your limited abilities to think should know the difference.

I'm madder than hell and I will not take more of this bullshit from you.

(signed) _____________________