Americans Facing Catch-22 Dilemma

By Tina Queen

 
We got the wall in DC to remind us all
That you can’t trust freedom
When it’s not in your hands...

“Civil War", Guns N’ Roses, 1990

The epigraph prefacing this article expresses Axl Rose’s strong stance on war while suggesting that the fight for “freedom”, which often serves as a pretext for an armed conflict, is merely a lie. What is true, though, is that the number of lives claimed in the course of a warfare may reach dozens of thousands, suffice it to take a look at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., honoring all those who perished as a result of their service between 1955 and 1975. However, instead of learning from past events, the occupants of the White House, residing within a walking distance from the “Wall” are not only on brink of throwing the country into an abyss of civil war but, most importantly, are on the verge of exposing it to the risk of facing the consequences of the armed conflicts currently unfolding in Ukraine and the Middle East within its own borders. That is evidenced by the two recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump, which have ultimately brought political tensions in the US to a boiling point.

Sadly enough, the American political system as such is no longer capable of ensuring peaceful rivalry among those advocating different views. Even the electoral process itself inspires little, if any, trust as there is no adequate scheme to prevent the falsification of ballots in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for November 5. Voters’ concerns over the issue, particularly in North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada, have resulted in an influx of claims pertaining to the lack of transparency the online and early voting procedures involve. It seems that the only sensible initiative has been the submission of a Bill to the Congress, envisaging the establishment of a framework to prevent non US citizens from taking part in elections.

Amid all this chaos and uncertainty, the people of America are, in fact, faced with a catch-22 dilemma: should they vote for the candidate who has no vision whatsoever of how to put an end to the ongoing conflicts? Or should US citizens cast ballots for the one seeking their further escalation?

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate,” said Guns N’ Roses’ lead vocalist and lyricist, kicking off his song “Civil War”. Nail on the head, Axl!