Gregory Novak To Be Verbs : 65

Professor Hugetz

English 1302 THS05

12 April 2021

Transcript

Hello, name is Gregory Novak, and I was born in 2003. I grew up in a single parent

household with my mother due to my parent's divorcing, but at the same time I was more

involved on my father's side of the family through gatherings. In school I had above average

grades though nothing too special. My largest interest is in history with a focus on culture,

however I will not be seeking a career in it due to my lackluster writing ability. My overall goal

is to get a career involving computers as that is another interest of mine. The loss of common

identity or cultural cohesion has led to a rise in destructive practices such as identity politics

which promotes division among the people of the nation. These practices which promote division

are dangerous to a country as large as the United States, and with the United States being a

multinational country it would not be especially difficult for division to lead to great

consequence. The United States has already had a civil war between two identities it does not

need another. Since a crisis of identity, lack of purpose, lack of trust in institutions, outside

subversion are causing division in American society, then students at Turner Highschool should

form a club to discuss these issues because without discussion Americans may not be able to

reconcile.

A large issue that divides the people of the United States is identity politics which is

causing a social divide across the nation. Identity politics by nature help only one group rise
above the others be it a racial, cultural, or social identity. In the past such politics were used to

reinforce the elite’s positions by encouraging white supremacy, but now the game has shifted

with politicians pandering to smaller groups. This shift while “fair” for these marginalized

groups gives a bad impression as: “the most vulnerable whites—rural, less educated, less mobile

whites in poverty—report that they feel cheated, left behind, and stigmatized by a society that

cares more about newcomers than themselves” (qtd. In Wray 24). Due to the long-standing white

supremacist system in the United States, there is a sort of fairness in this result, but it is no

solution as it is simply different targets which in the end will lead to further issues. The lack of

attention to these communities has left them wanting for support which further divides them

from the perspective of their fellow countrymen.

Purpose or at least a goal is a crucial part of an individual’s life without it people are

often left astray and may even fall into depression. In recent years there has been no great

struggle that captures the American people. Of course, there are distractions to this gnawing

feeling such as catastrophe like September 11th, the 2nd world war, or even disasters like

hurricanes which quickly distract the mind and provide immediate purpose, and this sentiment is

shared by one Ross Douthat: “I think a lot about the way that September 11, which happened

when I was in college, made a whole cohort of young people and intellectu-als feel like this was

the end of decadence that we’d been waiting for, that at last there would be some grand purpose

to life, some civiliza-tional struggle for our times”(18). Of course, this great awakening never

came to pass as the war on terror is often derided as a major flaw of the current system, so now

the American people are left with the same empty gnawing with constant wars that motivate no

one. The lack of purpose today leaves Americans dejected and without a clear justifiable great

struggle Americans are provided a hopeless scenario.

 Mistrust in the government does not only extend to local matters but federal as well

which lowers the stability of the system. First and foremost, in the matters of public opinion the

truth is not always valued as: “in the 2016 global Corruption Perception Index the United States

ranks 18th out of 176 countries.” (Rodrigo Praino and Adam Graycar 478). While these numbers

seem well, public opinion on the matter shows something else (Insert Gallup poll). With the

federal government the uniter of the people of America distrust in the system leads to a division

of ideals, and it would not be unlikely that without the uniting ideals the vastly distant regions of

the states will begin divide in culture.

Subversion is a not an easy thing to track, but there is evidence that some of the cultural

divisions we have today come from the work of the KGB during the cold war. Yuri Bezmenov a

former KGB agent defected to the west and in 1983 gave a lecture in Los Angeles over the

strategies the KGB were using in western countries. The cold war is over so some may wonder

why this has such an effect today and Bezmenov states: “It takes from.. fifteen to twenty years to

demoralize a society. Why fifteen or twenty years? This is the time sufficient to educate one

generation.” (Bezmenov). Subversion is a slow process that gets easier each generation that is

exposed, and Bezmenov describes KGB subversion simply pushing society further along its

current path essentially rushing it. This quick upheaval causes instability and furthermore

collapse. American society today has been influenced by this background subversion which

promotes its victims to rip at the system, and further distances themselves from the previous

generations. Disdain for the previous generations is commonly seen in memes, and this dislike

shows a disconnect from the two perspectives.

Students at Turner Highschool should form a club to discuss the issues with identity

politics. Turner offers a clear and wide selection of perspectives on identity with 41% of the
school being Hispanic, 8% being black, and 9% being Asian which allows such a discussion to

not be favoring one perspective (U.S. News). This discussion can further bring better solutions to

the greater issue of identity politics and furthermore how ending such a practice can mend the

division across the United States. Discussion of such topics may also change perspectives on

how identity politics is being used in politics and will begin to hopefully bring discussion of the

issue to other parts of the country.

Purpose is an excellent topic for a school discussion as it can help students discover

passions and further help reduce volatile tendencies over frustration. A group at Turner high

school that discusses these topics can help the greater problem, and help individual students

discover things to work toward later in life. Overall purpose discussion allows students at Turner

to solve for themselves a major issue plaguing Americans.

One “solution” proposed by Rod Dreher in the article “Down With Decadence” is simply

to ride out the fall by building up small religious communities. This opinion comes from a

defeatist’s perspective who believes that the fall is inevitable, and America will fall like Rome. It

is no solution but a perspective worth considering after all it is very difficult see a decline and

even more so difficult to find its cause. Individuals like Rod Dreher simply see it as inevitable

due to their beliefs and knowledge on the subject. However, it is not to say they are correct the

United Kingdom suffered from such a decline after the second world war, and they while

nowhere near as powerful kept their home nation together. Decline is not the death sentence for

the United States, and by starting discussion today even if it is just between students at Turner

will encourage further discussion.

Establishing a school club is a simple process the success comes in the form of how it is

run. First the club would need to be advertised to the school to gain a necessary core of students,
and once a core is acquired the question of management comes forward. The best way to run the

club will be to introduce students to the topic and then discuss solutions to various issues, and

once the potential causes of the issue proposed in this paper have been cycled through students

can put forth their own ideas. Continuing with student ideas will allow the school group to

identify other issues which are dividing the people of the United States. By the end of the school

year there should be enough discussed and agreed upon to write and publish the ideas discussed.

Americans are more divided on issues than in any point in the last one hundred years.

From identity politics, lack of purpose, lack of trust in institutions, and the ghost of KGB

subversion Americans are finding it difficult to find commonalities the further they are from one

another. Viewpoints gained from the different locations in the country make it difficult for

people from one side of the country to understand the perspective of others from the other side.

Conversation needs to begin somewhere no matter how insignificant because it only takes a

small group to motivate a movement.

My passion project will be a discussion board of sorts so I will not be presenting that

material other than a few images.