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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 2018)
Wednesday, September 5, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 Commentary... Cultural fault lones a natoonal securoty threat? By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief “At what point shall we expect the approach of dan- ger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlan- tic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined… could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. “At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” • Abraham Lincoln: The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions: Address Before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois, January 27, 1838 Abraham Lincoln saw clearly the fault lines upon which his nation would crack asunder, a quarter century before he would be called upon to suture that fissure with unprecedented force as the 16th President of the United States. He knew that in 1838, the prosperity, well- being, the very national secu- rity of the United States was under threat from entrenched and intransigent factions growing ever more estranged and irreconcilable. Such fault lines are grow- ing wider and deeper again. Small Wars Journal re ce ntly pu b l i s h ed an essay by Major Jeremy D. Lawhorn, a special- ist in psychological opera- tions, with over a decade of Special Operations experi- ence. “National Security Implications of Unresolved Grievances” is long and dense — and an important read. (http://smallwarsjour- nal.com/jrnl/art/national- security-implications-unre- solved-grievances). Lawhorn in 2018 echoes Lincoln in 1838: “Fissures have opened up along every major demo- graphic line including race, ethnicity, religion, place of origin, gender, and along every major political and social issue including immi- gration, national security, gay marriage, religious freedom, structural inequalities and many others. “The extreme fracturing along these fault lines has wide ranging social, politi- cal, and security implications for the United States. Today, the single greatest challenge to the United States national security is the growing threat posed by people that are being forced to join factions that align, if only loosely, with their beliefs, creating deep fractures and eroding the internal cohesion of the country.” As a military thinker, Major Lawhorn applies Carl von Clausewitz’s seminal treatise “On War” to under- stand the United States’ “cen- ter of gravity” — the locus of our strength and power. “For the United States, the center of gravity is unques- tionably the population, not The Best Fence You’ll Never See. ® • Manage via Smart Phone • GentleSteps™ G Training • Aw Award-Winning Technology • Be Best Warranty in Industry • Am America’s Safest Dog Fence • 100% 10 Made in the U.S.A. SAVE $100 NOW 5 541-771-2330 phantompetfence.com/save-now/ p Summer Fun $300 Discount FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER when you start a comprehensive treatment program. New patients only. Flexible fi nancing available. Call now to schedule your complimentary consultation Smile by Eryn & The Brace Place! 541-382-0410 410 E. Cascade Ave., Sisters CentralOregonBracePlace.com the military,” he writes. “We The People” are the locus of the moral and politi- cal strength and legitimacy of the republic. To function properly as the nation’s “cen- ter of gravity,” the popula- tion has to have a certain level of trust in the social contract, in the institutions of government and in its fel- low citizens. As these erode, so erodes the capabilities and the strength of the nation. Major Lawhorn writes that, “…critical vulner- abilities are manifesting in the expanding fractures among the population, fric- tion between the population and the government, and the unresolved grievances held by segments of the popula- tion. Collectively, these vul- nerabilities reduce the sense of national cohesion, faith in the political system, trust in government, and trust between neighbors… If not properly addressed, these fractures will continue to present significant challenges and have potentially devastat- ing consequences for national security.” Posing the breakdown in civic function as a national security threat is sobering, and offers an opportunity to pause and reflect upon what we’re doing to ourselves — and the degree to which we make ourselves vulnerable to insidious influence opera- tions from hostile powers. The Russians’ 2016 influence campaign created nothing; it Year-round FIREWOOD SALES — Kindling — — — SISTERS FOREST PRODUCTS 541-410-4509 SistersForestProducts.com merely focused on striking at existing vulnerabilities, the weak points of race relations, fear of the “other” and our ever-increasing willingness to see those who disagree with us on policy not only as adversaries to be debated, but enemies to be defeated and destroyed. The way we communi- cate is both a symptom and a cause of the fractures that Lawhorn identifies. “While technology is useful for those who seek solidarity and redress for legitimate grievances, it also increases homophily and by default creates substantial echo chambers,” Lawhorn writes. “These echo cham- bers emerge on all sides of issues where people do not invite new ideas but rather become increasingly commit- ted to their views and causes. This is important to under- stand, because people that have grievances become even more committed while those who reject those grievances also become more commit- ted. The problem is that many people consume information that reflects their preexist- ing beliefs and ideological predilections without having to consider or grapple with different perspectives. These echo chambers result in incendiary hyper-partisanship creating a population that is unwilling to compromise or cooperate across the various fault lines. When people con- tinue to surround themselves, physically or virtually, with people that share the same views it creates a reinforce- ment mechanism that makes them feel that their views are correct. This confirmation bias has potentially disas- trous consequences as society becomes more entrenched in their beliefs.” This may not be fixable. It bears keeping in mind that warnings from Lincoln and others in the decades leading up to the American Civil War of 1861-65 did not stop the train from hurtling down the track with the throttle stuck and the whistle shrieking. It’s not just that we love our devices and the easy, shallow “discourse” they provide. It’s not just that politicians make hay out of division and fear; as Sisters resident Jack McGowan pointed out years ago to the City Club of Portland, there is a “business of division.” A great many people make a very lucrative living out of driving wedges into the fault lines, and noth- ing suits them better than to see those cracks open up wider and wider. So maybe we should ask ourselves why we’re mak- ing the carrion birds that feed on division fat while we sit loading the cartridges in the revolver — tweet by tweet, meme by meme, panel shout-fest by panel shout- fest — spinning the cylinder, our finger on the trigger of the implement of our own destruction. 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