“…Land of the free and home of the brave…”

When I returned from Vietnam I began my campaign of protesting the war and I was met with an amazing amount of defeatism…..I started my protests for after seeing that war first hand I could stand by and turn my head and ignore the horrors and the sacrifices.

Defeatism can be found in most aspects of life….your life, your job, etc but for this post I want to address political defeatism.

Personally I hate defeatism to me it is just throwing hands up and accepting crap and no inclination to change things.

First we need to define the term so there is NO confusion.

Defeatism….is a term used to describe an individual’s mindset or attitude characterized by a pervasive belief that failure is inevitable, and success is unattainable. This defeatist thinking can manifest in various aspects of life, including work, relationships, and personal goals. It often leads to a lack of motivation, low self-esteem, and a reluctance to take on challenges.

There seems to be a wealth of defeatism these days especially on blogs….it is fear that drives this cancerous feeling.

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I can’t say for certain, but I got the clear sense that there is a wide-spread fear among Americans these days of openly expressing opposition to the aspiring orange tyrant in the White House. Putting an anti-Trump bumper sticker on a car could lead to vandalizing of the vehicle, saying something critical of Trump could mean losing friend, a job, or ruining a family gathering. I even heard that one of my J-School alums didn’t want to sign the Class of ‘69 protest letter or even to have a copy of it sent to his email address, explaining to a mutual friend that “I still have a journalism job” and thus even being associated with such a document!

A common comment I heard from people when I expressed my outrage at Trump’s executive orders like the blocking of already-awarded federal research grants, the revoking of already-approved Green Cards and student visas for foreign students, the deportation of children who are US citizens, and the president’s ignoring of judicial and even Supreme Court orders, has been a dismissive and resigned “Yeah, that’s the new normal now.”

I cannot recall observing that sort of defeatism and fear during the dark years of American atrocities in Indochina. When we learned of massacres of civilians in Vietnam by US troops, or of the carpet bombing by B-52s of North Vietnam and later of Cambodia, the news fueled mass marches across the country and in the nation’s capital.

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This is the only way to stop what Shipler and I are noticing: a withdrawal from protest. That cannot be allowed to happen. As Shipler writes, “History is still in the hands of the people, for a time. Whether this enters American history as a passing phase or a fundamental turning point will depend on whether Americans mobilize. To make courage contagious. ‘In a free society,’ said Abraham Joshua Heschel during the civil rights movement, ‘some are guilty, but all are responsible.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/15/fear-of-protesting-trump-policies-spreads-in-us/

Then there is apathy….defeatism and apathy go hand in hand and to the ruination of the nation….

A new kind of plague has spread across the West: the plague of resignation, marked by diminished voter turnout and a general retreat from political engagement. People feel frustrated by a system that seems to yield little change, regardless of their involvement. But treating this “plague” requires an understanding of its cause. While it’s easy to diagnose public sentiment as apathetic and cynical, we must ask what fuels this mindset and what might reverse it.

At the heart of this apathy is a deep-seated reluctance to self-examine or step beyond comfort zones. Many, especially on the political left, hold fixed beliefs about who holds power and who bears responsibility for society’s ills. There’s a pervasive notion that those in power are inherently to blame, that the powerful are perpetually working against the interests of ordinary people. This perspective is often accompanied by the view that any issue of injustice or inequality can be traced back to the “evil” actions of the elite. The public, in turn, finds a certain comfort in this approach. It allows people to feel moral and justified, focusing their frustrations outward rather than examining their own roles and responsibilities.

Apathy and defeatism: the plague of politics

American history will be written by the people.  Will you be part of the ‘brave’ or part of the defeatism that is striking fear in Americans hearts?

Even at my advanced age I refuse to live in fear and reject defeatism in all it’s forms

Who will stand with me?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”