It's an unfortunate reality that millions of Americans lack convictions founded in logic, reason, and history, instead relying on feelings as their primary touchstone. 

They seek out misinformation sources that aligns with their emotional needs, codifying deep divisions in their political leanings. 

The Kamaa Harris campaign's minimal information tactic reveals another divide we have glossed over too much: how to make sense of the information available.  The Harris campaign is mining a vein they call 'joy,' which I call disinformation, curated especially for low-information, low-attention, and high-emotion voters. 

Millions believe in moral relativism, and that thinking happy thoughts is somehow superior to critical thinking. 

God help us survive these people. 

When Harris is asked about the economy, various tested revolving messages would have you imagine yellow school buses and happy middle-class children blissfully walking towards a sun-filled tomorrow with Harris leading the parade. 

President Trump tells you to think about the last four years and the not-so-wonderful times under the Biden/Harris administration, while Harris delivers what amounts to pabulum for millions of voters who don't want to be sad anymore, even if what they hear is scripted nonsense. 

Last month, my wife and I held a local Republican meeting at our home. 

I was struck by the passion of all who attended, as well as the mundane goings on of local politics during a hotly contested election season.  I was asked to say a few words and had some prepared remarks. 

Sometimes, events overtake even our best-laid plans, and this was one of those days.  Earlier that day, three events were reported that caused me to rethink my remarks:

• The new Labour government in Great Britain cracked down on supposed hate speech by anti-immigrant protesters, which saw over 400 Brits arrested for…" pushing harmful and hateful beliefs." The government is ramping up arrests of those with "extremist ideologies" in the latest wave of arrests.  The crackdown includes those accused of misogynist views.
   
• At that exact moment, the newly installed Palestinian representative to the UN sponsored a non-binding resolution passed overwhelmingly 124-14 to strip Israel of the right to self-defense in Gaza and the West Bank, giving Israel a year to retreat to its pre-1967 borders.
   
• Then there were one of more than a dozen pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas rallies at American Universities calling for everything from divesture to the suspension of Jewish students, support for Hamas, another October 7, and calls for the genocide of Jews in general.  All this is happening as laws are broken and extremist views leave no room for dialogue.

A single theme connects all these seemingly disparate events — the systematic breakdown of civil society and especially how quickly we are losing the free speech battle. 

What should be crystal clear to me appears to be lost by many. 

I never believed in the concept of Hate Crime that amplifies what is already a criminal act.  Hate crimes are really thought crimes.  Anyone who has read the books 1984 or Animal Farm knows that the plots from these books have become today's reality and appear to have unintentionally become a blueprint for how previously free nations are dying. 

Your convictions are very much on trial today. 

Britain has no constitution; free speech is what the government says it is.  

Don't think for a second, though, that our progressive, liberal government and courts won't stretch laws to encompass your convictions as criminal.  It has happened already -- dating from the Obama administration in 2015.

Here's a Politico account:

"We always have a concern when we see the rhetoric rising against any particular group in America, that it might inspire others to violent action — and that violent action is what we would have to deal with," [Attorney General Loretta] Lynch told journalists at Justice Department headquarters.

Where is the line between "violent talk" and free speech?  Millions of Americans today are cowed on subjects ranging from immigration to our views on government, J6, and even how we feel about homosexuality, gender issues, and other behaviors that many consider anti-social or even inconsistent with a Judo-Christian nation. 

John Adams, a Founding Father and President of the United States, stated:

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." 

On the matter of gun ownerships, we are even seeing our children being asked to spy on parents.

According to the Daily Wire:

Children in Michigan will soon be able to anonymously report their parents or other adults for “improperly” storing firearms “that are accessible to a minor.”

The new tip line was part of an amendment to House Bill 5503, a supplemental K-12 budget that passed the Michigan legislature on Wednesday, The Midwesterner reported. A new gun storage law went into effect in Michigan earlier this year, requiring gun owners “to keep unattended weapons unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if it is reasonably known that a minor is likely to be present on the premises.”

The new provision, which is part of a supplemental spending bill, allocates $1 million for the tip line for the 2024-2025 school year.

The intrusion of the State into our lives is now almost complete.  Did you pick up on how fast they could catch the would-be Trump assassin by using license plate readers that are now ubiquitous?  You have no privacy between CCTV, license plate readers, and your digital footprints.  Connect that with a government that does not trust its citizens, and you can conclude that we are approaching the status of a police state. 

I fully support my local sheriff, but I certainly don't trust the FBI or the many woke prosecutors, overstepping State and local governments, or any of the anti-freedom law enforcement that exists in so many locales.

Of all the definitions for conviction, the one that I believe most apropos is the state of being convinced of error or compelled to admit the truth.  Finding real truth is an arduous and frequently unsatisfying endeavor.  We begin with the assumptions often blasted at us by this or that group that wants something from us.  If you are simple-minded and predisposed to incorporate that assumption into your worldview, that's enough for far too many of us.  Absolute truth is worth fighting for.  Real truth is only discovered through effort and by putting aside your desire to accept mindless joy instead of reality; we are not free unless we embrace truth and the requisite responsibilities that accompany being a free person. 

God bless America.

Allan J. Feifer is a patriot, author, businessman, thinker, and strategist.  Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com.

Image: DonkeyHotey, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0