In the half asleep mode in which thoughts often come together for me, I realized that both main political parties exist in a culture of the lie. In both parties materialism and power are the issues of import and neither gives real credence to the beliefs and teachings of Jesus. They may differ about the form of materialism, whether it is laissez-faire capitalism, perhaps with a libertarian flavor, or a more socialistic collectivism, but it is materialism and who has the mammon that is at stake. Likewise they may differ as to whether I have rights to kill and whom I have rights to kill, but it is my liberty that it is about. Thus Trump criticized DeSantos for a strict abortion law in Florida indicating that he felt it was far too restrictive, likely because he realizes that the younger republicans tend to be libertarian on the issue, while Biden doubled down on abortion rights. They may differ about who should have power, a social oligarchy on the national level or the corporate leaders on a national and state level, but both are interested in power to advance their own interests. And Biden is pushing strengthening federal border control while Trump spouts anti-immigrant rhetoric, but if you happen to be an immigrant, especially a Hispanic one, it amounts to the same thing. And so we have a two headed hydra, each head competing for the vote, but actually joined in the body, although the heads are unaware of it. Each wants to manipulate the electorate (if not subvert it), not for its good, but for their good. This is G. K. Chesterton’s Hudge and Gudge.

I also realized that industrialized society has broken down the family, as G. K. Chesterton also argued. Instead of the family farm we have industrialized farming the employs an array of machines, chemicals, and government funding, with their accompanying problems, and few actual farmers, except in the case of certain crops in which virtual slave labor (at times child labor) is employed, often the immigrants that the political parties demonize. Of course, there is the attempt to mechanize even that, as has been done with some apple orchards, among other products. Much of the rest of society is what we have traditionally called industry, whether in the production of basic materials such as wood and steel or in the production of finished products or even in the production of technological products. Whether industrial agriculture or industrial production, people (workers) are alienated from community and from the land. The industrialized process separates families in that one or even both parents go off to work, leaving the few children they have to daycare and schools. But it is what creates the present market economy that breaks down families. Eventually the parents (or in many cases couples, married or not, who have chosen not to be parents) age and are left to the part of the economy geared to entertain and care for them, the retirement community, the care homes of various types, and, of course, the undertaker (which are now conglomerates). Their children, if any, are often distant. There is also the problem that industrialization not only poisons the air with air pollution, but also food through the chemicals used in industrial level production, but that is a side problem, although an important one. The basic issue is the breakdown of the family and the community. Naturally, neither political party in the USA (nor in most other industrialized countries) is concerned about the issue.

The Church is concerned about it, although it often does not realize that it is fighting an underground ideological war against the dominant ideologies of materialist society (even when the materialist society goes by Christian names). To combat this we may need the radicalism of Anthony the Great and Benedict of Nursia who abandoned society (Anthony did return to help the Church in his world after he had conquered the demons the world of his day had arrayed against him; Benedict created a counter-society, a fellowship of brothers dividing their time between worship and work, living simply in community). We certainly need a spiritual revolution as Pope John Paul II saw so clearly, and a commitment to a simple lifestyle for the sake of a deeper community of faith and family. On a larger scale one thinks of the distributionism championed by G. K. Chesterton.

This can be facilitated by prayer and education, by raising families with this mindset and imbued with the commitment of prayer. Yet such may be islands of sanity in an insane world as Babylon around us slowly (or perhaps not so slowly) crumbles.