Have you read George Orwell's perennially popular and spookily prescient book Animal Farm?

Written in 1945, it is recognized as one of the most foundational books of the 20th century and the book's satire vs. the reality of today is striking.  The story tells of farm animals who collectively decided they would no longer give their productive efforts for the benefit of the farm family.  The animals drove out the farmer.  Then they divided up the "profits" of the farm to each animal, purportedly according to its needs.  After the overthrow of the farmers, the pigs ultimately became the new overseers and enslaved the lesser animals.    

Animal Farm addresses the problem of who believe society is unfair and are convinced in their own minds that there must be a better way.  Except there isn't.  The moral of the story is that collectivism and socialism do not work.

It takes intellectual rigor to avoid making the same mistakes repeatedly.  It is challenging especially for the young and those who:

1. Did not acquire a good grounding in reason or academic discipline through education
2. Have never experienced real suffering or failure
3. Have been deprived of appropriate role models    

Yet, warts and all, since our country was created, we've seen an unbroken string of generally successful adults, until recently. 

Where did we go wrong, and how can we fix our shortcomings?

We all want our children and families to enjoy happiness, health, and success.  Yet too often, there is no good life plan or clear direction.    What has changed for so many who don't seem to be able to make a go of their lives anymore, while most of us over 40 made it?  How did so many of our young get off track? 

There are no easy answers to this vital question.    

If it were simple, we'd have fixed the problem by now.  How do the following statements/concerns fit into our concerns?

1. The rapidity of change generally frightens youth and prevents them from making the right decisions too often
2. Social media has created an alternative universe that has become a kind of "default" proxy substitution for real life
3. The ability to survive without gainful employment either through parental support, government entitlements, subsidies, or by continuing formal education while debt accumulates
4. Underachievers achieve social acceptance because so many others are merely treading economic water.  There is no stigma, no adverse judgment to contend with any longer.
5. Victimhood of all kinds. Fault and failure have been eliminated from the equation, and Safe Spaces have replaced all the bad things one used to face in the absence of tangible success.

I recently spoke with a well-known writer who is intelligent, thoughtful, and knowledgeable.    

But neither of us had an answer as to what will swing the pendulum back to earlier, more productive times.  We could not identify a specific impetus that may change the current dynamic.  Addressing our societal failures might require writing off 50 million young people if we don't figure this out otherwise.

One reason why we have so many developmental problems now is the pervasiveness of substance abuse such as the massive amount of fentanyl crossing our borders which has become proof of an undeclared war against us.  And so is the sedition, subversion, and treacherous behavior of those knowingly subverting our young and our institutions.  These destroyers possess the complete knowledge and foresight for the destruction of our society they hope to achieve.  We've endured these attacks for so long that we never seem to understand that our way of life is under a relentless and violent attack.  By the hundreds and thousands, our people die at the hands of these destroyers each day through suicide, drug overdoses, and by making other tragic life decisions.  Millions more never reach their potential.

We should understand that the people behind these actions commit prosecutable crimes by advocating for our country's effective overthrow and dissolution.   Advocating the overthrow of the United States is a high crime, punishable by 20 years in prison. ( 18 U.S. Code § 238.)  We dare not let this stand.

We are witnessing the destruction of our country daily.  Where is the national debate on what to do to defeat the destroyers?  I support a national debate on the legality of wokeism, which is destroying us as surely as if we had been nuked.  We must unmask those who intentionally sell what amounts to intellectual fentanyl before our young are all gone!    

The siren song of social media is almost as destructive and deadly as shooting someone in the head. Wokeism is not just wrong or misguided; it is promoted by treacherous individuals, organizations, and countries that have deliberately invaded the psyches of millions.  It takes away their independence and their American legacy, replacing those principles with a belief in false prophets.   With fentanyl easing their pain, unearned money to keep their bellies filled, and leisure time spent in aimless pursuit of social media acceptance, their lot is misery.  Those who knowingly did this to our young must be punished within the bounds of our Constitution.  We must have the guts to recognize the treachery and respond before it's too late.

The conspirators win if we remain passive and disbelieving in what we know to be true and correct.  The other side understands what they are doing.  They rely on our system of liberal government and maintain that their work is nothing more than protected free speech. It is not. This is no ordinary thief.  We have been infiltrated by a cabal of unknown origin who work daily against us, using our protections to hide in plain sight while daring us to hold them accountable.  They take our money as consumers. Universities and NGOs take grant money from our government and use it to sharpen their knives.  They celebrate how they have manipulated so very many of us.  They are like fleas you can't get rid of for fear of killing the host.

Think I'm over the top?  If you are over 40, remember how we used to live.  Put aside the mistakes we made but recall the successes, achievements, and good our country has been able to accomplish in the past: all that is now a quickly receding memory. 

There is no easy way forward, but there is one legitimate way forward.  We must stop those hiding in our midst from continuing to destroy us under the guise of free speech.  Are we farm animals, or do we wish to be Americans again?  The choice is ours.

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

Image: Carl Glover, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0