The Pit and The Pendulum, a masterpiece short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, was published in 1843. Poe's broad metier was writing with accomplishments in poetry, short stories, literary criticism, and other genres of authorship.
In addition to his literary accomplishments, Poe was an opium addict, alcoholic, and West Point dropout. All in all, he was a colorful character whose vices and personality cast a dark shadow over his every written word.
Poe authored The Pit and the Pendulum 260 years after the discovery of Galileo Galilei’s discovery of the Pendulum Principle aka The Pendulum Effect. In Poe's magnum opus, the Pendulum as fashioned into a blade lurks in a slowly descending manner over its intended victim ...then fate saves the day and the victim is spared.
The Pendulum Effect is the movement in one direction that causes movement in another direction. It is a natural law that was discovered in 1602 by Galileo Galilei.
The theoretical extrapolations and practical applications from Galileo's discovery have been elemental to the progress of the modern world. The Pendulum Effect is foundational to the laws of physics, and applied science. The first pendulum clock, built in the 1600s, was the most accurate way of keeping time until the 1930s. Its downfall was that in order to keep time, it had to remain stationary. As a result, other technologies adapted to that reality were invented and deployed.
I just got rid of my old Grandfather clock and replaced it with a state-of-the-art Timex. We all know that the world is dynamic, not static. However, foundational principles as laws of nature are immutable.
Unfortunately, we too often conflate political and social theories to natural law. Physics and chemistry are science. "Social Science" and "Political Science" are not. But don't convey that to the armies of "Political and Social Scientists” who populate our colleges, universities, and media. You will most definitely hurt their feelings.
Social and Political Scientists of all stripes have conflated The Pendulum Effect of natural law to the universe of politics, culture, and social change.
The academics and talking heads will always tell you that things will swing back in the other direction... they always do... there is a Pendulum Effect etc.
Conflation with the actual Pendulum effect is a false construct. While it is true that the Pendulum of politics is sometimes self-correcting, the politics of culture is not.
Never forget, it is the culture that drives politics, not the reverse.
That reality is critical to the understanding of the manner in which our nation is, and will be governed.
It is true that we still have a two-party system. It is also true that in an electoral sense, Republicans have done pretty well in being elected to office, but to what end?
Since 1964 (see The American Way), the institutions that shape America have been moving inexorably to the left. Those critical institutions are the media, big tech, big business, academia, philanthropies with the largest endowments, and government agencies littered with unelected bureaucrats who have untouchable regulatory power.
Accordingly, we are living in a nation with a "Two-Party, One Culture System".
As a practical matter, our “One Culture System" has created an official American Culture, one of leftist conformity that exacts extreme social sanctions for Americans showing signs of cultural and political nonconformity. Of course, the dominant culture has employed specious devices that appear to tolerate cultural dissent, but they do not.
You, as a Conservative, could be saved from cancellation and social exile if you supported the corrupt "Lincoln Project", or were a Biden supporting apostate Republican such as John Kasich, the imbecilic bow-tied George Will, the confused mercenary NY Times "conservative" placeholder, David Brooks, or Bill Crystal, who remained bitter over his irrelevance after the election of Donald Trump in 2016.
As a part of the Hong Kong turnover from Great Britain in 1997, China coined the following slogan designed for absorption by the world’s useful idiots: "One Nation, Two Systems". Whatever happened to that folks? Freedom in Hong Kong no longer exists and is a dead issue today. Rest assured that if our "Two-Party, One Culture" reality remains unchecked in its metastasis, we will become the America of One Party, with One Culture and NO Freedom.
The Pendulum Effect will not automatically save us from the radical leftist direction that we are inextricably moving towards. At present, there is no effective or significant cultural force moving us in the opposite direction to right the ship. We as American citizens are the only force that can move our culture and ultimately, our politics, in a direction that will restore The American Way.
What can we do??
Education is everything... Hillsdale College has created a K-12 core curriculum, that if implemented, or at least emulated, would be a good start. Take this to your local school board, make modifications as you see fit.
One more thing… The terms “sewing circle” and “knitting circle” used to be common and familiar terms. How about starting a "thinking circle" with anyone you know who has an interest in The American Way.
-Emes