The Threat Within: Troubling Trends

Since the days of the Wild West the thought of internal anarchy as a threat to security has seemed far-fetched in the US. But troubling trends indicate an increasing fragmentation, frustration, intolerance, militancy and erosion of respect for the rule of law - trends that threaten the principles of democracy and human rights.

A strong middle class has been the most significant economic stabilizing force in the US. By comparison, economic disparities in Latin America have contributed to a tradition of political violence. In the last decade, world economic trends have resulted in changes at both ends of the economic spectrum: producing more wealthy and working poor at the expense of the middle class. The increasing economic disparities do not bode well for political stability. The changing role of government: from protecting freedom to providing entitlements

Political evolution has produced a dramatic shift in the primary purpose of government: from protecting freedom and economic opportunity to providing economic security through entitlements for social security, welfare, and health care. The pursuit of happiness is no longer enough; it has become an entitlement. Senator Bob Kerry has predicted that without some kind of reform, entitlements will constitute 70 per cent of the US budget by the year 2003. With government perceived as a pie, special interests are becoming increasingly aggressive in demanding their fair share. With an increasing demand for decreasing public resources, more conflict can be expected. The increasing power of special interest groups

American politics began with two major political parties that polarized divergent views, a prerequisite for orderly legislative action. During the second half of the twentieth century special interest groups eclipsed political parties as power brokers, pushing the legislative process into gridlock.

Democracy is, by definition, rule by the majority, and that majority is a constantly shifting coalition of diverse interests. Two demographic trends are likely to test democracy in the near future: the increasing numbers of older Americans and of illegal immigrants.

Older Americans are the most formidable of all special interest groups; so much so that social security, the largest of all entitlement programs, has remained exempt from budget cuts. But something will have to give in the years ahead. With the costs of maintaining an older population going up, especially health care, and with more retired Americans and others dependent on welfare, at some point those dependent on entitlements will outnumber those paying the bill. This will be the moment of truth in the history of US democracy, and its demise if the majority of Americans continue to vote their selfish interest.

Illegal immigrants present a more immediate political crisis. The cost of providing public services to them has become so burdensome that states are suing the federal government for reimbursement. The increasing number of illegal immigrants has fed a growing xenophobia in the US that contrasts sharply with the words on the Statue of Liberty: 'Give me your huddled masses, yearning to be free...' Hyphenated Americans: racial and ethnic polarization

America was once known as the melting pot. The American character was once an amalgam of many ethnic groups, all suborned to a uniquely American ideal. Today an increasingly diverse racial and ethnic population is less willing to assimilate.

The combined effect of racial polarization and the deterioration of the two-party system has been evident in redefining partisan politics along racial lines in the South and large cities. An unlikely coalition of Republicans, black caucus legislators, and sympathetic judges have promoted racially defined single-member districts to increase minority representation. The result has been to institutionalize racism as part of the political system, making racial moderates in politics an endangered species. Intolerance in the name of political correctness

The political power of special interest groups has made public dissent unfashionable and even dangerous. With the fragmentation of America into racial and ethnic enclaves, tolerance is no longer a virtue, even at colleges and universities. The danger of the trend toward intolerance is in what it prevents rather than what it promotes: it discourages open dialogue between divergent groups, promoting polarization rather than understanding and reconciliation. Religion and politics

Intolerance characterizes the mix of religion and politics, and for militant religious fundamentalists this mixture can be violent. While the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom there are fundamentalist religious groups in America that would establish a theocracy if given the opportunity. Louis Farrakhan's 'Nation of Islam' is one; his followers are dangerously militant but their numbers are limited. Christian fundamentalists (the religious right) are less organized but more numerous and therefore the most formidable political force and if trends continue there is likely to be more polarization of politics along religious lines.

The term 'family values' has become the political rallying cry of the religious right in their promotion of traditional concepts of morality, just as the so-called pagan left advocates civil rights to legitimize nontraditional family units. The potential of these competing trends to undermine political stability cannot be underestimated. It has been felt in the military with continuing controversy over the status of homosexuals in uniform. In the cities a welfare system that subsidizes illegitimacy and fatherless families has encouraged young men to bond with urban tribes. Increasing gang violence is dramatic evidence of how the decline of the family relates to political instability. From individual to group rights

The Bill of Rights defined individual rights; there was no recognition of group rights in the Constitution. The increasing power of special interest groups has changed the emphasis on human rights from the individual to the group. Whether based on military service (veterans' organizations), age (the American Association of Retired Persons or AARP), ethnic identity (NAACP), sex (the National Organisation of Women or NOW), religion (Christian Coalition), or sexual preference (gay rights organizations), civil rights laws have shifted from protecting individuals from unlawful discrimination to providing preferences for members of protected classes. Group rights have been legitimized by the law, undermining the concept of equal justice under law. Decreasing respect for the rule of law

All of the above trends have contributed to decreasing public respect for the rule of law, which is the most troubling trend of all. Without the rule of law, democracy and human rights are meaningless. Public respect for the rule of law is absolutely critical to a free and democratic society. But that having been said, there is a good reason for the US public to be increasingly skeptical - if not cynical - of the rule of law.

The law is a reflection of national morality.

While the above trends do not represent an imminent threat to internal security, they do represent potential dangers which we ignore at our peril. The convergence of any of these trends - for instance, increasing urban violence coupled with racial polarization in law enforcement agencies - would pose a real threat to internal security (law and order). As the last defense against anarchy, the military must be prepared to preserve the rule of law.