Welcome to a discussion about the upcoming 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, Entry #1.  Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US Entry #476 was the most recent “sense check.”

BEGIN ENTRY #492: What lesson(s) can the US learn from the invasion of Israel by Hamas? The answer is remarkably simple, yet I’ve heard little, if any, serious discussion about possible lessons.

Yes, I understand most of the news is focused on events of the here-and-now, as it probably should be. The news is also heavily weighted toward devastation in Israel and Gaza.  There’s also increasing coverage about the Catch 22 situation facing the Palestinians.  Israel has ordered an evacuation of the northern part of Gaza.  But Gaza is so densely populated, there is no place to flee other than Egypt and, as of now, that border remains closed.

Israel also faces a Catch 22 – how to eliminate leadership of Hamas in an environment where any serious military incursion will result in significant civilian casualties.

Why did Hamas invade southern Israel? The answer is multifaceted and covers numerous opportunities lost or squandered by both sides over many years.  Which side is to blame? It is easy to blame Hamas, and rightly so, for all the deaths of civilians, especially children.

Israel also shares some blame.  In a limited effort so far to eliminate Hamas leadership, Israel cut off food, water and medical supplies.  Combined with the shelling of buildings believed to house Hamas fighters, many Palestinians have been injured or killed. By the time Israel completes a sweep of Gaza, many more civilians are likely to die. The situation is a no-win for both Israel and the non-combatant Palestinians.

If one steps back from the current chaos and asks, “why all the destruction?”, the answer seems obvious, at least to me.  When a country or territory, such as Gaza, is run by religious zealots, decisions no longer are based on facts, or what is good for the general populace. Decisions become based on the dogma of the religious leaders.

Look at Iran prior to the 1979 Revolution. The Shah was no Mother Theresa, but the population was  highly educated, the economy reasonably strong. Since the 1979 Revolution Iran has been run by hard right religious zealots. What’s happened to innovation, creativity and the economy? Downhill.  Many really creative and ambitious people have left the country.

Same with Russia.  Under Putin, Russia has suffered a brain drain and more fled when Russia invaded Ukraine. A stark comparison of the effect of openness and dogma is Korea.  The South is robust and a major economic force.  The North borders on starvation.

What’s this have to do with Israel and Hamas?  Israel first.  In order to stay in power, and try to avoid jail time on corruption charges, Benjamin Netanyahu secured the most recent tenure as prime minister by cutting a deal with the hard right Ultra-orthodox.  (Sound familiar?  Mmm, maybe Trump taught Netanyahu or vice versa.) As a result of the deal, government policies and actions have become more religiously focused and less focused on Israel’s founding commitment to be a model democracy.

Hamas, like Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority, is an “organization.”  In the early 2000’s, Hamas was elected by the people in Gaza to help transition Gaza to self-administration. Over the last 15+ years, Hamas has shifted from being a “governing body” helping run Gaza to focusing on try to annihilate Israel.

There’s much more of the story, but the lesson, for the US is this –  When the hard-right religious groups begin to control or heavily influence government decisions, the outcome is never good for the people and the country.

Over the last 30+ years, the Republicans have continued to shift to the right and court groups previously considered on the unacceptable outer edge. As the Party shifted, centrist Republicans lost control.  A recent high-profile example is the inability by Republicans to elect a Speaker of the House who is capable of getting legislation passed that can also be passed by the Senate, then signed by the president.

For centrist Republicans, the lesson from Hamas – fire the hard-right Freedom Caucus, or if that doesn’t work, or if you’re afraid to try, then cut a deal with Democrats to elect a Speaker than can get needed legislation moving again.

The lesson for US citizens  – keep in mind the US is not immune to what happened in Iran, Russia, North Korea, et al.  The US is not immune to conflicts like the one initiated by Hamas in Israel.  While the conflict might not be an invasion from Canada or Mexico, it could be another insurrection by the hard-right zealots – i.e., US Revolution V.  (Recall what happened in 1861?) END ENTRY #492:

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