The End of Dominance
If other nations can’t bring down the stars and stripes, then who will? The government, America’s own enemy, is within. America is the third largest country by population and first in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), so, they are very mighty, and the bigger they are, the harder they fall. America has had countless “rivalries” with opposing nations and to say the least they have done pretty well. The government is made up of two main parties: Democrat and Republican. These parties have gone on since our country was founded in 1776 and have gone on to have some bad blood. The parties would make decisions just to hurt and make the other party look bad. The novel The Biography of X touches themes of political division and what can happen if a country is too split in its government. The eventual split goes three ways creating a new Western Territory, Southern Territory, and Northern Territory. But it’s not that simple, the Southern Territory is a fascist theocracy. Laws are based on the Ten Commandments and the Bible, freedom is limited, and borders are strict. The Southern Territory built a concrete wall to cut them off from the other territories. No travelling between the north and south or you can go to federal prison. What we see in The Biography of X could end up being reality. If the tensions continue to grow, America would be fractured and it would be hard to repair. The continued tension in our government will lead to the end of the land of the free and authors are spreading the message through diction, tone, and symbolism.

America has now gotten involved in more wars as they have continued to intervene in the middle east. The Iran war isn’t only losing support in Congress but also with our people. The president is convinced there are nuclear weapons in Iran. He was so convinced that he leapfrogged the step where he was supposed to ask Congress if he could go to war, so he just did it himself, “President Donald Trump has not sought congressional approval for attacking Iran”(Groves). Trump not seeking approval from Congress is a lot more than just attacking Iran. He is proving that there is a lot of dishonesty in our government by not thinking twice, like he’s done this before. The diction of the word, “not” illustrates the divide between the president and Congress as they aren’t  being cooperative with each other. In order for our country to grow, “it was important for lawmakers to get information”(Groves).  The word “get” conveys that there is not full honesty in our government leaving it fractured from lies. The dishonesty in our government reflects how the people in our country are also not getting the full story with a lot of things as the government keeps a lot of secrets from the civilians. Following the divide between the public and the government,“public support for the war remains tepid.”(Groves)  Groves reveals that the Trump administration has less support than they did before the war. The word, “tepid” reveals the public shaming the decision for going to war as many people have started to dislike the Trump administration. The government is, “answering the hard questions that are being asked," (Groves). Groves stresses that there has not been accountability in our government and now there are steps being taken to bring accountability. Groves’ symbolism of the word, “questions” demonstrates how there is not full honesty in our country and the government isn’t helping put the truth out there. “We’ve had no oversight whatsoever over what the executive is doing as we’re spending a billion dollars a day, and we have failed to have any real substantive debate or discussion,”(Groves). Groves’ use of an alarming tone to call attention to the flaws of the government in this current day and age. The phrase, “No oversight whatsoever over what the executive is doing” illustrates that the president is going rogue and no one is stopping him. America is coming closer and closer to its breaking point and there has yet to be something to stop that.

The President is not the only one to blame for our country’s demise. The rest of his cabinet like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth has been supporting the war even though its effects are hurting America. Finley writes, “ Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed with Democratic lawmakers in Congress for a second day”(Finley). Finley is demonstrating the division between the legislative and executive branches. The effects this has on our country is that our government cannot get any new laws or bills passed if it is not approved by congress and the president. On Capitol Hill, “The hearing was convened to discuss the Trump administration's 2027 military budget proposal, which would boost defense spending to a historic $1.5 trillion.”(Finley). The increase in spending on our military is proving that the president is not focused on America, he is not focused on what is happening in our country and is focused on the wrong things. Since Pete Hegseth is encouraging the decision to increase military spending he is revealing that the Trump administration's goals are not to bring peace, but to use force to get what they want.  “The Strait of Hormuz remains closed, sending fuel prices skyrocketing,”(Finley). The words, “Skyrocketing” convey a dark spot in America’s economy as the prices are going up and people are struggling to adjust to the rapid price increase. The Strait being closed symbolizes a separation from the people as the war isn’t in the best interest of the people.Pete Hegseth and Trump’s cabinet are appearing as the helping hand to America but in reality, they are only hurting America. 

During the government shutdown America was as divided as ever. Fingers started being pointed and,“President Donald Trump’s political rivals were responsible”(Wardwell). Wardwell was illustrating how divided the government was, as now people were shifting the blame a lot. The diction of the word, “rivals” demonstrates that Trump specifically was targeting the people he doesn’t like and that he could want them out of their position. Wardwell writes, “Democrats have argued that they were left out of negotiations”(Wardwell). An empathetic tone is used by Wardwell to let the reader know how the Democrats are feeling while they are being secluded from the rest of the government. The symbolism of the Democrats not being involved in the negotiations to reopen the government reveals how our government is split and it needs healing before something worse happens. “It is wildly inappropriate for agency leadership to politicize the situation and blame political enemies,”(Wardwell). The words, “wildly inappropriate” suggest that our politicians are not acting as they should be and they should just hurry up to reopen the government. Wardwell included this because she wanted to stress that the politicians not helping negotiate a deal are not doing enough to help the country. All in all, the government shutdown was just another example of our political leaders not able to put away their differences for the greater good of the country.

The continued separation could end up leading to something bad, we just need to make sure that our politicians aren’t causing that. The Biography of X  was a prime example of what not to do as a government. A long time ago there was, “The Great Disunion and the nature of the Southern Territory’s theocratic rule from 1945 until 1996”(Lacey 53) The diction of the word, “disunion” demonstrates how there were differences in the government and it ended with the south seceding. Lacey was warning America about what could happen when the government gets too divided. Lacey writes,  “When Southern politicians raised the issue in Washington, others openly mocked the idea, which only served to further stir unrest. Among their constituents, support of secession by any means grew rapidly”(Lacey 57). The Southern politicians being mocked symbolizes how they didn’t feel they were being heard the same as other politicians. The rapidness of the movement to secede is no different to movements in our current day and age as many movements pick up a lot of traction early.  One day,“On Thanksgiving Day 1945, twenty-two million America citizens woke up to news they were no longer living in America-a wall had been erected between much of the Deep South”(Lacey 54). The tone of shock conveys how the people were feeling as they were now in a whole new country without their knowing. The word, “wall” reveals how the new Southern Territory wants nothing to do with America as it is cutting itself off from the rest of America. In conclusion, America needs to stay intact for the benefit of the people.

Ultimately, America is not in a horrible position but if it keeps trending in the way it is then things might take a turn for the worse. This matters because of the impact it has on the people. The people should be the center of attention,and when they are not that's when we need to be concerned. Our government could lead to the end of America’s freedom.