Now, I'm not going to get irrationally patriotic and declare that our perfect country was preordained for greatness by the near-Godlike acts of flawless Founding Fathers who knew precisely which form of government would seamlessly span the centuries. What worked great during an age of exploration, global expansion, and industrial revolution doesn't necessarily transition effectively into a globally-populated, technological age defined and consumed by its industrial predecessors' lust for wealth, power, and convenience. My guess is Thomas Jefferson did NOT have the internet in mind when he glorifed absolute freedom of speech nor did George Washington comprehend a necessity to ban automatic weapony from the general populace's possession.
(Before I go any further, freedom of speech is requisitely necessary for any civilization to survive and flourish. Overall I think the ability to own a gun is good too since any bad guy will find a way to own a gun whether it's legal or not. Licensed, responsible gun ownership is okay by me, and that's not just my Texan blood talkin' ;-)
But back to the original commentary: no doubt the U.S. achieved worldwide power and prestige. We succeeded where many failed, BUT we can't owe all of our success to unique government, personal ingenuity, and the incredibly strong bootstraps our forefathers apparently possessed. No, we also got lucky. VERY lucky. We also seized upon opportunities regardless of whether they arose from positive or negative world events. Our technological advancements which began in the 1950s were largely a result of the scientists our government "rescued" from a defeated Nazi Germany (unless Robert Goddard and Robert Oppenheimer were aliens, I'm not buying into that theory). Much of the land containing our coal and oil deposits was blatantly stolen from the "relocated" Native American population. The Great Depression was ended largely due to the massive amount of jobs created by the inception of World War II.
That brings me to my final summation point: are the people that We the People elected to take care of this nation as a whole going to wait on a World War III event to bail us out of this financial crisis, or are they going to step into adulthood and make the sacrifices that We the People have to make in our normal lives on a daily basis? Those types of financial choices typically require the loss of something we deem personally important. We very well may lose face in someone's opinion. But "failures" such as these are integral to our continued individual survival as well as eventual financial reconstruction. Neither political party should be out to "win" right now because there is no winning without assuring the nation's continued existence. Forget the elections. Our political parties have created a culture of neverending election season. No, instead of perpetuating the notion of campaigning as a 24/7 lifestyle, sacrifice your personal and party pride on the altar of "doing the right thing," do what we're paying you to do, and GET US OUT OF THIS!
Ensign Wesley Crusher would have ;-)
My summation,for at least a decade now, is that we have a Two Party Front for the Oligarchy (TPFO). They play us against each other. They love it when we fight and point fingers and scream "my party is better than your party," because that basically keeps us distracted from what the Electeds and the Elites they serve are doing. There are always exceptions, always individuals who do have the good of actual, real people in mind. But the TPFO is not our friend, and they don't care if your left or right, liberal or conservative.
ReplyDeleteSince we've discussed this many times, all I can say is "Amen to that!!"
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