Referendum on the nation
Eighteen months into regime rule, it is now palpably noticeable, with ever-increasing clarity, that many Americans have forgotten, were never taught, or purposefully forswore the principles that catalyzed and then sustained American uniqueness and greatness. By request, this is a reprised B2J essay written years ago that is disturbingly applicable today.
Time to pay the piper. Those of you old enough to remember the debut of Sputnik, the 1955 Ford Thunderbird, or the introduction of commercial jet air travel may experience a communion of sorts while reading what follows.
Those of you, that is, who truly appreciate the miracle that is the Constitution. And those of you who live your lives guided by independent thought, moral enlightenment, spiritual values, and with the conviction of individual choice. Those of you who believe in liberty throughout life beginning with equality at birth. For those of you, please do read on.
However, those of you who insist upon or hope for governmental nannyism in any capacity, artificial societal encumbrances, nurturing by entitlement, or something for nothing should stop reading now — You will not understand nor appreciate the concepts behind the words. Your time will be better spent demanding a $30-per-hour minimum wage or enabling the conduct of functionally illiterate, irresponsible single teen mothers with fatherless children.
You should go where you feel secure.
Once upon a time
If you are still reading, chances are that you remember when the United States was synonymous with individual freedom, a time when that very essence of freedom was precious to every citizen and love of country was not something to be derided as it is today. Opportunity abounded for resolute individuals with the courage, will, and energy to determine their own destinies — without bureaucratic or special-interest interference or impediment.
Those who came before us comprised what many of today's philosophically-minded have labeled America's Greatest Generation; I mostly agree, save for that even greater, truly remarkable generation of our Founding Fathers and the few fearless millions of their colonial peers.
My parents and their generational cohort were the ones who scraped, clawed, and worried their way through the worst global economic collapse in the history of modern civilization; Who for several long years paid dearly in blood and treasure but ultimately annihilated that era's sociofascist tyrants; Who by their sweat and toil built the United States of America into the greatest economic marvel ever experienced by mankind.
Their efforts ensured that the vast majority of Americans were firmly ensconced in what is now known as the Middle Class — a feat then unheard of or attainable by any nation on Earth.
Anything was possible
This very same Greatest Generation took us to the Moon and beyond, broke the back of the despotic Soviet Empire, pioneered medical and technological advances of breathtaking proportions, developed and improved the agricultural mechanisms that still today feed most of the world, corrected social injustices that were once historically considered the norm, and who through their empathy and magnanimity rebuilt two continents ravaged by a decade of planet-wide war. And as they suffered, labored, and sacrificed — they did so without whining, without petulance, and with an eye on better days to come.
Of course, there were (and still are) those of that generation who could not or would not answer the call to defeat sociofascism or perish, possessed no self-reliance, applauded when wealth-redistribution schemes and government-controlled handouts were imposed, and approved of an ever-burgeoning central government intrusion into the lives of individuals.
But by and large the Americans of the '20s, '30s, and '40s were prideful, hard-working, freedom-loving, independent, and not possessed of such lesser qualities. Each in his or her own way achieved greatness for their nation, their communities, and their families.
Consequential actions
Yet in one sense they failed.
The Greatest Generation failed to pass along their wisdom and fully instruct their progeny in the importance of individual freedom, the requirement of personal sacrifice to maintain that freedom, and the necessity of spirituality to harmonically meld conscience and ethos into everyday life. They also failed to hold their children accountable for their actions and to accept responsibility for and the consequences of such actions.
In this they failed our generation. They failed to fully imprint the tenor of their legacy onto the soul of our generation, the Baby Boom Generation (those of us born between 1946 and 1955). They spoiled us, and who can blame them? They did not want their children to suffer as they did, to contend with one hard time after another as they did, to feel the pangs of hunger as they did, to stuff cardboard in tattered shoes as they did. Well-meaning, they nevertheless weakened us with pampering and scarred us with permissiveness.
The worst generation
Since coming of age in the 1960s, Boomers have repeatedly illustrated for any unbiased observer to plainly see that many of them are not made of that sterner stuff as was the preceding generation. The status of their national pride, societal values, collective honor and commitment to keep their word, acceptance of responsibility, personal integrity and dignity, and national willingness to stay the course during difficult times has been repeatedly tested and often found wanting. Shamefully often.
Many Boomers have proven themselves to be soft and spoiled, lazy and lachrymose, weak and whiny, but most of all self-centered and greedy. They demand that everything be given without cost, without sacrifice — and want it right now. They forcefully intrude in the lives and social circumstances of others without caring enough to indulge in the same when it comes to raising their own children. They see nothing wrong with stealing from the wealthy in the form of oppressive taxation in order to placate the unworthy and those who do not care enough about themselves to care for themselves.
Many give only the briefest, merest nod to the ideas and ideals of freedom, individualism, and independent thought. They condone special-interest groups or the government choosing their holidays and how they must act, where they work, what and where they eat, what and where they smoke, what and where they drink, how they dress and what they are allowed to wear, what they say and where they say it, and when, how, and where they worship.
Many stand idly by as agenda-driven bureaucrats and nefarious special-interest toadies determine what is taught or not taught to their children in government schools and universities, what they earn for their labor, which doctors the mandated health plans allow them to see and how much they must pay for regulated medical care, and how much they are allowed for retirement income. They think nothing of inhumanely killing millions of babies each year but express outrage at the inhumanity of executing a convicted murderer.
Many either don't care or do not comprehend that the vast majority of today's print and electronic media, including Hollywood, are controlled by those who wish to set the agenda for the socialization of America. They now are conditioned to obediently genuflect before the altars of false Gods and graven images such as preferential quotas, multiculturalism, conformity, political correctness, diversity — and calculated race, wealth, spiritual, and class warfare.
Many either don't care or do not comprehend that the millions of illegal aliens they insanely allow to squat on sovereign American soil each year have absolutely no comprehension of true republican government, and do not possess nor care to integrate into their lives our national pride, love of country, and willingness to sacrifice for the common good. The allegiances of most illegals lie elsewhere and will remain so.
Many have either forgotten or never experienced the quality time of a daily family supper at table, without distraction. They make time for inane reality television programming but have no time to walk with or read to their children. They can't be bothered to independently research contentious issues and instead rely by default on biased media's 20-second sound bites and video clips on how to think, what to think, who to vote for, who to like, who to hate. They want everything soon, now, this instant. If ignored or unappeased, they throw tantrums — only now the grown-up tantrums are harmful to their families and their nation.
It is a disgraceful reality that many in the Worst Generation are either indifferent or oblivious to the fact that they can no longer live their lives and raise their families within the moral bounds of time-honored and time-tested tradition, or even as they see fit. Those who allowed all of this to come to pass deserve nothing better.
But the rest of us, the majority, don't want to go down with them.
Falling stars, fading stripes
One of America's great presidents, Ronald Wilson Reagan, observed these developments and the slow decline of the nation he loved. Under his guidance and through the sheer power of his heartfelt convictions, Americans — young and old, liberal and conservative, wealthy and poor — were imbued with the spirit and energy of the Greatest Generation. All things were possible, no adversary too powerful to vanquish, and no problem too difficult to overcome. America was resurrected, if only for a brief, shining moment.
Short of reincarnation, we will probably not be blessed with the likes of a Reagan, Washington, or Franklin to rekindle the smoldering remains of what was once the Spirit of America. Which is why some amongst us have grave doubts about the future.
It is a bitter dose to swallow for some, based upon a careful reflection of our degradation over the past forty years, that we may have experienced the very best that our beloved United States of America will ever be. By malevolent, premeditated design, our national fabric is now tattered and frayed, and the homogenous tincture of rugged individualism, free will, appreciation of and devotion to country, strength of character, and conscience that bound us together has been horribly polluted and so defiled as to be undrinkable.
Some amongst us are too petulant, too lazy, too hedonistic, too pampered. They no longer possess the will, the pride, or the courage to take care of themselves, let alone their children, and plead with and pray for a bureaucratic nanny state to mother them, kiss the boo-boos, warm the bottles, and give them shiny but worthless trinkets with which to play.
They have been conditioned to mistrust and disparage those remaining amongst us who strive for and celebrate individual accomplishment. Their feelings were hurt when they were not picked for the neighborhood team so they did away with all forms of healthy competition for all of our children. They shield our children from the temporary disappointment of bad grades or failing at something — anything — by simply doing away with all measures of achievement. They play make-believe and pretend as though pain, suffering, and failure were not common realities of life. Yet they unnaturally emasculate our boys and deny the natural physiological limitations of our girls, thereby harming and penalizing them more with falsely conceived notions than the rigors of life ever could.
Some have already enabled or are in the process of enabling the generations that follow to mock authority, ridicule American values, debase our common heritage, and abuse what little freedoms are left to us. They will not hold our children accountable for their actions, then perpetually dose them with drugs because they misbehave. They punish initiative because they have no initiative — they have grown content to be cared for and in the sordid process have lost their once-envied American fighting spirit, can-do essence, pride, and national soul.
Astray but not yet lost
Those of us raised by members of the Greatest Generation and who were not recipients of spoiling, pampering, or insulation, discern with knowing nods all that has been written here. Some of you may feel sadness as today's shallow caricature of what was once the America of our youth is weighed and found to be hollow and without substance.
Because we respected and listened to our elders, we instinctively recognized the significant impacts that honor, reverence, loyalty, responsibility, charity, and humility had on our nation's identity and well-being. We now perceive these essential qualities to be waning in today's America.
We were alternately disciplined and loved, deprived and rewarded, instructed and listened to, and then encouraged to scrape our knees, test our wings, and to develop physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This can no longer be said of our children.
We were raised to accept failure as a part of life, yet not to accept failure as an end. We were taught to get up, shake it off, and try again. We were taught to reach for the stars, but in order to reach them prices had to be paid. Today, the most basic concepts of consequence and sacrifice are foreign to our youth.
We were infused with the notion that any bad experiences in our past could be used as motivation to succeed, and had no lasting relevance on our future. We learned that using such negatives to justify failure or social abnormality was anathema to a productive and fulfilling life. Excuses, mental crutches, enabling, and medication are now routinely prescribed and encouraged.
And yet ... and yet, as dreadful as our outlook appears, it is still not too late.
Time for reckoning
While it is true that people who do not embrace America's Founding Principles -- mainly those of the Worst Generation -- now dominate our government schools, news and entertainment media, and our universities, the past fourteen months have proven that if enough Americans unite and work together, anything is doable -- or undoable, for that matter.
For the first time in their lives -- and despite leftist control of the media -- millions of Americans awakened to something ugly and un-American. This awareness of the leftist agenda reached a crescendo with the fraudulent passage of ObamaCare. As proof, just in the past few months there has been a nearly 30 percent shift from Democrat to Republican among independent voters.
This is beyond extraordinary.
Which is why, if there ever was a time to use such a trite phrase as, "The upcoming elections in November are the most important in the nation's history," that time is now. Because for the sake of our Republic as envisioned by its Founders, they truly are.
America didn't fall into this sociofascist morass all at once; It was pulled down stealthily, incrementally. On November Second, a national referendum will be held to determine just what kind of America we will bequeath to future generations. Do we want an America that abandons its unique, defining, and sustaining ideals -- replacing them with an inferior European-style welfare state -- thereby guaranteeing mediocrity, subservience, and debt for our progeny?
If the answer is no, then that Tuesday in November and the primaries which precede it are just the first of many incremental steps on the long, hard road back. But recovery and national redemption will fail unless we strive to make it happen. And there can be no compromise. Not this time -- it's apples or oranges.
Make it happen.
Hype and Chains for 142 more days.