I was born that way. In a small town in New England right at the end of World War II, in which my father was a submariner. We weren’t rich at all -- we were just regular people. When my turn came it was called Vietnam.
When I was in grade school, George Washington was still the Father Of The Country, and Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves. Hitler and Tojo were bad, and FDR was good. Our Senators, Congressmen, Mayor, and even Eisenhower were worthy of all proper respect. We had a Christmas Pageant in school every year, and one year I got to read the words, “And in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” I read it well.
Later, I came to know that the Founding Fathers -- as we called them then -- had some character flaws, and were not all perfect men, were not born as alabaster statues standing in a heroic and noble manner on some pedestal. They were more complex and were very much products of their times, as we all are. But what remained irrefutable was that together they had worked a true act of deep genius in creating our Constitution. This Constitution was the framework for what would become, and still is, unarguably the greatest and most powerful and most just nation on the face of the Earth.
We cured diseases, we grasped and understood the very heart of the Matter of all the Universe. We touched the moon six times, represented by a dozen courageous men. None other has touched it since, now over forty years on.
Yes, we had, and have flaws as a nation, but we are mostly honest enough to drag them out into the light and work on ways to cure them. Who doubts that we’ll cure them one day, allowed a fair and level justice system? We assume nothing is hopeless. We assume anything can be fixed or improved. We can make of ourselves anything we wish -- or try. We are not locked into inflexible social roles by cruel inheritance or some rigid caste system. We know Liberty.
Many believe we have very dark days just ahead. A lot of pretty delusions have built up on continued weak and illogical thinking -- and the bill has come due, payable in full, and right now. But we don’t have the money, and the folks running things have been lying so long, and we’ve been buying their pretty lies for so long, that we are all in a very big, deep pickle, and the politicians are all blaming each other rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting to work to fix it. Who doubts that they could, if they only would put their honest and patriotic efforts into it?
We have an entire generation -- maybe two -- of semi-literate, low-information, inept, fundamentally without personal morality or ethics, and completely uneducated in any meaningful sense, and who understand virtually nothing of how anything works, be it their own thumb-phone, or their government. But they vote. They vote based on bumper sticker slogans, fashion, and nothing else, as they parrot the mindless jingles without thinking about what they mean.
It’s our fault -- all of us -- for letting this happen. And this generation of functional morons is not equipped remotely to face the trials that definitely lay ahead in their future. It’s a shame, really. Many will doubtless lose their lives needlessly. But the fires of the crucible of these troubled times will make some into iron people, who have suffered, and come ultimately to understand why, and how to find the path back to proper civilization.
It would seem these tests, trials, and gauntlets must come to every generation for it to truly honor and understand Liberty. We who have passed through it, often hesitate to permit or encourage our young to do it, hoping to shield them from the pain and difficulty of it, knowing how hard it can be. I think we do them an ultimate disservice when we do that, because the lack of the need for rising to the challenge leaves them soft, complacent, and self-absorbed right when they need to be Warriors themselves to even survive.
Put simply, we’ve been living a fantasy for a long time, and the balloon is badly over-inflated and absolutely must pop, and pop soon. And yet so few have a clue.
I hear some folks thinking and planning about what country to move to, to avoid the storm. New Zealand. Costa Rica. Etcetera. They would run from the fight, this worthy fight, to conquer the troubles and restore things to a better way. Fine. Run, cowards. But don’t come back. We won’t be needing you after it’s been re-secured.
I will not leave America in her Dark Hours, for I am not a summer soldier. If need be, I will fall with her, but I will not abandon her for some other place. This is my place, and this is my country, not the government’s, but mine. And yours.
I will stay right here come what may, and fight like a Warrior and work like a Carpenter to restore her to common sense and sanity. I have read Sun Tsu, and I know what to do, and how to do it.
I am an American. I was born to this duty and this blessing. My people have always been bred and are always prepared for this fight.
Nicely said—thank you.
And I'm expecting a lot of freepers to be really upset about it, and to encourage people to wait until 2016 -- we might get Boehner to run for president then, and really turn this baby around!! No need for drastic action until we see how 2016 turns out ...
At some point, we do need to act like we're in a war. Because we are.
There were many truths and the bottom line, for me at least, is those who will run from their duties aren't worthy of spit.
It's time to dig and fight, both figuratively and literally, for our nation. This is something we haven't had to do for over 150 years - four generations - and it shows, badly.
Well thought out, and well written.
I am an American. I was born to this duty and this blessing. My people have always been bred and are always prepared for this fight.
This is our watch and our responsibility for which generations have fought and died to pass on to us. I pray that we are worthy of that which we've been given or we will pass a level of hell on earth to the next generation and will have earned eternity's curse.
Great post.
Happy New Year!
Wishing for knowledge of what to do. But until a class of leaders comes along that is willing to challenge those born after 1960 to become the next greatest generation, to right the wrongs of ourselves and our recent predecessors, and to ignore the entire elitist media-academia industry, America will spin downward.
/johnny
Well put.
Perfectly Stated....
What is it that we do when we cast a ballot? I “voted” for a person running for the United States Senate, but what does that really mean? Am I showing support for a candidate that reflects my thoughts and beliefs? Am I voting for someone because I think that person is like me? Is that how Democrats vote? Is that what motivates their decision to pull a certain lever? That union autoworker, does he vote for Obama because he thinks Obama has had similar life experiences to his own? Or do Democrat voters see their vote as an investment? Is it something they “invest” with the Democrat party in order to receive a financial return? We aren’t even in the game if all we do is throw up our hands and call the Democrat voters stupid. We have to understand them, and we don’t because we are intellectually lazy.
“Understand yourself and understand your opponents, and in one hundred battles, you will not be defeated.”
Bookmark.
Another poster on another thread months ago said, and I’m quoting, “Washington needs to be burned down to the ground.”.
The only thing I would add to that is as follows: “With all federal employees sitting in their offices”. I think that he had implied the addition but didn’t say it. :-)
The feral government needs to be cut by at least 50%.
We have no more "flaws" other than our political class, and that is their doing, plus the dumb-downed electorate by our agenda driven education system.
So, maybe we do have one last flaw, and that would be our failure to educate our children properly about our history and the history of other civilizations that fell from within.
Thanks for your article.
From one carpenter to another... well said. Thank you.
Thank you
Well said. For those that fear we have lost too many people to the brain dead liberal ranks, please take some comfort in my words. My son is an Army Ranger, and there are many of his generation that “get it”. I am proud of them. There are plenty of more mature Americans that “get it” too. Last night at a neighborhood party there was a long and intelligent conversation about guns, concealed carry, weapons, self defense, etc. Men and women participated. I would take 10 of these people against 100 of the clueless any day.
To this I also pledge!!!