Posted on 10/26/2005 10:31:00 PM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.
It is not so hard and can be a pleasure to tell people what you see. It's harder to speak of what you think you see, what you think is going on and can't prove or defend with data or numbers. That can get tricky. It involves hunches. But here goes.
I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."
snip
That's what I think is going on with our elites. There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship. Or into bad territory with the trolley.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Peggy needs a vacation or Prozac.
I'm a young man (twenty-two) and I can only imagine the trials and testings that await us in the years to come.
I'm 55. When I was a child, my Dad expressed the same sentiment as Peggy Noonan has just articulated.
And for that reason with faced with the facts; I have suggested to my children that they do no have children. It is a terrible thing to have to say. We want grand-children; however the USA is going to hell in a handbasket at a geometric rate. (sigh)
Just my opinion.
Really? So you think this country currently faces a crisis the likes of which it has never faced before? And you agree with Peggy that our "elites" who should be solving these problems have essentially given up?
Well don't count me in "a lot of us". America has survived and flourished through far worse periods of history, and it has done so for the simple reason that the solution to its problems never comes from "elites". It comes from the values, hard work and stability of the average American. We have conquered kings, tyrants and dictators. We have overcome depression and famine. We have even righted the flawed decisions of overzealous judges, congressmen and presidents. And we will continue to do so, with out without the help of the tea and crumpet crowd in D.C..
So 50 years ago, your father was speaking the same doom as Peggy? Perhaps he should have told you not to have kids. Do you regret having children? Have you asked for their forgiveness? Do they regret being born?
I think she has a good point no matter whose to blame. The fact that we allow disinformation, anti american propaganda and outright lies to be broadcast daily into the livingrooms of our citizens, many of whom have no understanding of the USA uniqueness or of historical factors that endanger us, that we let this happen shows that we have lost all real sense of self preservation.
"I too feel we are heading into a dark period, similar to the 1970s."
The 1870s were even darker. Lincoln had been assassinated; Andrew Johnson had destroyed the advances made in the rights of former slaves after the Civil War; the Panic of 1873 devastated the economy; "politics" was synonymous with "corruption"; White Leaguers and the Ku Klux Klan murdered officeholders, blacks, and the whites who supported them in Louisiana and South Carolina; the Railroad Strike of 1877 led to uncontrolled violence nationwide; and much, much more. The 1970s were all peace and light compared to the 1870s. And yet we survived both, and now barely remember either, which makes us think each new day is worse than the last. Not true.
Peggy is no fool.
You do realize that this has been going on for decades? And do you also realize that the mainstream media is currently spiraling down in a credibility tailspin that is actually gaining momentum every day? We "let" this happen because we are a nation based on freedom. And our free thinking population has taken icons like the New York Times, and dropped them in the crapper. Take a look at the blue and red 2004 election map. We aren't losing.
My2Cents wrote:
"We're doomed!" She may have a point there.
I certainly hope so. Liberals are myopic and have not entered the world as we know it yet. They still cling to the Utopianism of the Clinton years and what they percieved as the "peace dividend" That Utopia was doomed from the start, thank the Lord.
Peggy is just realizing that it is so. Maybe there's hope for the Democrats yet. Its way past wake up time. The world insists that we deal with it on its own terms, not the terms defined by liberal Utopianism.
One of the side effects of Roe v. Wade may have been that fewer Democrats were born.
One of the side effects of pessimists not having kids is that the next generation may be more optimistic.
One of the side effects of religious people having more children may be the salvation of the country.
Cheer up! God knew we were all going to go to down the tubes, and He gave us a Savior. He also will win the battle of good over evil and defeat Satan and all the forces of Hell. And that is the most important battle and in the end the only one that counts.
Meanwhile, we can confidently do our best to confront the evils we see and can deal with, and not be overwhelmed by depression into nihilism and inertia which is the Devil whispering in our ear. Trust God. Do what you can. Look confidently into the future where He awaits us in triumph.
---"I'm 55. When I was a child, my Dad expressed the same sentiment as Peggy Noonan has just articulated."---
I'm 45 and my old man said the same thing to me when I was a teen! Once after he was done bemoaning the world for awhile I stopped him and said "Hey Dad, could we go down to the lake through the meadow and look at the grass and the trees and go fishing and THEN finish this conversation?" He just chuckled and said "I guess you got a point."
Things change and if we focus on the bad things that's what we'll see. And things won't always be easy - that's life.
A bit off topic but I remember talking with an old gal at church and said "I don't understand how kids can listen to that rap music". She said she the same thing about her kid's music, and her parents the same thing about HER music. I said "YOUR music?" She said she used to listen to Dorsey and the Big Band sound - her parents thought it was the Devil's music - not the symphony that they thought was REAL music!
More likely, the parents use material things, rather than intangibles, to try to make their children feel good. Simple restraint and savings are traits this country no longer possesses on the the whole. Many sell their birthright for a pottage of earrings, gameboys, cellphones, fast food, etc.
I believe, unfortunately, that you are right on the mark. But the answer will NOT be a political one, it will be either a religious one or none at all.
Evil found a way to gain a stranglehold on our country through politics, by simply insisting that our Constitution bars all religious morality from influencing government policy. Having been thoroughly brainwashed into believing that religion is dangerous to government, people willingly bought into it. Now we are reaping the spoils of a God-less government. PRAY!
We have too many writers who have nothing to say, but feel they have to say something because they're getting paid to do so or because they think they have to or everybody is going to be bored to death.
So they create this great sense of urgency hoping to keep our interest -- and thus, when they really have something to say, nobody is around to listen anymore because they've cried "Wolf," once too often.
The work of a good writer, is also knowing when not to lower one's standards and write what doesn't need to be written.
What's a professional writer to do?
Return the money, so you can live with yourself -- rather than sharing your angst and self-loathing with everyone else.
Look at all those people who have sold their souls to the New York Times and Washington Post. Selling out the world for a few lousy bucks!
Better they were not born -- than that they have to create problems so they can earn a living that way.
Do you think that your grandkids would tell you once they reach the age of 18 that they would rather not have been born?
we snear at the MSM , but for most of this country's population, they are the only source of news. underestimate them at your peril.
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