Posted on 11/20/2006 8:56:18 AM PST by SirLinksalot
Made in the USA: Spoiled brats
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Posted: November 20, 2006
The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The same magazine that employs Michael (Qurans in the toilets at Gitmo) Isikoff. Here I promised myself this week I would be nice and I start off in this way. Oh what a mean man I am. The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.
So being the knuckle dragger I am, I starting thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''
Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?
Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.
Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.
How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.
Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.
I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe from terrorist attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?
Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.
So why then the flat out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells. Just ask why they are going to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book and do a TV special about how he didn't kill his wife but if he did … insane!
Stop buying the negative venom you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.
I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in 1953:
''What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States, 'the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.' Yes, we Americans of today have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray that we may hand it down unsullied to our children and theirs.'' I suggest this Thanksgiving we sit back and count our blessings for all we have. If we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will have to explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing and abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be known as the ''greediest and most ungrateful generation.'' A far cry from the proud Americans of the ''greatest generation'' who left us an untarnished legacy.
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Craig R. Smith is an author, commentator and popular media guest because he instantly engages audiences with his common-sense analyses of local, national and global trends. Serving as CEO of Swiss America for nearly 25 years, Craig understands that Americans want solid answers to the tough questions and that real leadership begins with servanthood.
Craig needn't worry so much about the negative venom in the media. Now that the Democrats are in charge, the MSM will start saying the future is rosy. Watch and see.
the spoiled brats have never missed a meal and then did not know if they would be eating tommorrow or the day after.
They have never ever lived in the real world.
An Oprah nation to be sure.
With liberal women in charge of "news", "education", culture, and now electing our reps, it will only get worse.
Where are our men?
Nothing a deployment to a third-world sh**hole wouldn't cure.
I think "decadent" is a more appropriate word
In a similar vein:
http://www.ejectejecteject.com/archives/000126.html
I dunno.
Having morons in their mid-twenties standing in line for days, risking getting shot to get a PS3 thingie can be pretty traumatic.
They are unhappy because someone has a larger house,better job, nicer car and make more money.
Americans are wise - and US Govt. can not fool all of the people all of the time, even though they try hard.....
They are unhappy because someone has a larger house,better job, nicer car and make more money.
Fat, supid and ignorant.
This didn't happen overnight. Eric Hoffer began musing about it in the 60s, about the same time I started seeing a new "Dark Age" descending, where knowledge became optional, and nanny government took over the driving need for parents, to explain things more clearly.
A strange new world where one doesn't have to really know anything useful, but where "rights" permeated every nook and cranny of society, and obligations drifted off into a distant memory.
Every "activist" consciousness saw the entire world as just like them, only speaking funny languages, and just as deserving of rights as them, with the identical invulnerability resulting from a Constitution, and the same restraints a civil advanced society --- well-- simply has.
Every one of these sad human beings have no clue how brief a life they would have in the violent and lawless societies they defend, violently if necessary. A noble purpose in an otherwise meaningless existence.
The only cure will be the culling of the sheep, once the wolves grow strong enough, and numerous enough to walk among them.
We live in in interesting times.
Why they've been killed off by a culture that worships the feminine.
Where have you been the last 100 years anyway?
But now I'm back.
I'm not that old (46). When I was a kid, I rode my bicylce all over town. I always got home in time for dinner, but my parents never knew where I was -- they didn't need to. But my kids don't live that kind of free-spirited life. Most of my neighbors give their kids cellphones ("for emergencies").
When I was a kid, my family would sit around the TV and we'd all watch the same shows. Happy Days, Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, etc. I don't let my kids see much of anything on TV today.
When I was a kid, I had hair brushing my shirt collar, and people thought I was out of line. Today, kids pierce their tongues and nipples, and people shrug "It's the fashion!"
Yes, Americans are lucky. But we used to live in a better America.
You and me both, I would want to be a kid today.
They have been rendered impotent by "our" women.
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