Saving the day
If you have followed my blog, you are aware
that I like to delve into The good ole days of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc.,
etc. The best and fastest way is to
travel back in time is by using my mind which has lived through the times, and
it remains vividly fresh in my mind. One
popular saying is that the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Well, in my case it would be like throwing
out a 2 terabyte hard drive, without first saving or transferring its’
contents. I’ve always felt that better
things were ahead for us as a nation, and I still believe that, but I must
admit it is requiring a lot more faith and prayer to see through the haze.
It seems that historically every time that
this wonderful country of ours has taken a step backwards (setback) we manage
to come out two steps ahead by the time the smoke clears. In recent years I’ve noticed that we haven’t
been bouncing back as well as we are used to.
It doesn’t really matter what your political affiliation is or the color
of your skin, it used to be that whatever your shortcomings (weaknesses), our
country would always be a place where you could come out ahead.
If you were willing to work hard, and smart
(not necessarily in that order) there was room for you to
succeed and leave your family better off than you ever attained. As an example my parents were much better off
than their parents (not just financially, but also emotionally, physically,
education, etc.). My wife and I are
better off than our parents in every sense including health and
relationship. My children are already
bypassing our level of accomplishment in almost all levels, but they are
still young and they will recover from some of their weak areas.
Their weaknesses
are not insurmountable, but I can see that their weaknesses are in part a
product of society, government intervention (I’m referring to government
regulation in most areas of our lives, and other intrusions where they have no
business getting involved)
One perfect
example comes to mind in the area of communications. Remember when the government decided that Ma
Bell was too big and had to be split?
Life was supposed to be improved for the consumer after the government
intervened. You have the answer if you
lived through that time; how large is your phone bill now? How much privacy do you have for your communications?
For those of us
that have been paying for our own health insurance for years, how much money
have you saved on your premiums and copays in the last two or three years?
With regard to politics, it used to be that there was an acceptable code of
conduct for the presidential candidates, do you even recognize what is passing
for political campaigning? Remember, I’m
not claiming to be on one side or the other.
I don’t care who
wins at this point (I may have to settle for the best of the worst), we may
have a difficult time recognizing this country in three or four years. It used to be that you had to have a level of
acceptable decency but unless something changes quickly, or someone comes forth
to save the day the road to recovery is going to be a long one.
The media used
to be like a spotlight on cockroaches, (when the light came on the cockroaches
ran for the cover of darkness. Today the
media is an instigator and most often a cheerleader for those they support and
bully to what they consider their opposition.
It could well be
that we need to hurry up and complete work on the time machine for those of us
looking to escape to better times. The
best is yet to come….