What have we become?

I’ve worked hard all my life to bring comfort to my family.  I’m not rich by any means yet I do not resent those who are.  Everyone has a different level of ambition, some are obsessed with material things that show their wealth to the point that they tend to be obnoxious.  Some have no tendencies for ambition and go through life on the back of others.  In either case they do not represent what the average American family is all about.  We are not looking for a free ride nor will we stand by and be taken advantage of.  We talk about the greatest generation being that of the decades from the 20’s through the 40’s.  They lived through the Great Depression plus while they were still recovering from it they helped save Europe from the horrific mad man Hitler.  I remind you of this because as we sit now we are becoming Europe and we are ripe for history to repeat itself.  We are becoming a 2^nd rate power with little or no clout in the world.  We are in the process of reducing our military to a level below that of tactical requirements.  We are surely going to wake up one day and be in the middle of a fight for our survival in the world.  We will need to call upon the inherited strength of those who have gone before us.  One huge problem though is that too few are left who have the ability to call up that personal strength as so many have become weak and dependent on others for their subsistence. 

America by nature is a capitalist country that was built on investment and the risk of those who aspired to wealth by building powerful corporations.  The Carnegies, the Rockefellers, Henry Ford or Thomas Edison were all extremely ambitious and built a huge amount of wealth.  In doing so they built the foundation of our industry and with it the strength of the United States.  Yes they were cruel task masters taking advantage of a population starving for work, in many cases working men to death in unfit conditions for little wages and even less humane treatment.  The saying that power corrupts comes from these examples, Rockefeller hated Carnegie and Carnegie hated Rockefeller over power and money and they set out to destroy each other squandering millions in the effort.  America found a solution for tempering these icons of industry by forming together in unions giving a voice to the common man once again.  These unions were not designed to control their workers but to bring safer working conditions and livable wages to their members.  For a few decades America flourished the 50’s and the 60’s brought a pride in workmanship that was felt throughout the western world.  When something had a Made in America label you knew it was a good product. 

Remembering what I said about power corrupting we fast forward to the unions of today where so much power is wielded by so few that even elections are won or lost by their support.  Where deals are made that the common worker has no say, where the dues money collected is used to further the power of the union and their political cohorts rather than the premise of creating better conditions for the workers.  To maintain their power these leaders have bullied companies into benefits that they cannot afford to maintain.  Retirement packages that were never the original intent of the founders, contracts where the employer has no power to replace lazy or problem workers.  The Progressive Movement in the United States found its start in these organizations and have brought the concept to our elected officials throughout government unionizing city, state and federal workers.  State and federal pensions have become so encumbering that whole cities have filed bankruptcy destroying the fiber that was America. 

Now we have a situation where our political parties have neutered the whole process of government with stalemate and political pandering.  The progressives have the power of the press gained through years of infiltration of our educational system.  It is now to the point that the information coming to the people is so tainted that it will take a giant wake up to shake the slumber from our huge silent majority.  It will most probably take another stab at once again being the Greatest Generation ever and I’m sure those who have gone before us would rise up and cheer at the site.  Please wake up America, soon we’ll be lucky to be able to find our way home.      

The Navy Yard affair

Once again we are faced with senseless violence that should have been avoided.  Whoever was responsible for the vetting for security of this person should be held responsible for his actions.  These companies that take on the responsibility for security clearances must be held to higher standards.  The last affair with the NSA leaker Snowden, (The Spy who loved us so much he gave all our secrets to our enemies) should have set off red lights everywhere in government.  We have many shrill voices in the legislature screaming for gun control every time something like this happens.  Just once I’d like to hear a reassuring voice of reason calling for a commonsense approach the problems.  For example; something as important as the security of the United States should not be left in the hands of a contractor because he has presented the low bid on a government contract.  I would like to see how these bids are awarded and what criteria are used in allowing companies to be involved. 

In my mind the problem doesn’t lie with the gun but with the ability to ferret out individuals who are mentally ill.  A sane person doesn’t just walk into a building and start shooting people, something in his background will show a tendency for violence and should have been identified by the security firm charged with his clearance evaluation.  Of course if we adhered to a program of stringent evaluation most of our legislatures and White House officials would be unable to buy a gun.  In the past the FBI looked into drug use and other illegal activity like draft dodging and falsifying documents when checking security clearances.  Barry Soetoro might have had some difficulty himself being a foreign exchange student and all.

Until we bring commonsense into the equation and eliminate the fog of political correctness government will continue to produce possibilities for these type events.  As a young man in the Navy even as common yard birds we were held to a much higher standard than many today.  The definition of Treason was clearly defined in the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) and believed by all to be real.  In that era under the same circumstances had I done what Jane Fonda did I could have been executed and had I done what Edward Snowden did I surely would have been charged with treason.  The more we weaken our penalties the weaker we become as a nation.  Right is right and only commonsense provides the answers not the political correctness that is being shoved down our throats by a progressive society that is trying to alter the direction and definition of America.