In another thread I recently stated that “We are nice people, our Government is not..â€
I’ve since done a bit of thinking about how “nice†we really are as individuals, and how our individual wants effect our Government and their decisions. Face to face, we genuinely are a sincere and caring bunch, but I fear that our collective will and expectations far exceed our wisdom.
How have we made America what it is today? Clearly, we have had an infinite number of successes of all sizes and types. We know that we are a “Great Nationâ€, but I wonder what is at the center of our ever increasing list of problems? I believe the core problem is in our own mindset, I believe that they lie in our own American Expectations.
So what do we expect, and when do we stop wanting? You may have noticed that someone is always complaining about something while living in a country where life is generally pretty easy. We have virtually everything we could want or need readily available, there are no shortages of food, medicine, or fuel. We are not bad-off in any way, yet we still demand more. We must have our fuel, our clothing, our "stuff"... and most importantly, we must be able to buy it all cheap.
Our Government, our politicians, they are forced to deal with the spoiled-rotten American public. If we do not get our "stuff" cheap we are upset, and out goes the politician responsible. We are not about to lower our own personal standard of living by not purchasing things that we simply do not need so that we can afford $4 per gallon of gasoline that we extracted from our own wells using our own American labor. This is not mearly about oil and fuel, it is about everything that we American's see and buy at our Wal-Marts, Targets, Best-Buy’s, and department stores. Very little of it is truly "Made In America". Our own “Corporate America†is constantly feeding us all of the foolishness about what we “needâ€, how to look, and how the latest and greatest gizmo will make our lives easier. After watching all of this nonsense daily we begin to feel rather dissatisfied with what we already have. Where does Corporate America get all of this “stuff†anyway? We buy it dirt cheap from other countries that we have learned to exploit. Our Government acts on our behalf to maintain our expectations. We pressure our Government into behaving so badly abroad that American civilians are now targets of hatred.
We are not "innocent" civilians. We are greedy and everyone knows it, except us. The rest of the world fears us, but they do not respect us.
When our country was truly great, when we followed our founding Fathers words of wisdom and our own Constitution, we were admired by the rest of the world. Our immigrants came here because they believed in our foundation of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. They came to this country to be Americans. I'm talking about our own ancestors. They changed the spelling of their (our) names, they changed their customs, they learned fluent English, they changed everything to become what, at that time, was known as “Americanâ€. In the beginnings they did not need welfare. They were a strong and determined people that only needed opportunity and work. They were successful in every way while building America, except one... Their expectations for the lifestyles of future generations was achieved, but it was set too high, too soon. We have had everything handed to us by those who came before us. And if something was left out, we have long since figured out how to “borrow†it, even further leveraging ourselves into a debt filled hole. Generally speaking, if it is not cheap, easy and convenient, we currently want no part of it.
Now we have Globalization, Ethnic Diversity, the list of “Politically Correct†phrases is endless. What is all of that? Do the words "Ethnic Diversity" really have a rightful place in the American vocabulary? Does it mean that Americans are no longer cohesive in the premise that we are all just Americans and proud to claim ourselves as such and act accordingly? It wouldn’t seem so... We are starting to see the cracks everywhere.
The Spanish language is now all over everything from menus to street signs to radio and TV adds. During the day(s) of 9/11 there were US Citizens who were dancing around reveling in the success of the terrorists. We have vast numbers of people who are willing to meddle with the US Constitution, the very document that has, so far, allowed us all to live the good life. We've all seen these types of things in some form or another. Our melting pot is not melting anymore...
In recent times, our immigrants often come from countries that we Americans have been exploiting for many years. Many of the new generation of immigrants do not want to be "Americans". They just want our freedoms and security, and some are coming into various levels of power with their own agendas aimed toward the betterment of "their" people, not Americans as a whole. They use their new-found "Freedom" to justify their unwillingness to melt in with the rest of us as our immigrant ancestors did. Why not? Because many have seen what a hard life really is, they have learned to do without. They do not like us, they do not respect us.
The road to improving America has not changed since America was born, we are just choosing to ignore it. That road is still paved with hardships, selflessness and inconvenience. It is paved by not only respecting ourselves, but our fellow Americans and the Constitution that binds us. It is paved by treating other countries and their people fairly. It is paved by understanding, and being honest with ourselves. It is paved by knowing that we have had it too good for too long at the expense of others. It is paved by earning the worlds respect instead of their fear. It is paved by letting go of the things that really do not matter. It is paved by seeking quality rather than quantity. It is paved with hard work and the willingness to accept the fact that we are not owed anything.
So here we are, at the end of my thoughts, sitting in our environmentally conditioned homes, eating whatever snack is supposed be “fat free†or “new and improvedâ€. We read and re-read these forums, getting all stirred up about the problems facing us. We wonder what we could do as individuals to right some wrongs and to change the downward trends at hand. I wish I knew, for I am a hypocrite, no different or better than the average Joe, mostly concerned with which toy I plan to pacify myself with next.
I’ve since done a bit of thinking about how “nice†we really are as individuals, and how our individual wants effect our Government and their decisions. Face to face, we genuinely are a sincere and caring bunch, but I fear that our collective will and expectations far exceed our wisdom.
How have we made America what it is today? Clearly, we have had an infinite number of successes of all sizes and types. We know that we are a “Great Nationâ€, but I wonder what is at the center of our ever increasing list of problems? I believe the core problem is in our own mindset, I believe that they lie in our own American Expectations.
So what do we expect, and when do we stop wanting? You may have noticed that someone is always complaining about something while living in a country where life is generally pretty easy. We have virtually everything we could want or need readily available, there are no shortages of food, medicine, or fuel. We are not bad-off in any way, yet we still demand more. We must have our fuel, our clothing, our "stuff"... and most importantly, we must be able to buy it all cheap.
Our Government, our politicians, they are forced to deal with the spoiled-rotten American public. If we do not get our "stuff" cheap we are upset, and out goes the politician responsible. We are not about to lower our own personal standard of living by not purchasing things that we simply do not need so that we can afford $4 per gallon of gasoline that we extracted from our own wells using our own American labor. This is not mearly about oil and fuel, it is about everything that we American's see and buy at our Wal-Marts, Targets, Best-Buy’s, and department stores. Very little of it is truly "Made In America". Our own “Corporate America†is constantly feeding us all of the foolishness about what we “needâ€, how to look, and how the latest and greatest gizmo will make our lives easier. After watching all of this nonsense daily we begin to feel rather dissatisfied with what we already have. Where does Corporate America get all of this “stuff†anyway? We buy it dirt cheap from other countries that we have learned to exploit. Our Government acts on our behalf to maintain our expectations. We pressure our Government into behaving so badly abroad that American civilians are now targets of hatred.
We are not "innocent" civilians. We are greedy and everyone knows it, except us. The rest of the world fears us, but they do not respect us.
When our country was truly great, when we followed our founding Fathers words of wisdom and our own Constitution, we were admired by the rest of the world. Our immigrants came here because they believed in our foundation of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. They came to this country to be Americans. I'm talking about our own ancestors. They changed the spelling of their (our) names, they changed their customs, they learned fluent English, they changed everything to become what, at that time, was known as “Americanâ€. In the beginnings they did not need welfare. They were a strong and determined people that only needed opportunity and work. They were successful in every way while building America, except one... Their expectations for the lifestyles of future generations was achieved, but it was set too high, too soon. We have had everything handed to us by those who came before us. And if something was left out, we have long since figured out how to “borrow†it, even further leveraging ourselves into a debt filled hole. Generally speaking, if it is not cheap, easy and convenient, we currently want no part of it.
Now we have Globalization, Ethnic Diversity, the list of “Politically Correct†phrases is endless. What is all of that? Do the words "Ethnic Diversity" really have a rightful place in the American vocabulary? Does it mean that Americans are no longer cohesive in the premise that we are all just Americans and proud to claim ourselves as such and act accordingly? It wouldn’t seem so... We are starting to see the cracks everywhere.
The Spanish language is now all over everything from menus to street signs to radio and TV adds. During the day(s) of 9/11 there were US Citizens who were dancing around reveling in the success of the terrorists. We have vast numbers of people who are willing to meddle with the US Constitution, the very document that has, so far, allowed us all to live the good life. We've all seen these types of things in some form or another. Our melting pot is not melting anymore...
In recent times, our immigrants often come from countries that we Americans have been exploiting for many years. Many of the new generation of immigrants do not want to be "Americans". They just want our freedoms and security, and some are coming into various levels of power with their own agendas aimed toward the betterment of "their" people, not Americans as a whole. They use their new-found "Freedom" to justify their unwillingness to melt in with the rest of us as our immigrant ancestors did. Why not? Because many have seen what a hard life really is, they have learned to do without. They do not like us, they do not respect us.
The road to improving America has not changed since America was born, we are just choosing to ignore it. That road is still paved with hardships, selflessness and inconvenience. It is paved by not only respecting ourselves, but our fellow Americans and the Constitution that binds us. It is paved by treating other countries and their people fairly. It is paved by understanding, and being honest with ourselves. It is paved by knowing that we have had it too good for too long at the expense of others. It is paved by earning the worlds respect instead of their fear. It is paved by letting go of the things that really do not matter. It is paved by seeking quality rather than quantity. It is paved with hard work and the willingness to accept the fact that we are not owed anything.
So here we are, at the end of my thoughts, sitting in our environmentally conditioned homes, eating whatever snack is supposed be “fat free†or “new and improvedâ€. We read and re-read these forums, getting all stirred up about the problems facing us. We wonder what we could do as individuals to right some wrongs and to change the downward trends at hand. I wish I knew, for I am a hypocrite, no different or better than the average Joe, mostly concerned with which toy I plan to pacify myself with next.
