"The problem with America is..."
I've heard those words for many years now, uttered them myself numerous times. This week I got to thinking long and hard, about what really is wrong with the United States of America, and came to some conclusions that surprised even me.
You know what I rarely, if ever, heard people say as a kid? "What's wrong with America is..." Oh, there were the occasional "kids today, they don't make 'em like they used to" and things like that. But, it was generally believed that The United States of America was good. That it was a place where anyone could succeed.
This was a nation going through struggles for sure; it was the 1960's and 1970's. At the time, there was a societal work ethic that said; whatever you do for work, do the very best you can. For hard work and perseverance are rewarded in this great country. It was generally believed, and usually proven, that products built in the U.S. were of the highest quality in the world. Other countries may have had better engineered products, but none could match the combination of quality with quantity of output of the United States.
During the 1960's and 70's, politicians would campaign on the greatness of the United States and what they'd bring to continue our advancement and improvement. Fast forward to now, when you hear politicians and newsies speak of nothing but what's wrong with the United States. Listening to these people, you'd think there is nothing good about these United States.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear interviews, of political candidates, start with; "what do you love about the United States of America?" or "what's RIGHT with America?"
You probably know, but may have been encouraged to forget some of the following;
The United States was the first major western nation to abolish slavery. Yep. Even though slavery was a stain on our society, most other nations didn't even start getting rid of it until after the U.S. Civil War started. Our Founding Fathers were not all rich white guys, soaking the poor. John Adams, Vice President to Washington and second President, nearly went broke while serving. Thomas Jefferson, though he had many slaves and a vast property, died so deep in debt it took his family decades to clear the debts. After WWII, it was the United States that sent people and materiel to Japan to rebuild. We helped build Japan into the manufacturing powerhouse that it became. Against incredible odds, we restored Civil Rights to people who had truly been oppressed. We've even taken it so far that people of any race or ethnicity can own housing, businesses and sit in the highest levels of corporations and government.
We became the nation others look to when disaster strikes. Our military doesn't just exist for purposes of war. It responds with ships and personnel, in times of disaster, to provide food, water, medical treatment and infrastructure rebuilding. Just ask the people who've survived tsunamis. When tyrants brutalized entire groups of people, on foreign lands, we've welcomed refugees and gone to fight their battles for them; all in the name of Liberty and Freedom.
Back to what I think is truly wrong with America. We simply forgot why we were formed.
The United States declared its independence and was formed, to preserve individual liberty; free from government's imposition of its will over our God-given rights. Read that again; our rights come from God and government is not to infringe on those.
Individual liberty means we should not be dependent on government. That means it's our responsibility to provide food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and our family. Finding a job or paying for medical services? Yes, our individual responsibility.
See ours is a system of government where there's no pile of money to draw from. If I ask "government" to provide, I'm really asking my neighbor to provide. For it is their tax dollars that will provide for me if my wish is granted. How many of us would walk around the neighborhood, asking for donations for our grocery run, or doctor visits? But asking "government" allows us to remain somewhat anonymous while doing just that.
This individual liberty thing may be a hard pill for some to swallow. We've spent decades handing over so much power, to career politicians who've been more interested with lining their pockets and their own families, to the detriment of an entire populace that gave them their wealth. However, if we are to return to the greatness so many used to speak of, shouldn't we get started proclaiming our real foundational principle; INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY?
