Are You a One-Issue Voter?

I am reading a book about politics and religion. The book seems to center on how both the "right and left" (politically speaking) get "it" wrong; that we are called to be good stewards of this earth and care for each other while we are here because it is God's creation and not just a stopping place before we're united with God in Heaven.

The author of this book claims that Hurricane Katrina (which devastated the Gulf Coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, in case you've been sleeping the last 5 years) exposed the tragic way we in America, treat our poor.

I for one am growing weary of the tired arguments of the "do-gooders" who think America is to blame for everything. Consider the following;

1. These people that were considered the watchers and keepers of the environment were the ones that were driving the Range Rovers, Land Cruisers and Grand Wagoneers when I was growing up.

2. From the time I was young I've been told how we need to recycle (I do and agree with) and work toward solar (now alternative) energy. Hey, it's been more than 30 years working on it and its still more expensive to produce than it can take in. Thus, all the government subsidies of it.

3. We live in a country where being poor often means you only have one TV (maybe big screen), free food and no requirement that you work. Our poor in America have way more than many wealthy people in third-world countries.

4. Oprah Winfrey went outside the U.S. to open a girls' school because we have numerous programs that already provide for the poor.

5. We (America) have freed more nations from oppression than any other single country. And we usually don't ask for much in the way of repayment. We certainly don't conquer nations and keep their land for ourselves.

I am convinced that personal responsibility and work ethic are all but forgotten terms in America. Why else would our factories and manufacturing jobs have gone away? Greedy businesses you say? How about greedy government, greedy employees (yep there are lots of those) and greedy regulators that only care about what advances their power over others?

While the author of the book I'm reading never really comes out and says it, America must return to a nation that is more than "one-issue" voters. You can't base your vote only on the anti-abortion movement, gun rights or any other single issue. We must return to being hard workers, willing to take whatever jobs we qualify for and producing the best products and services the world will want and need to buy.

If we're not willing to serve the customers, someone else will!