A world of changes

I marvel at the things I hear said in political ads.  Anyone trying to learn about America from what our political candidates say would think we're on the verge of totalitarianism or mass starvation. America's economy is still a mess and I just don't see how printing money and borrowing from China will help us in the long run.  We're going to have to take some harsh medicine.  I doubt that any politician has the will to make us take it.  Still, millions of humans, everyone who can physically get here, is attempting to escape from other countries to get here.  And as bad as it is right now, nobody is about to flee America to get to those other countries.

We have to shake off the culture of victimization.  Too many Americans buy into the image of being victims, self appointed wards of the state.  Romney may have spoken clumsily, but his point about the 47% who are dependent on government was a good one. There are too many people taking and too few giving, too many in the wagon and too few pulling it.  I know that many public employees work hard. But there are just too many on the books.  I don't know where the breaking point is, but it may be close.  There are too many who contribute little to society, while they expect that society owes them something for nothing.  And always, the barely veiled threat of violence if the mob isn't placated.  

We have to teach people that this is still the land of dreams, the one place on earth where everyone has a chance. The formula is the same for EVERYONE. Get an education, learn some marketable skills, become an expert in your field, work hard, use your money wisely, and exercise some responsibility and self reliance. Too many people do destructive things -dropping out of school, having kids they can't support, drugs, criminal acts, and allowing themselves to become addicted to the sweet candy of government handouts.  We're able to provide a tolerable life on the dole; surely it isn't one people should choose. If we, as a people, think politicians can take from one man to give to another, what stops them from taking from all men? I'm told over and over that our healthcare - doctors, nurses, hospitals, equipment - have all become too costly. How will doctors, nurses, hospitals, equipment, AND government bureaucrats be cheaper? Terrible politicians and commentators stir the crowd with talk of the pervasive racism of America.  One would think it's 1963 and that Bull Connor and George Wallace are on the loose.  No, this is a nation where a black man with an African, Muslim name can win the White House over a decorated war hero/fighter pilot/prisoner of war, a white man married into wealth.  Why do we listen to these voices? We keep replacing societal norms and expectations, what we have used for decades, what has worked, what is tested and proven, replacing it with good intentions and wishful thinking.  This is foolish gambling with our society's future. It is destructive, and it has to be answered, not with new ideas, but with the values and standards we have always held. We must hold to these timeless truths with fierce conviction. Or we shall be plunged into tumult and tyranny.