2MAR$, Thank you for your kind words. I regret being so late in responding, but have been otherwise engaged for the past couple of days.
I don't know that I am being unkind to myself, and my health now, but in years past have done a great deal of damage to both. Whatever my problems may be, in that respect, though, I have done it to myself, and blame no one else. I have seen many that have done what I did, and try to blame anyone, and everyone, else for the bad judgements that they made during their lives. At least, I am honest with myself on that subject.
I may not follow your post,exactly, in my response but do find some areas of agreement, but look at things through different eyes than you do. I see by your profile, that you say you are middle aged, which would, probably, make me in the neighborhood of 20 years older than you are. I have seen a different America than you have.
I can remember hearing that fateful radio broadcast on December 7, 1941. I can remember a nation suddenly uprooted from it's ordinary living, into a time of a large portion of it's male population going off to foreign shores to fight, and die, for someone elses' real estate, while those left at home, left the family farms, and went to the factories to mass produce the weapons of war, and have many of the things they had become accustomed to, be rationed, and difficult to obtain. Even the shock in the change of lifestyle, did not cause anyone to falter, or fail to perform the duties expected of them. The only times a head was bowed, was in reverence to the Lord. The people stood erect, and did what had to be done without complaint. Sacrifices were made, and lives were lost, but we fought on without hesitation.
I do not see that courage, or devotion to duty, in America today. I see people that have embraced welfare as their way of life, and will not turn a finger to find honest work. I see a federal government that knows how to enslave these people by dangling the carrot ahead of their noses, like one does an ass, to make it perform. I see another large portion of the population madly in love with the concept of amassing a fortune, for fortune's sake. I see rampant greed, disregard for anyone else, the trampling down of others for personal gain, murder for no reason, other than being "cut off" on a freeway. I see total disregard for the laws of the land, or local communities. It may sound insignificant, but half the drivers in cities run red lights without any regard for the law, but this indicates an underlying erosion to the basis of the nation itself. It tells the children that it is alright to thumb their noses at authority charged with upholding the law. Sexual promiscuity tells the children that it is alright to lust, instead of love, and should a pregnancy develop from such acts, it is perfectly alright to kill that fetus so it will not cause any inconvenience. When the sperm unites with the ovum, the two form a seed. The seed of an adult being, whether it be human, beast, or plant. If one destroys that seed, in effect, they have destroyed the adult, that would have resulted from the growth of that seed. Therefore, a murder with aforethought, had been commiitted.
I have, often, used the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, as you have done, to describe the procession of our nation, and nothing is being done to attempt to divert the process and make the ending any different.
IMO, we need to have more self reliance, instead of looking to DC to cure all of our ills, and feed all of our wants. We need to return, at least partly, to the days of rugged individualism, where people and families took care of themselves with out scratching for the government dole.
It appears, now, that I will never see a return to the days of strength in individuals, and committment to the family unit, that I knew years ago. Not that I plan on dying any time soon. As I told Father Terrence, only the good die young, and even though I have made peace with God, and have been saved by Jesus Christ, being really good does not seem to be in my job description.
The eagle may soar, but only for a short time. His habitat, and food sources have been, either turned into urban sprawl, or have been polluted. There is no longer the pure water, to contain the fish, to feed the eagle. The bison is gone, the deer are in danger, and the old ways are dying, as are the old men.
I wish you were marching to a different drummer, than you are.
~;=;o --haqihana, of the Mohawk and Seneca tribes. |
