Truth is Marching On

Truth Is Marching On What did you take away from the popular, successful Fayette county Fair? From the stirring music, the loud, colorful pops and the heart-warming circumstances of recent 4th of July celebrations? I gathered evidence of America’s spirit. Her Zeitgeist on parade. We Americans have it better than ever because individuals achieve spectacular results. Believe it or not, we are free to pop on a HDTV, hand-held device or use a GPS. We can watch an incredible dog challenge, play a video game, check the weather or the follow the Olympics. We rely upon power workers sweltering in the heat to replace power poles and re-ignite our electricity. Has government or authority ever played a role in human endeavor for the betterment of mankind? No. In spite of punishment, prohibition or repression, the individual has inevitably been responsible for his own actions. So cheer up, whatever the political system or cultural climate, whoever the President, it is ultimately up to the ordinary individual to either mark time or advance our country. Believe it or not, the unelected, the common people, continue to function quite well without engaging in politics or caring about their public officials. Only half of Americans vote, probably because they assume business is as usual, dysfunctional, in Washington. Comparatively speaking, we live in an America that is faster, simpler, healthier, wealthier, cheaper, better, safer and freer than ever before. We benefit from the wonders of international connectivity thanks to the Internet. Some nations still ration resources and live in scarcity, but we are blessed with the ability to organize our plenty. Repression by socialism, Communism, dictatorship or Muslim fundamentalism is fed elsewhere by scarcity and fear. What could we fear? An enemy that tries to prescribe outcomes by circumventing the process of competition and experimentation in favor of preconceptions and prejudices. But politicians come and go. The unelected stay. The apathy of common people who shun politics can foster individual achievement apart from partisan politics. Believe it or not, on one of the islands of Hawaii, a huge all-terrain vehicle for tourist excursions, possess individual power in each of its 6 wheels. What is the base for America’s future? Not manufacturing, but technology. Not stagnation but innovation. Man’s material progress depends on our natural resources plus our human energy multiplied by our tools. No government should dictate the future if information, technology and creativity remain unlimited. Only you can kill your dream. Believe it or not, in the 1980’s, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was only 1000; today it is over 12,000. Should we fear Google, AT&T, TSA or the IRS collecting a storehouse of information? As a counter balance, we have the world-wide Web, Facebook, the cell phone, Youtube and Twitter. Man is a social animal, wired for sharing ideas and experiences. A social species in the animal world tends to dominate and succeed. Helping each other, altruism, seems to be part of our human nature. ‘We’, however is not enough; individualism fuels progress. Believe it or not, in 1876, leather makers could turn out 1 horse saddle every 2 days; in 1915, an assembly line produced a new Ford each ½ hour. The news media promotes fear of everything getting bigger except government – body mass, deficits, debt, disabilities, hunger, poverty, disease, etc. The national pension debt will triple to about 2.2 trillion dollars. If 1 in 4 families is touched by mental illness and 1 in 4 Americans is disabled, those two numbers together equal ½ of the population. What about the bubble created by our welfare state? In 1966, 18 workers paid for one person on Medicaid; today it is just 2. For every 1.24 persons employed, 1 person receives welfare or works for the government. Eleven million checks are written for Social Security Disability(up by 50% in the last 10 yrs.). We have inflated a volatile, unsustainable balloon. Fear not data generated at Comedy Central. Studies cannot predict the future. Bubbles burst. The moral center of America will hold. Believe it or not, city skylines are increasingly being punctured by thousands of feet of engineering genius as populations and tourism increase. From the time of Pericles ( 450 B.C.) until the end of the 18th century – 2,300 years - standards of living on Earth increased about 100%. In the U.S., however, since 1790, per capital gross domestic product has increased 4000%. Quality of life increased 40 times more in 220 years in American history than it has globally over 2000 years. Today the bottom 20% enjoy a higher quality of life and life expectancy than the average person in the top 1% in 1790. Though we send the best to the London Olympics, America’s unelected are equally important to the greatness of our national enterprise. Is there a frightening gap between rich and poor? Between the super rich in sports, entertainment, high stakes finance and Silicon Valley and the common person? Actually, when Michael Jordan, for example, was paid $33 million, which consumed ½ the payroll of the Chicago Bulls, everyone (not just Michael) was better off. Even a median player in 1998 made more than 7 times what the median player made in 1986 ( just 10 years earlier); the income of the lowest player was 4 times higher than his 1986 peer. A rising tide lifts all boats. Can government kill a county fair, a cool breeze or an act of love? Not unless we succumb to fear. We might not be able to pronounce the names of the next generation’s children, but we can count on them to march forward as individuals, some apathetic, but others eager to carry a torch that lights up our future. ___________________________________________________________