Then and Now

Then and Now


    My,  how America has changed.  Remember back when if a person hanged himself, it was obvious he committed suicide?  Now it takes an autopsy to determine cause of death ‘alleged’ to be a suicide.  Why have we descended into a society of uncommon sense?
    In the old days, nature lovers concerned themselves with the endangered status of  salmon,  wolves, water and trees. 21st century Americans do not even concern themselves with recent ethnic cleansing in Darfur or present slaughter of Coptic Christians in Syria.  Pro Choice means we lobby for babies to be aborted.
   Back when, welfare payments hardly existed.  Now 30% of Americans receive some type of  welfare payments.  In 1974, virtually no disabled children were on SSI, but in 2010, 1.25 million recipients received 11 billion dollars of assistance at the taxpayers’ expense.
    What once were motion pictures as visual literature have now  morphed into a modern art form  catering solely to the eye and ear.
    Traditionally,  public education taught Christian values and the facts about America’s history.   Grading usually formed a learning curve.  Some students excelled (and they were encouraged to excel),  most put in C performances and the predictably lazy or less-gifted fell to the bottom of the achievement pile.  Now most students excel, receiving A’s and elite leftists opposed to American exceptionalism, indoctrinate pupils with textbooks revising history and perverting truth.
    Remember parents who saved to purchase a home and dreamed of living in it as a symbol of security?  They sacrificed to make payments to a bank that charged a reasonable rate of interest ( in order to make a profit).  Today, interest rates are virtually free and  foreclosure means little more than a chance for a second start after defaulting on mortgage payments.   I recently heard that one bank will not only sell you a new home but also  maintain the vacated home ( until sold) by mowing the lawn and performing other upkeep duties.
     Citizens can no longer tour the White House or enjoy some national parks and public monuments because of the sequester.  Federal employees, however,  will receive a pay raise and paid furloughs ( vacations) on  the 1st of the year, 2014.  
    Government spending beyond its means of repayment to the tune of  trillions of dollars would have blown the minds of our ancestors.  Now we just borrow from China and  raise the debt ceiling.  
    A balanced budget used to refer to home finances because citizens assume federal and state fiscal responsibility.  Not now.  Union, federal and state employees’ pensions threaten the solvency of  many municipalities - to the point of bankruptcy.        
    Was not the marriage vow until death traditionally  between a man and a woman?  Not now.   Too many states already legalize gay marriage ( so far between human beings).  Also, no ‘red line,’ stops them from fostering the discovery of your sexual orientation.
    Further examples are mostly pathetic.  Gangs are not on the streets but in the schools. The Pledge of  Allegiance with words ‘under God’ is challenged by atheists in the courts. “Designer packaging and wrappers” for Tampons are openly  advertised not held to be unmentionable.  Popular fads and panics have been replaced by drug, hunger or obesity epidemics.
    Cars used to be parked in garages; now they are storage lockers.   Parents once told children  they must earn success;  free stuff would not be prized. Now fewer  homes have two parents, getting rich is evil and everything should be free.   Once a contact sport, the NFL now resembles touch football. Old-fashioned dating has morphed into hook-ups.
    If the current situation is so bad, how do we find the good?  Our culture and public discourse do not embody truth and consequences; they have been replaced by lies and irresponsibility.  Where do we look?   Let’s replace a false urgency of despair with a true urgency of hope.  I say  flip the U.S. coin.
     The most popular cable TV show in its history, “Duck Dynasty” champions hard work, solid values and a sense of humor.  Decency is not a lost cause.   We can still believe like Anne  Frank that people are “good at heart.”
     A foundation called Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) sponsors truth to power workshops for young adults.  Not all God’s creatures succumb to the temptations of an irrational and reckless life.  Most Americans do not subscribe to an alternative Allah or Gaia as gospel truth.            Teddy Roosevelt wrote: “It is essential that a man should have in him the capacity to defy his fellows if he thinks they are doing the work of the devil and not the work of the Lord, but it is even more essential for him to remember that he be most cautious about mistaking his own views for those of  the Lord.”   True, but even Rough Rider Teddy sometimes violated his own advice.        Mother nature offers us Faith, Chicken Soup for Souls’ books offer us hope, friends offer us love. God’s in His heaven, all’s right with the world.