To All the Kids Who Survived The 1920's through the 1970's WE ARE AWESOME !!!!
This posting is in response to an e-mail sent to me that extols the virtues of the dangerous past we shared growing up in the last century and states that in spite of these dangers we survived, prospered and this is what made us strong. At the end of the e-mail is this quote:
The quote is by Jay Leno:
With hurricanes, tornadoes, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'
This is all well and good for those of us who have survived, the parents of the children who didn’t won’t think too highly of the rational against seatbelts, lead-free paint and stopping the spread of diseases shared between friends and lovers.
The thing about this interesting perspective on how we survived and excelled in spite of the dangers, exercise and fresh air we experienced as children is that the idea we need god in our politics (or even our lives in many cases) is absurd and goes against the science and pragmatism that is and was the cornerstone of our collective progress. It’s the notion of a god that has chosen a particular group of blessed people that is thwarting our ability to drop the national denial of our real situation and get to work and compete in the future world.
The fact that our America of today is made up of too many highly coddled, obese, diabetic, cry babies who’s social skills could be better honed by being social with other humans and are addicted to on-line porn, prescription drugs and video poker is a testament to our lack of national emphasis and adulation for the scholarly, intelligent and broadly educated and travelled. The unrelenting and misguided vilifying of government further has weakened our ability as a nation to build better schools with qualified and innovative teachers, advanced and improved infrastructure and scientific research facilities. The privatization of everything isn’t a solution that has ever worked, human nature tells us greed ultimately corrupts and benefits the few at the expense of the many. We can’t pray our way back to the top of international ranking and a to having a highly educated and competitive populace.
I apologize for the long rant but it’s the lazy stereotyping of our shared past and the misunderstood reasons of how we got to where we are today that will hobble us from gathering strength and improving our chances to remain a world power into the future. I’m writing this from a beautiful hotel in southern China amazed at how fast the Chinese government has been able to move this country towards the top of world economic power. There are lessons for us to learn from the Chinese of what to do and what not to do to increase our mutual prosperity and national well being.
If we don’t begin to manufacture goods in America that we consume in America and reestablish to an honored place the roll of the blue collar factory worker and small farmer in our society our economy will continue to falter. If we don’t educate our young, (China is teaching their children English in kindergarten!!!), with new teaching methods that don’t compartmentalize learning and opens the minds of our children to the international possibilities and the importance of working with a diverse range of humans we’ll fall fast from our tentative perch. If we don’t encourage our government workers to excel instead of remaining in the status quo we won’t muster our enormous national wealth to propel us into the future as a viable competitive and innovative force of good in the world.
To hell with Leno, he’s an ass-hole with a TV show, try these quotes out:
For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
Peace and love, brothers and sisters, is that hope on the horizon?
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