Here is where I currently stand on the State of the Nation (if you are subject to depressive bouts, I advise you not to continue :bye "The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If `Thou shalt not covet' and `Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free." --John Adams, A Defense of the American Constitutions, 1787 The reason I no longer seriously debate the political issues of the day is concisely illustrated by the following YouTube clip. A "democracy" populated by selfish, mal-educated nit wits has no hope of avoiding tyranny. (please excuse the anti-Obama opening of the following clip--it only lasts 5 seconds or so--the remainder of the clip is what I find interesting.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7jd3_1xs5Y&feature=related Here's another perspective--same schtick: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p8DFUnYtPo&feature=related Apparently, there was some organization behing this idea, but the point is still well-made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZraZhQJ5g0&feature=related Again, I find the anti-Obama aspect of these clips off-putting, because this isn't about him (he certainly embodies the problem, but still)-- the phenomenon that is illustrated is compelling, i.e., "...as long as "socialism" is improving my situation at someone else's expense, I'm for it--as soon as it costs me something and my efforts benefit someone else who I don't even know, it's ridiculous!" These are the best and brightest of America. The valedictorian at Jenny's High School bashed Wall Street and "evil corporations" during her brief address, encouraging all the graduates to go into "public service" (at taxpayer expense). Who is supposed to pay for all of this "public service"? Who has been taught how to create wealth? Who has been taught to respect the processes of wealth creation? Who has been taught the relationship between actual wealth creation and prosperity? Who has been taught to respect the wealth created by others and their rights to the fruits of their labors? Who has been taught that it is OK to be generous without the government forcing you to be and it is all right to feel grateful instead of entitled? Hmmm? Forget our elected leaders...our nation is sunk because we have generations of these over-protected, coddled, ungrateful, entitled, mal-educated, entertainment junkie "feelers" completely lacking critical thinking skills and the life experiences necessary to give them insights into reality and the relationship between personal productivity and prosperity. We are also literally bankrupt as a nation and curing it with more debt and no intention of paying down the national credit card. We have over $56 trillion in unfunded federal liabilities over the next 30 years (and more at the state and local level) that we have no way of financing--other than through rampant inflation or repudiation. That's just math--not a biased political point of view. (To my children: sorry for the bleak assessment, but there it is. My fatherly advice is to be part of the solution rather than the problem and to value your relationship with God, looking forward to a bright and just future based on the virtue of your choices and behavior here (and His tender mercies) while you produce lots of beautiful grandchildren for your mother and me to enjoy all the while enduring valiantly to the end.) Back to the monologue: I frankly don't care who wins the next election--there is no way to fix 50 years of cumulative mal-education and media influence that has produced this 160 million strong and growing gaggle of know-nothings who passionately find virtue in spending other people's money. Pretty soon, "the others" aren't going to have any money that's worth anything. The old adage is true--"socialism works great until you run out of other people's money." Our brilliant students and media are apparently completely oblivious to the lessons of North/South Korea, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Cuba, etc., etc. Well, we're all about to get a big dose of real education on the matter. I hope our clan will be ready for it. My ideal political solution would be to let birds of a feather flock together, i.e., split the country geographically so the "reds" and "blues" can have it their own way in their own country, but I don't think that is in the cards, though it wouldn't be much of a fight this time around given the anti-military passion of the "blues." Oh well, I'm sure God has His plan. That's all I have to say about that. Kindest regards to all... Lou P.S. This just in--an excellent essay on the topic: "This Boomer Isn't Going to Apologize" By STEPHEN MOORE Last weekend I attended my niece's high-school graduation from an upscale prep school in Washington, D.C. These are supposed to be events filled with joy, optimism and anticipation of great achievements. But nearly all the kids who stepped to the podium dutifully moaned about how terrified they are of America's future -- yes, even though Barack Obama, whom they all worship and adore, has brought "change they can believe in." A federal judge gave the commencement address and proceeded to denounce the sorry state of the nation that will be handed off to them. The enemy, he said, is the collective narcissism of their parents' generation -- my generation. The judge said that we baby boomers have bequeathed to the "echo boomers," "millennials," or whatever they are to be called, a legacy of "greed, global warming, and growing income inequality." And everyone of all age groups seemed to nod in agreement. One affluent 40-something woman with lots of jewelry told me she can barely look her teenagers in the eyes, so overcome is she with shame over the miseries we have bestowed upon our children. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that graduation ceremonies have become collective airings of guilt and grief. It's now chic for boomers to apologize for their generation's crimes. It's the only thing conservatives and liberals seem to agree on. Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana, told Butler University grads that our generation is "just plain selfish." At Grinnell College in Iowa, author Thomas Friedman compared boomers to "hungry locusts . . . eating through just about everything." Film maker Ken Burns told this year's Boston College grads that those born between 1946 and 1960 have "squandered the legacy handed to them by the generation from World War II." I could go on, but you get the point. We partied like it was 1999, paid for it with Ponzi schemes and left the mess for our kids and grandkids to clean up. We're sorry -- so sorry. Well, I'm not. I have two teenagers and an 8-year-old, and I can say firsthand that if boomer parents have anything for which to be sorry it's for rearing a generation of pampered kids who've been chauffeured around to soccer leagues since they were 6. This is a generation that has come to regard rising affluence as a basic human right, because that is all it has ever known -- until now. Today's high-school and college students think of iPods, designer cellphones and $599 lap tops as entitlements. They think their future should be as mapped out as unambiguously as the GPS system in their cars. CBS News reported recently that echo boomers spend $170 billion a year -- more than most nations' GDPs -- and nearly every penny of that comes from the wallets of the very parents they now resent. My parents' generation lived in fear of getting polio; many boomers lived in fear of getting sent to the Vietnam War; this generation's notion of hardship is TiVo breaking down. How bad can the legacy of the baby boomers really be? Let's see: We're the generation that spawned Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Google, ATMs and Gatorade. We defeated the evils of communism and delivered the world from the brink of global thermonuclear war. Now youngsters are telling pollsters that they think socialism may be better than capitalism after all. Do they expect us to apologize for winning the Cold War next? College students gripe about the price of tuition, and it does cost way too much. But who do these 22-year-old scholars think has been footing the bill for their courses in transgender studies and Che Guevara? The echo boomers complain, rightly, that we have left them holding the federal government's $8 trillion national IOU. But try to cut government aid to colleges or raise tuitions and they act as if they have been forced to actually work for a living. Yes, the members of this generation will inherit a lot of debts, but a much bigger storehouse of wealth will be theirs in the coming years. When I graduated from college in 1982, the net worth of America -- all our nation's assets minus all our liabilities -- was $16 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve. Today, even after the meltdown in housing and stocks, the net worth of the country is $45 trillion -- a doubling after inflation. The boomers' children and their children will inherit more wealth and assets than any other in the history of the planet -- that is, unless Mr. Obama taxes it all away. So how about a little gratitude from these trust-fund babies for our multitrillion-dollar going-away gifts? My generation is accused of being environmental criminals -- of having polluted the water and air and ruined the climate. But no generation in history has done more to clean the environment than mine. Since 1970 pollutants in the air and water have fallen sharply. Since 1960, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh have cut in half the number of days with unsafe levels of smog. The number of Americans who get sick or die from contaminants in our drinking water has plunged for 50 years straight. Whenever kids ask me why we didn't do more to combat global warming, I explain that when I was young the "scientific consensus" warned of global cooling. Today's teenagers drive around in cars more than any previous generation. My kids have never once handed back the car keys because of some moral problem with their carbon footprint -- and I think they are fairly typical. The most absurd complaint of all is that the health-care system has been ruined by our generation. Oh, really? Thanks to massive medical progress in the past 30 years, the chances of dying from heart disease and many types of cancer have been cut in half. We found effective treatments for AIDS within a decade. Life expectancy has risen and infant mortality fallen. That doesn't sound so "selfish" to me. Yes, we are in a deep economic crisis today -- but it's no worse than what we boomers faced in the late 1970s after years of hyperinflation, sky-high tax rates and runaway government spending. We cursed our parents, too. But then we grew up and produced a big leap forward in health, wealth and scientific progress. Let's see what this next generation of over-educated ingrates can do. Mr. Moore is senior economics writer for The Wall Street Journal's editorial page.
Unfortunately the kids are being taught these values by their parents at an early age, so by the time they get into High School and College, their teachers and professors back the parents up... What gets me is the fact that these High School Teachers and College Professors are instilling "Their" political beliefs and values outside of their curriculum. How is this possible? Because the parents are too afraid to stand up to our education system I guess?
Interesting article well worth reading... What get me, is that it is mostly true. Especially the part about how ungrateful the kids can be. My kids don't appreciate what they have...they think it's unfair, that I won't get them ipods, a new laptop or cell phones. They don't get how lucky they are to have the hand-me down stuff that they have right now...TV, game systems, or computers. H3LL growing up I didn't have a tv in my room, let alone the computer and TV(with cable) that they each have. But my kids can't watch TV in thier room, 'cause the 13" screen isn't big enough! All they do is b!tch because so-and-so has this, or whoever has that. Fine, you want that. Buy it yourself. (but that is ssssoooooooooooooooooo unfair...booohooo:cry Well guess what, life is unfair...deal with it. /end rant
I sponsor a kid over in Bosnia. I met the family during a deployment there after 9/11 and I went back to the DoD as a civilian contractor. The father is a bona fide combat hero and would likely have the Medal of Honor had he been in the US Armed Forces. Anyway, I find that the "bang for the buck" I get helping that family is about 10 to 1 over the effect I get spending discretionary money on the home front (and I've got four pretty darn good chitlins). Our kids just aren't challenged in any meaningful, existential way. On the other hand, all of the kids in Sarajevo of a certain age actually spent years dodging bullets to get food and water on a daily basis. That tends to refine the senses, drop any tendency towards entitlement and really tickle the thank you bone when someone does something nice and unexpected for you. I don't know how to recreate that effect here and I don't think one can. We have generations of folks that have been so well protected for so long that they no longer appreciate the security nor honor those who provide it. I guess some things just need to be learned the hard way and I fear we are on the eve of some dramatic events.
It's a sad situation out there. I see the current plan as a complete FAIL. Socialism doesn't work. I have 2 18yr + still living at home. For yr's leading up to there 18th birthday I made it clear. If your not in school your out. I'll pay first and last months rent. Its time you learn what life is like. LOL It wasn't long before the oldest 1 was back. That's fine. ( she's 20 now) I'm not going to put them on the street (really). My 18yr old son actually learned something from his older sister. Didn't want to move. But laying on the couch and staying up all night surfing the dish isn't going to happen either.. They are both employed,,, and pay rent. Life is what you make it. NO,, it isn't easy. You shouldn't expect anything for free. There is always a string attached. Some may think I'm hard on my kids. Your opinion. I think I'm pointing them in the right direction. I left home after high school and joined the army. That sure changed my perspective.
Your post speaks to the "no real challenge" issue. I don't think real challenges can be manufactured artificially, but following generations rarely benefit from the challenges overcome by those who went before. All of the challenges today involve overcoming boredom. I personally have never found it boring to pay the mortgage, make a payroll, or make ends meet. But we have generations influenced by the artificial realities of TV and the Internet, with la-la land reinforcment in the classrooms by heavily unionized, government monopoly teachers and administrators. I certainly don't want to offend hard-working and sacraficing teachers, but dang, I can't help but wonder whether that $7K-$10K per student couldn't be spent with more focus on quality teaching and less focus on juicy contracts, huge administrative buildings/staff, etc. 25 students times $10K ought to pay for a very competent teacher and adequate classroom. Maybe I'm missing something.
lou - as always, your thoughts and perspectives are one of intrigue and intelligence. i am a post boomer kid (born 1969), but remember very well the excess that was the 80's and the constant development of the "whats in it for me" attitude of our society. things are way to easy and convienent in our world today. what we as parents have tried to do to "provide" the very best for our kids, in some way has probably contributed to the mindsets that you touch on. i have two great kids, 14 and almost 4. the 14 year old embodies everything you mention about values and perspectives on what is "entitled". i blame myself to some degree, but how can we as parents ensure the ideals of hard work/reward when our kids are bombarded constantly with all of the very points you talk about. it makes being a parent tough!!!
It truly is the paradox of prosperity. Adversity leads to determination, which leads to character, which leads to succes, which leads to prosperity, which leads to complacency, which leads to moral decline, which leads to adversity. Each generation has to figure it out for themselves. One way to add perspective is to figure out a way to send (or go with) our kids to the "developing" world so they can see first hand what poverty and adversity really is. It's tough being a parent. I often find myself realizing that God is in fact our Heavenly Father and then I think of how he has chosen to raise his children. My conclusions so far are that he lets us learn by our own experiences the consequences of our actions and choices. When we try too hard to cushion our children from the consequences of their own actions and choices, I'm not sure we're doing them much good. I understand the impulse, though, because we love them so much. Parenting is tough. Few get it right. It's worth the effort though, huh?
You are probably right,,, I didn't read the distructions. If they learn 1 thing from me I hope they learn you have to work for it.
Great thread Lou! It makes me think of a "philosophical" book I've had for twenty years or so. There is a quote from that book that I've received ridicule over throughout the years from time to time for. It says, "there is no right or wrong, only consequences". Folks would plead their case about religion, morals, what have you. But, when you apply it to various religions, cultures around the world, and time periods in history, it makes that much more sense to "me" now.
a concept that was preached to me by my father while i was young....... it was the consequence that often motivated the direction of my thinking. my father was big on teaching me to think.....think....think.... "if i do "x" what will be the outcome and how will effect others" i have tried to instill many of these same thought processes with my older son. it is a challenge when he is bombarded by media, his friends, etc. to act and worry later!!!!
Well, we're on the right track here. In my 5+ decades of pondering stuff I have ended up making some conclusions about "right or wrong" based on observing patterns of behviors and consequences. I think the "wrong" end of things tends to be characterized by the impulse to coercion and the exploitation of others for personal gain of some type. Dishonesty, selfishness, vulgarity and contempt for your fellow beings and towards God are typical of this person, who can either be motivated by pride or malice or just weakness when it comes to carnal appetites, and will opress, threaten or even kill on a minor or massive scale to feed his ego. The "right" end of things tends to be characterized by an impulse to humility, accountability, self-reliance, a drive to improve oneself by one's own efforts, reverence towards man and God, and an empathy or compassion for others that motivates one to help without an expectation of personal gain--even to the point of personal sacrafice from the mild (time, effort, attention or resources) to the extreme (putting oneself in harm's way for others). I have also concluded that any form of government will function when the populace generally possesses the latter traits, but no form of government will function very well when the populce generally possesses the former traits. That is also why I'm not much moved by "change the world" movements. I'm much more motivated by any process which invites and encourages individuals to change themselves for the good over time and with consistency. That is also why I'm a big fan of maintaining an effective personal defense (being responsibly/effectively armed) and national defense (same thing)--so that those who would harm you have a chance to reconsider their intentions out of a sense of self-preservation (which appeals to their ego) and perhaps change course. Being strong might annoy those who would otherwise do you harm, but it has never invited attack. Peace through strength is a sorry substitute for peace through the combined effect of general righteousness in the population, but it is still effective in the short term. Longer term, there is no substitute for people on a mass scale recognizing the value of becoming better people and doing so without burdening others in the process. We could use a good dose of that, methinks, much more than the release of JackAss IV.
