Can the U.S. be saved?
Posted by SolitudeIsBliss 10 years, 2 months ago to Culture
Growing up outside the United States, like so many others, I dreamed of coming to this country. As a kid I imagined the roads to be paved with gold (it was a long time ago and I had a vivid imagination LOL) but nevertheless it was THE promised land. I first came to the US via the US Army. While serving, I had the great honor of becoming a U.S. Citizen. It was the late 80s and Ronald Reagan had relit the American light of Patriotism and Exceptionalism ! However, many years ago I noticed a trend in the way attitudes were changing. Remember the baseball player John Rocker? You may recall him as the former Atlanta Braves pitcher who famously said in 1999:
"I'd retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"
Agree or disagree with his comments, I knew then that PC was taking us to a completely different direction. Rocker was sent to re-orientation and sensitivity training (ie thought re-alignment camp) !
But these past few years, under the Obama administration, I find this country has lost everything that once made it great !
Freedom of speech is gone. The idiocy that is seen on a daily basis of Political Correctness run amock: an elementary kid eating a pastry and a teacher thinking she sees a gun ! Don't you DARE say Merry Christmas !
Freedom of religion - non-existent, especially if you're a Christian (I'm an agnostic but will always defend the right of anyone to exercise their freedoms).
We reward the non-productive and penalize those who work hard ! Re-distribution of wealth.
As a small business owner the government and its non-ending issuance of regulations is making it harder and harder to even be in business ! It seems that small businesses in this country are doomed to fail because of Government interference.
I fear that the America I fell in love with cannot be rescued or saved !
What say you ?
"I'd retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"
Agree or disagree with his comments, I knew then that PC was taking us to a completely different direction. Rocker was sent to re-orientation and sensitivity training (ie thought re-alignment camp) !
But these past few years, under the Obama administration, I find this country has lost everything that once made it great !
Freedom of speech is gone. The idiocy that is seen on a daily basis of Political Correctness run amock: an elementary kid eating a pastry and a teacher thinking she sees a gun ! Don't you DARE say Merry Christmas !
Freedom of religion - non-existent, especially if you're a Christian (I'm an agnostic but will always defend the right of anyone to exercise their freedoms).
We reward the non-productive and penalize those who work hard ! Re-distribution of wealth.
As a small business owner the government and its non-ending issuance of regulations is making it harder and harder to even be in business ! It seems that small businesses in this country are doomed to fail because of Government interference.
I fear that the America I fell in love with cannot be rescued or saved !
What say you ?
No. America can't be saved. It's too late. I am here to make the most money I can for my family. And, if other options happen that will allow me to make more in another country, or to simply live a better life there, I will be ready to leave. I'm not looking real hard at this time...but I am looking for future options. I love what America has been, very much.
There is a concerted attack on the family, on strong men, and on small business. That's why it's too late. They're not letting up - not the Democrats or the Republicans.
In the Galt speech, he said something about everyone remembering a golden age, an Eden. Maybe the Steampunk culture is a reaction to modern political correctness, and an unspoken desire to return to the age of loudy, noisy, prosperous, free technological advancement?
Or maybe I'm projecting...
The philosophy (if it can be called that) of Political Correctness must be shown to be the wrong philosophy for America. Free thought does not grow from a limited view of the world. It does not flourish when limited by the constraints of PC. Yes some will say stupid and hurtful things. When this occurs, the reaction of the people surrounding the speaker should be tolerance, not immediate condemnation and outrage. These reaction may occur and speakers need to understand that that reaction is OK because those people have the right to respond in that way. Requiring the speaker to go to sensitivity training, anger management etc. is not acceptable. This is forcing the will of a vocal minority onto a free individual of American society.
Once the shackles of the PC philosophy are broken, things like Common Core, Global Warming (the dogmatic discussion of), etc. will remain topics of discussion, but not as if they are the “Law” from on high.
When this occurs, America will be on the path of liberty and freedom again. With people waking up the cost of the PC philosophy this is beginning to happen. The nascent beginning are being seen with the resurgent interest in Ayn Rand’s works, especially Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Her non-fiction works (Philosophy, who needs it, Capitalism) are also becoming more popular and being read more often. The movie Atlas shrugged (Parts I, II, and III) are sparking interest in her philosophy. The rebirth is possible, it will need much assistance from committed people, but it is coming.