Blog #22 What’s Wrong with America?

What is happening to America?

We all see it with our own eyes. We know it is crazy. We think it is getting worse.

America is struggling. America is divided. America is at a crossroads.

Barrack Obama was voted the first black President of the U.S. It was supposed to prove that we are showing real progress in the fight against racism. Instead, many believe that Obama created a new era of extreme racism and retribution.  

Obama’s apology tour in the Middle East, his focus on Islam, and the so-called “original sin” of the U.S., slavery, all catalyzed a renewed push to blame everything and everybody on racism. All that was needed was a spark. The events surrounding George Floyd and the “hands up, don’t shoot” lie provided the spark that destroyed millions of dollars in property and dozens of deaths. It was a racial reckoning.

At the same time, Barrack was an articulate, charismatic, and generally likable politician.

Trump was voted as the anti-establishment, non-politician who owed nothing to anyone and was a “populist.” The establishment reacted with vengeance, and while Trump passed many effective policies through Congress and with Executive Orders, he had to withstand a barrage of accusations, legal challenges, conspiracies, a devastating COVID-19 pandemic, and even two impeachments. It was a relentless onslaught of bitterness against Trump.

Trump went on to be brutally frank and insulted many, showed arrogance and insensitivity, and fought back all the way. All of this created a deeper political division, if not outright antagonism, and unreconcilable behavior between Democrats and Republicans. It was made worse because none of the charges/accusations proved true - even after five years, over $40 million worth of investigations, and untold damages climaxing in the January 6 riots.

Biden campaigned from his basement, could never inspire massive crowds like Trump, and avoided political challenges to win the Presidency under a cloud of doubt. He would go on to implement the greatest number of neo-socialist actions in recent U.S. history.  Leveraging a controlling Democratic House and Senate, he went on to pass massive spending programs totaling over $5 Trillion in less than 2.5 years that created a huge spike in inflation from 2% to over 9%. He also focused on radical climate change initiatives and started a war on the oil and gas industry.

Biden opened the borders to massive migrations from countries all around the globe. Supported by billionaires like Soros, liberal progressive attorneys general and prosecutors with new socialized approaches for treating criminals have unleashed a crime wave in all major U.S. cities while highlighting radical concepts of Woke, CRT, BLM, Gender identity, and Cancel Culture activity, all feeding the protest frenzy and causing major rioting and property loss.  

So, what does all that create? Division. Tribes. Lies. Victims. Social chaos.

None of this is good for the long-term of America.

What sacrifices were made?  Truth. Values. Common Sense.

Unfortunately, as we are reminded too often, legally, politicians can lie all they want and are protected from litigation. Both Republicans and Democrats have lied, but we have reached stratospheric heights with egregious lies, exaggerations, distortions, hoaxes, and fake news. This cripples trust, not only in politicians but institutions like the FBI, DOJ, and DHS, our health agencies like the CDC, NIH, and FDA, besides the integrity of our news media, the bias of our academia, and even our banking system.

Family values have taken a real hit. We all know that the Black families in the U.S. are 80+ % without fathers or males in the homes. It wasn’t that way in the fifties when it was more like 70+ % with fathers in the home. Some blame the Civil Rights Act for inadvertently destroying the core family and affecting generations of children with negative impacts.

We do not celebrate families or children. Without role models or supervision, children are left to their own devices which inevitably leads to drugs, gangs, and crime. Children rapidly learn that without education, there is little hope for financial success and independence. Government programs, including social services, have failed and continue to fail.

We have lost sight of the value of civility, strength in unity, the importance of our Constitution and the value of our citizenship, and of “common-sense” solutions for everyday problems.

Instead, too many reach out to the Government to solve their problems. That creates a level of dependency that destroys initiative, self-reliance, perseverance, and pride.

Neo-Socialism or Socialistic Democracy is created when more than half the population depends on the government for subsistence. Regulations follow and will typically inhibit actions that would otherwise end dependency. Politicians want you to be dependent on them. That feeds their power over you.

The level of government involvement/interference in our everyday lives is increasing with every new law, new tax, new handout, and new regulation. We know what happens when more people are receiving assistance from the government than those paying taxes to pay for that assistance. The antipathy towards taxpayers grows, and more are driven into dependency. Today, there is virtually nothing you can do or buy that does not involve the government, taxes, or laws.

Too many Americans are ignorant of life in other countries without our way of life. The quality of life, the opportunity for success, and the level of optimism are harsh and/or non-existent. For many, it is about survival at the lowest levels of human existence. The evidence is plain. All you have to do is look at many of the countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the sub-continent, South America, Central America, and even Western and Eastern Europe.

Life is horrific for many. Yet, America stands as the last bastion of hope for humanity. We must come to our collective senses and get back to the basics of Constitutional law, free enterprise, reasonable government taxes and regulations, and the enforcement of the rule of law. We must have reverence for every statement in our Bill of Rights. To embrace relationships and opposition ideas in a civil manner, we need to understand that “compromise” is viable and necessary.

These principles of our “Republic” made America radically different from all prior failures of democratic government, dictatorship, communism, socialism, fascism, monarchy, totalitarianism, warlords, tribal chieftains, and Marxism – many of which still operate today around the world.

They all failed for specific and well-known reasons. Trying to emulate them, copy them, or create some modified amalgam cannot and will not succeed.

If we don’t return to our senses to honor the concepts prescribed by our Founding Fathers, we cannot expect to have a self-determined life with liberty, freedom, and the individual right to pursue happiness. There is a reason why America created the most wealth in all history while leading innovation that has genuinely helped all humanity.

America must stand the test of group ignorance, impatience, selfishness, greed, and intolerance.

Failure truly is not an option for America or, for that matter, humanity.