Blog #24 Pleading for Mercy… Restoring Hope

Sep 27

For most of us, life is full of hard work, love, adversity, and some good fortune, mostly earned, not given.

In the last few years, we have all witnessed massive societal changes in our culture, common values, attitudes, and basic common sense. What the hell is going on?

At Church this Sunday morning, I listened to the sermon and the priest’s commentary. I found it troubling as the Gospel, according to Matthew 20:1, was regarding Jesus telling a parable about a landowner who hired some workers. They started early in the morning, working hard in the vineyards in the hot sun. Later in the day, he hired others desperate for work. At the end of the day, he paid all of them the same full day’s wage. Those who worked hard all day thought it was unfair.

The concept was about showing mercy to your fellow man in need.

I think many people worldwide don’t care about the concept of mercy.

I vividly remember when my platoon in Vietnam slogged through rice paddies for several days in terrible conditions with high heat, humidity, bugs, and constant threats. Booby traps had taken their toll, with several wounded severely and one killed. We were frustrated and exhausted with seemingly unproductive patrolling fighting ghosts.

Then it happened. We captured an enemy soldier by surprise at a river bank. I heard yelling and someone crying, “Kill him!” The prisoner was cowering on the ground. As the Lieutenant in charge, I ordered my guys to stop. Several asked me to let them “take care” of this “gook”. All I had to do was walk away. They were not happy with my decision. We were not going to harm him. Instead, I had my radio operator call for a Huey to pick him up. Maybe the enemy soldier could help with intelligence or not. For me, we had to do the honorable thing. I was also quite aware of the My Lai Massacre and LT. Calley (1).

But it was a show of mercy in a life-and-death struggle. I am also not trying to present myself as some saint. I am not. But I thank God I made that decision when it was so easy to turn my back.

But today, people have no concept of mercy in the most trivial situations.

Some people are going through life angry, envious, revengeful, and downright nasty. They may have reason to feel that way with a terrible childhood, poor health, no job, and bad luck, especially when they feel no hope. They will strike out often. It is all about them, and you are the problem.

And, for some, it does not matter if they are wealthy and live in million-dollar homes in beautiful surroundings. With a sense of entitlement and privilege, some will treat others like enemies and show no interest in compromise or collaboration - let alone mercy. They want what they want, even at the expense of others. They think they know all the right answers and distrust others. Instead, they mock them, verbally assault them with invective, and seek revenge if they don’t get their way. (2)

Too many of our youth will demonstrate their inbred attitudes by committing criminal activity with almost no hesitation, restriction, or remorse. Gangs organize flash mobs and steal tens of thousands of dollars of products. Murders in major cities are a constant and rising problem – especially those senseless murders when they are random and even done for entertainment.

You have seen it when fights develop inside fast food restaurants or at the ticket counter at the airport, in stadiums at athletic games from high school to the NFL, in subway stations and on trains, shootings in churches, and the awful scenes in our schools.

If they don’t get their way, they explode in anger. They use the excuse that they have been disrespected and then go on to show no respect for the lives of others. (3)

After the COVID-19 pandemic, we have lost our patience, civility, and tolerance for others. Rather than diffuse the situation, using fists, clubs, guns, and vehicles to take whatever they want is too easy. (4)

We have one report showing the cost of the Pandemic to the American economy is on the order of $14 Trillion. The cost goes beyond financial, business, and trade. The human cost and loss of freedoms compound the collapse of our culture. (5)

This is aggravated by novel notions of “Wokeness,” where equity is more important than equality. This will drive many to demand more – “just because!”. Equity creates division and destroys initiative and resilience to forge ahead and achieve goals. Instead, goals are racist, grades are racist, and success is always racist. Equity is itself a form of discrimination. (6)

We are dumbing down America’s standards of excellence and achievement with Senator John Fetterman admittedly dressing like a slob to Oregon, where grades are no longer used to assess school performance (7), or educators thinking they are entitled to discuss the idea of changing one’s gender with children under the age of 8 or 18 without informing parents.

Thirteen Baltimore City High Schools don’t have a single student who has achieved grade-level proficiency in math. 85% of Black children nationwide fail proficiency tests for reading and writing. (8)

California prides itself on neo-liberal policies that have created tent cities on city sidewalks and increased drug use and crime. San Francisco won’t prosecute crimes under $1,000. New York City defunds police while hordes of youth take over its streets at will. It will spend billions to house migrants in hotels while reducing the budget of all other departments. Massachusetts complains about too many migrants coming to Boston. Chicago’s Mayor doesn’t want to call young thugs who riot, protest, steal, or murder but prefers ignoring it. In fact, the City Government boldly asked the gangs to restrict their shootings to after 11 p.m.

And so it goes across all of America.

We see it on the highways, workplaces, and muggings/carjackings in broad daylight. There is little mercy or value for life itself. The Police Chief in Philadelphia resigns, the shootings continue, and major looting of stores defies social justice effectiveness.

It’s as if we are at war with ourselves. We are our own worst enemy. Forget camaraderie, friendship, or patriotism. It is not about what you can do for your country but what you can get or take from others.

As if we did not have enough controversy, self-righteous, arrogant politicians pound their chests while proclaiming they represent sanctuaries for migrants until they show up on their doorstep. In September 2023, Over ten thousand illegals crossed the border every day and flooded the cities. NYC will spend $3.5 Billion over three years with unbudgeted funds to care for them. Abortion has no compromise. If you are wealthy, you are probably viewed as racist or a crook. The Federal Government wastes billions absconded by criminals hacking into the Government systems.

Liberals want to remove your right to free speech and protect yourself with guns. Yet, the criminals love the idea of unprotected citizens as they become easy prey. Extreme rightists also create their fair share of riots, protests, and intolerance, and Jan 6 is the epicenter of right-driven extremes.

And so it goes…

There is no answer to fix this in the short term, but the solutions are easy to understand and implement. We must return to those precepts that have made America great.

It requires leadership with the will, integrity, trust, and honor.

It all begins with the family. We must have fathers in all the homes to help mothers discipline and establish role models. Families must be supported as a basic building block for society. Religion must be embraced to honor the values as listed in the Ten Commandments and more. Schools and Universities must stop their extremist, anti-American views while embracing a socialist society, and the Federal Government must stop supporting increases in tuition by giving out student loans en masse. (10) (11)

School choice is a viable option for parents, as is vocational technology schools. Parents must be involved in school curricula and gender identity is a family issue. Blacks and other disadvantaged kids should get free education and college.

We must have a comprehensive plan for the mentally ill. We have deserted the mentally challenged for the last 60 years or more as a nation.

We must bring back the rule of law, police enforcement, and prosecution of criminals and a new focus on helping victims. The foolish experiments with social justice, forgiveness for crimes, emptying our prisons, and having open borders that have directly funded the expansion of Mexican Cartels must end.

As for the economy, we must stop the printing presses that feed the spending without limit by Congress and the President. Otherwise, taxes will increase, not decrease, as our National Debt exceeds $33 Trillion. (12) Inflation can be reduced by stopping the war on oil and gas. While the world runs on fossil fuels, we can have a more reasonable transition plan that includes green energy, oil & gas, nuclear power, and innovation for other sources of energy.

We also must revert back to creating a combat-ready military. We spend hundreds of hours, millions of dollars, in each military branch training on Wokeness, Whiteness, and Gender dysphoria. Meanwhile, our enemies train, build, and arm themselves to kill without mercy. (9) (13) China laughs at our Woke nonsense, the Taliban can’t believe their treasure haul, and Iran continues to collect billions in cash from us.

The Wall Street Journal has revealed details about the U.S. military’s training on gender and racial sensitivity as politicians increasingly target the military’s focus to so-called “woke” ideology. (14)

Most importantly, we must give our youth, working classes, and entrepreneurs “hope.” America is about opportunity and hope for a better future. We know it can happen with the proven model of personal freedom, free markets, and free speech.

Better hope than expect mercy.

LINKS for expansion of concepts:

1. My Lai Massacre | Facts, Map, & Photos | Britannica

2. How Ivy League Elites Turned Against Democracy - The Atlantic

3. Why Americans Are Frustrated, Entitled, and Judgmental | Psychology Today

4. 'Biggest fraud in a generation': The looting of the Covid relief program known as PPP (nbcnews.com)

5. How much did COVID-19 pandemic cost economy? | Fortune Well

6. Woke ideology is 'cruel,' 'evil,' and won't end well: Victor Davis Hanson | Fox News

7. Explaining Oregon’s decision to drop high school graduation ‘essential skill’ requirements - OPB

8. Students at 40% of Baltimore high schools failed math proficiency exam (nypost.com)

9. Revealed: Military’s ‘woke’ training documents made public (americanmilitarynews.com)

10. L.A. Public Schools Are Giving High Grades to Students Who Don't Meet Standards (reason.com)