“When we take away from a man his traditional way of life, his customs, his religion, we had better make certain to replace it with SOMETHING OF VALUE”
Robert Ruark, Something Of Value.
Are you ready for a political roller coaster ride through a not so amusing park?
Let me start with a positive: this election has without a doubt showed just how dissatisfied, angry, and frustrated that the American people are with those we hired to be in our Federal government. As I listened to people from across this nation for the past year, they feel that their trust has been betrayed, and that they have been used. But, are they mad at those they hired/elected, and the policies they supported or, are they angry with themselves for believing them; the wrong decision making on their part, or just not paying attention or adapting to what was happening around them. For too many it is better to blame someone else for our mistakes, than to accept we made them, correct them, and move forward.
Over the past 40 years, our nation, and our world, have gone through some fundamental changes for which many were not prepared nor paid attention to; believing that those they trusted and elected would protect them, or take care of them. Thus, the quote by Robert Ruark. These changes have been in our social ethics and culture; our work and the technology that creates it, and in the global dynamic. The Republicans said they would take care of it for us and us with it, and the Democrats said they would take care of us. I hate to be this sarcastic, but surprise, surprise, they didn’t. Since the era of greed in the late ‘70’s both of these Parties have strayed from their mission and purpose. I would dare say, as someone involved for 50 years, even somewhat earlier. My first conflict with Democratic Party policies came in the late 60’s/early 70’s with their one size fits all “Social Programs,” with all on board whether deserving it, or earned it or not. You would have thought that the Dems would have learned from those results: Reagan Democrats. When the hard working Americans believing it was important to help the poor, and to make up for so many years of discrimination to others, rebelled at local self-help groups replaced by expensive bureaucracies with no idea of the ground game and the diversity of needs of different communities. I was a JFK generation guy where government provided resources for locals to solve their own problems with programs as Job Corps, VISTA, NYC, Peace Corps, Retired Teachers Corps, etc. But, just as the Republicans wanted a dependent base, so too the Democrats. Then add in the late 70’s, greed is good, not your responsibility, let someone else take care of it, go shopping, and be popular instead message; people sold out and bought into it. The rhetoric of the con job was too convincing and appealed greatly to our lesser selves and the spirit of the times, after all it is all about just me, right.
Sorry for the rant, but it needs to be said if we are to get our nation back on track again. The viciousness of our competition and the pitting of one group of Americans against the other must stop. And, the maliciousness of this past election shows just how bad things are. Not because America is not great but it has become fearful and hateful of one another. We started as 13 separate and distinctly different colonies who knew that we must set aside our personal self-interests and cooperate and compromise for the greater good, or we would not survive. Too many have forgotten too much of this history, our principles of government, and the uniqueness of our exceptionalism. It was our sense of personal and shared responsibility of everyday Americans that made and kept us great: a land of opportunities if we were willing to work together and individually to work for it.
Let me stop where I started, are you ready for more of the political roller coaster ride? Will the Dems do unto Trump what the Republicans did unto Obama with their just say no to everything, or investigate everything and anything to discredit him? With us paying for it, for we are the ones, like it or not, who are ultimately held responsible, and by our principles, and like it or not, the ultimate authority for we hired them.
Your former Ward 3 City Councilor, Brian Hoose [email protected]
