Change?

What Lies Ahead?

We closed the door on 2008 and ushered in 2009, but not without bidding adieu to a year of turbulence and dismay. In my lifetime I have been witness to many extremes in our nation: born during the great depression of 1929 to 1945, the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor, D day, the end of World War 2, the Korean war, Vietnam and a myriad of other skirmishes around the globe. I watched Russia’s Sputnik float by in space and our own space program bloom and put a man on the moon. TV, computers and interstate highways sprouted and tied our country together.  Those were good times and bad times, but America was the strongest and greatest democracy on the planet and thousands risked their lives to come here. What we enjoyed was the dream of many around the world, we represented all that mankind ever wanted; the opportunity to take a chance, to succeed or fail and here he could do it.

My first ballot for a president was cast for Dwight Eisenhower. I cast that ballot with pride. We had just witnessed a campaign conducted in style by men of character, who had goals that could only make a great nation shine even brighter. We got more than Hollywood and media hype in those days. We discussed politics and programs because our candidates were offering ideas and propositions for the nation. There were few catchwords that were pounded into our heads, just ideas for the future. We listened and became excited by real people making real plans and predictions.

We seldom heard the promises of help and handout from government and we were not looking for any. The electorate was not promised a rose garden, a free lunch or a guaranteed living they were promised opportunity. If you were willing to work, to strive and aim high in life you were given all the latitude possible to do it. Not true today.

The presidential campaign ended in November was the climax of two years of incessant pounding on our senses and thousands of words that were hollow.  The exceptions to the hollow words were those promising half the nation’s inhabitants that they would be rewarded dearly for just voting right. Those words may just be too true. A new standard of living was going to be their largess, coming from the pockets of those who would still be willing to produce wealth.  I am glad the campaign is over but I’m very uneasy about the quantity of truth in those promises.

I believe that when someone takes money from my pocket and gives it to someone else we have two problems. The guy that took the money from my pocket is stealing and the guy who accepts stolen property is guilty too. Now government thievery is not the same, they use the mysterious multiplier.

Two men watch one man down and out pass by. They grab the purse from a lady behind and give the money to the down and out guy. That is stealing, a crime. Now let’s add six zeros to those numbers. Two million watch one million down and out pass by and snatch the purses from one million to give to the poor million. Now it’s taxation. Simple as that.

I do know one thing for sure and that is that already 64 cents of every dollar in taxes collected goes to 5 percent of the people in this nation. Is it going to get worse? Yes I think it will. I have been told that 40 percent of Americans receive some subsidy from taxes.  Have we reached the tipping point, will we soon have more taking than producing? It can happen. It did in the old Soviet Union and failed.

I will be watching, what will you be doing?