Who Am I?
Let me begin by saying that I’m an old person, old enough to remember the great depression, twelve wars, the dropping of the first (and second) atomic bomb, a dozen presidents (not even counting the present president), a presidential resignation, a presidential assassination, a presidential candidate’s assassination, a civil rights leader’s assassination, the civil rights movement, school desegregation, Medicare, man’s first catapult into space, man’s first steps on the moon, Roe v. Wade, the Kent State massacre, Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, the first woman named to the Supreme Court, the gay rights movement, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, Abu Graib, Guantanamo, torture, illegal wiretapping, and countless other momentous occurrences I’m doubtless too old to remember.
I watched as my country reached the pinnacle of its greatness in the aftermath of World War II, and then began its long slide into mediocrity. Today, by any meaningful measure – industrial, intellectual, economic, educational, technological – America has become a second-rate country living on the fumes of its former grandeur. We just won’t acknowledge it. And by not acknowledging it, and doing what is necessary to reverse course – and it is still reversible, barely – we are condemning ourselves to collapse.
It has probably always been true that this country would never be defeated by any outside power. The things that divide us internally would cease to matter were we attacked by a Russia or a North Korea or an Iran, as they did in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, when everyone stood together. No, this country will instead simply implode, as have other civilizations before it, by its own disdain, stupidity, and greed.
Stay tuned.
I’ve been around for quite some time now, long enough to see the good and the bad in the world, certainly long enough to have developed perspective. On most issues, I’m an equal opportunity critic. On others, not so much. Join me or not. It will say more about you than about me.
