IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 176
January 29, 2015
“Because it is hard…”
Again, I harken back to the words of John F. Kennedy as he took his oath of office in 1961. He challenged the nation to undertake efforts (to paraphrase) “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
We have lapsed into a malaise that is not only inane, but also perilous. Take the example of the grasshopper and the ant. You know the story…. One worked, the other played. It didn’t work out too well for the non-productive one, did it?
Well, we see that on a grand scale when it comes to an assessment of a growing segment of our populace today. To dilute the initiative and drive of the young in this country is tantamount to murder. Yes, murder. When you kill the soul, you eventually kill the body.
The soul of America has been — from the founding and well before — its people’s drive to design, innovate, and manufacture, surpassing all comers in an ever-expanding plethora of activities. In less than seventy years, man went from the fledgling Wright brothers’ airplane to landing on the moon. Sadly, the last seventy years has another side to it — a dangerous one.
Since the 1930s, one after another, government programs wedged their way into more and more American lives until now nearly half of our population receives some sort of monetary support from the federal level. Remember, the government is not a manufacturer. The government, sad as it is to say, is a master marketer. The only product it offers is money that it prints with nothing to back it up. Alas, we went off the Gold Standard decades ago. Printing money only softens the economy in a pitiful effort to stave off inflation — the offshoot of a sick system.
Government, especially at the federal level, hands out its hand — green with money — and lures people into a state of dependency that strips them of pride and accomplishment. In essence, the government is a first class example of how to destroy a civilization from the inside out.
Couple this with the present administration operating sans any business acumen or respect for our own natural resources and you have a recipe for real disaster. We have more energy resources than the Middle East, yet our president and his cohorts refuse to push the Keystone Pipeline project. The result may well be the export of critical oil bound for the USA to China. My, what a nice idea! That should make us feel safer.
The incessant push to reduce emissions and shut down our coal-fired power plants is futile, too. Why? China builds at least one coal-fired plant per week and has no emission restrictions. With the prevailing winds from west to east, guess where their pollution will drift? You got it? First, it goes to Hawaii and then the mainland. Ah yes, yet another gift coming from the tiger we continue to feed — the tiger eager to devour us.
We have a very hard task at hand, and it’s not landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. It’s wrenching the reins of power away from those bent on diluting the American spirit to nothing and in response electing men and women pledged to defend and enforce the tenets of the U.S. Constitution — all the while paving an economic pathway for all. Lincoln put it thusly: “That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.”
To return to such a stance, new leadership will require basic bricks. I see these as simple measures, yet powerful ones. First of all, education must teach basic skills, including English as the primary language, truly accurate history, the scientific method. This will infuse a sense of wonder in students that culminates in determined workers, whether trade bound or college bound. In short, we need to prepare our youngsters to work, not file for some sort of federal help.
“PR” should anchor it all — no, not public relations, but personal responsibility. Young people need to know that their future hinges on three elements: education, marriage before children, and savings before spending. If a person graduates from high school, gets married before becoming a parent and saves before spending, he or she has a very good chance of achieving a decent life.
The lure of technology is there, but how many of our children truly understand how the technology works? Show children how science is a miracle before their eyes. Encourage them to bring new ideas to the marketplace. Never diminish the trades. We would be hard pressed to get along without carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other skilled trades.
Quality should trump quantity. It’s an uphill battle, but if we fail to act, we will be the first elder generation to see its grandchildren sliding toward a bleak future spurred by lower expectations and unnecessary dependence on government.
I can’t get some memorable quotes out of my mind. They are from Ronald Wilson Reagan, and are as timely today as when he made them. Here are samples of his wisdom.
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”
“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”
“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”
“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.”
“Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Who will fill his shoes? Surely, somewhere among us dwells a voice in the darkness that we endure today. We need to find that voice, and soon. It will be hard to find that voice. That is our hard task for every American’s future. Think about it.
IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
# 174
January 6, 2015
“Because it is hard…”
Again, I harken back to the words of John F. Kennedy as he took his oath of office in 1961. He challenged the nation to undertake efforts (to paraphrase) “not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
We have lapsed into a malaise that is not only inane, but also perilous. Take the example of the grasshopper and the ant. You know the story…. One worked, the other played. It didn’t work out too well for the non-productive one, did it?
Well, we see that on a grand scale when it comes to an assessment of a growing segment of our populace today. To dilute the initiative and drive of the young in this country is tantamount to murder. Yes, murder. When you kill the soul, you eventually kill the body.
The soul of America has been — from the founding and well before — its people’s drive to design, innovate, and manufacture, surpassing all comers in an ever-expanding plethora of activities. In less than seventy years, man went from the fledgling Wright brothers’ airplane to landing on the moon. Sadly, the last seventy years has another side to it — a dangerous one.
Since the 1930s, one after another, government programs wedged their way into more and more American lives until now nearly half of our population receives some sort of monetary support from the federal level. Remember, the government is not a manufacturer. The government, sad as it is to say, is a master marketer. The only product it offers is money that it prints with nothing to back it up. Alas, we went off the Gold Standard decades ago. Printing money only softens the economy in a pitiful effort to stave off inflation — the offshoot of a sick system.
Government, especially at the federal level, hands out its hand — green with money — and lures people into a state of dependency that strips them of pride and accomplishment. In essence, the government is a first class example of how to destroy a civilization from the inside out.
Couple this with the present administration operating sans any business acumen or respect for our own natural resources and you have a recipe for real disaster. We have more energy resources than the Middle East, yet our president and his cohorts refuse to push the Keystone Pipeline project. The result may well be the export of critical oil bound for the USA to China. My, what a nice idea! That should make us feel safer.
The incessant push to reduce emissions and shut down our coal-fired power plants is futile, too. Why? China builds at least one coal-fired plant per week and has no emission restrictions. With the prevailing winds from west to east, guess where their pollution will drift? You got it? First, it goes to Hawaii and then the mainland. Ah yes, yet another gift coming from the tiger we continue to feed — the tiger eager to devour us.
We have a very hard task at hand, and it’s not landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. It’s wrenching the reins of power away from those bent on diluting the American spirit to nothing and in response electing men and women pledged to defend and enforce the tenets of the U.S. Constitution — all the while paving an economic pathway for all. Lincoln put it thusly: “That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.”
To return to such a stance, new leadership will require basic bricks. I see these as simple measures, yet powerful ones. First of all, education must teach basic skills, including English as the primary language, truly accurate history, the scientific method. This will infuse a sense of wonder in students that culminates in determined workers, whether trade bound or college bound. In short, we need to prepare our youngsters to work, not file for some sort of federal help.
“PR” should anchor it all — no, not public relations, but personal responsibility. Young people need to know that their future hinges on three elements: education, marriage before children, and savings before spending. If a person graduates from high school, gets married before becoming a parent and saves before spending, he or she has a very good chance of achieving a decent life.
The lure of technology is there, but how many of our children truly understand how the technology works? Show children how science is a miracle before their eyes. Encourage them to bring new ideas to the marketplace. Never diminish the trades. We would be hard pressed to get along without carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other skilled trades.
Quality should trump quantity. It’s an uphill battle, but if we fail to act, we will be the first elder generation to see its grandchildren sliding toward a bleak future spurred by lower expectations and unnecessary dependence on government.
I can’t get some memorable quotes out of my mind. They are from Ronald Wilson Reagan, and are as timely today as when he made them. Here are samples of his wisdom.
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
“Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s world do not have.”
“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”
“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”
“The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.”
“Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.”
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Who will fill his shoes? Surely, somewhere among us dwells a voice in the darkness that we endure today. We need to find that voice, and soon. It will be hard to find that voice. That is our hard task for every American’s future. Think about it.