Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Directions!

Where the heck are we going? and do we really long for the "good old days"?  What is the direction of USA that you like? and do not like?  I think that when we look back with nostalgia we don't see what we don't want to see.  When were the "good old days" anyway?  The 1950's? when the best job a woman could get was a school teacher or a nurse...at half the salary of men?  No, I don't think so, unless being "kept" is your idea of perfection.  Woman have come a long ways, their voice counts now.  Our rivers and the air we breath are so much cleaner now.  Landfills are no longer just a dumping ground of unwanted discards.  We are more aware of the damage we can do and more protective of the environment.  I like that!
    Somehow, miraculously and by design we have stayed out of the wars in Lybia and Syria and i sure like that direction.  We are out of Iraq finally, that quagmire battle, our longest war and on schedule to leave Afghanistan, the other mistaken war.  That seems a good direction to me.  We have yet to get the bills for these wars but they will come
   Twenty six million more people have health insurance and that just can't be bad.  For those of you against National Health Insurance, let's do away with Medicare!  Or is it OK for you to have National Health Care but not others?  This is a good direction.  It is a tribe looking after its members.  A Nation that cares for its weakest members.  A sign of strength.  I like that direction.
   We landed on Mars!  A one ton scientific vehicle as big as a car and nuclear powered at that.  What a sense of pride that should be!  The Koreans would kill to have such rocket scientists.  They should be rock stars!  American Made!  We should be bursting with pride and dancing in the streets!  Nice direction!
   People believe in us, even when we don't sometimes.  Investors from all over the world pay us to put their money here!  Face it, we are the prettiest girl in the house!  Stable, maybe slow sometimes, but secure, a country founded  and based on laws.  I like that and most of the world does too.
   Oh, sure, I have disappointments!  The pretty girls of my youth have grown old and fat. And sometimes I don't remember things exactly as they were.  I am not sure it would have been nice to ride in the back of a bus.  I wouldn't want to go back there.
   I wish we would do things, that is for sure. There has never been a better time to rebuild our infrastructure.  Money is cheap and it needs to be done.  China has better roads and trains than we do.
Our bridges are getting old and some of our water systems are over 100 years old.  They are far more expensive to repair on an emergency basis than having a plan and I wish we could agree on one. There is no single thing that would be better in creating jobs than working on our infrastructure and it need doing.
    Unless you are into dirty water and dirty air the answer is not in deregulation.  Go to Mexico City and see what that is like.  I am glad we are not going in that direction and hope we never do.
   The direction I really don't like is our own apathy.  We have lost a sense of investigation, of reading and looking at other sides, of considering consequences. This fosters hate and fear and intolerance.
We would rather be entertained than learn something and we get bored easily.  Easily distracted we are only after sound bites and emotions.  God forbid if we actually sat down and read a book!
   I think the Country will be fine, even if "the other guy" wins the election.  We have so many checks and balances in our system that even someone "perfect" cannot move fast.  That has always been our biggest strength and prevents popular opinion from crushing the minority.
   It is the direction that we are going as individuals that I worry about.  Our becoming comfortable with being lazy, our feeling of inconsequence, our sense of powerlessness and our own willingness to settle for less.  That is a bad direction, every time.

5 comments:

Autumn Leaves said...

Jerry, I am going to come right out and say that I personally love George W. I think he was a fine president and a finer man with the courage of his convictions and led by God could not be had. Romanticizing? Not in the least. National health care? In what world are you in? My daughter and her family do not have health care. They cannot afford it. They make too much to qualify for any type of public aid but not enough to afford their own policy.

I do believe many things from the past are better than they are now. Gas? I remember when it was $0.23 per gallon. It is over $4.00 a gallon here now. Some things that just are not right are accepted as the norm now when "back in the day" they were looked on with abomination, not considered normal, and hidden from the public view. People had values and today I am drawn to those with values. I don't believe in the "anything goes" way of life. We've lost our respect for each other, man, woman, child.

Politicians have their own agenda, not the good of the nation. I like that GWB didn't jump in willy nilly when he didn't know what he was doing. Current guy? His IQ is lower than mine. Yeah...that is who I want running the country.

I can't give you hard facts as I've picked up nuggets here and there over this current reign. My mom could give you harder facts, harder arguments as she does nothing but listen to political talk on the Fox news station.

Maybe I speak from the heart and from the gut. I know enough to trust my gut these days though.

Barbra Joan said...

Thank You Sherry! This time I won't get into it.. I did enough damage the last post.
I leave this one to you,
thanks for speaking MY mind ... BJ

Jerry Carlin said...

How Quickly we forget how we got into this mess! I won't rehash it but it is easy to discover if you ever get the inclination.

Barbra Joan said...

Jerry, look back the last few years of Bushs' term , the house and the senate were ruled by Dems.
It gave us Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who were the flames that ignited the depression that we're in .. they gave the mortgages to people who could not afford to keep up payments. That is what started us on the road to ruin.
The HOusing Debaucle, thank you liberal Dems. If you know anything then you know it's true.
Hows that for inclination.. You know Jerry I never say much here because outside of politics we are good friends.
Yes, your right about the '50, and I was right out there fighting for womens rights .. you forget I told you that... I have plenty of inclination.... you betcha, BJ

Barbra Joan said...

Ok , so I lied, I'm back.!
The one issue I want to say publicy is that I was right in there fighting for the Womens Rights, You shouldn't forget J, that I was already a grown woman then, I was the one working those stupid jobs.
Your daughters today CAN be attorneys, CAN make equal pay, because of women like me who fought for that right. BJ