Since being born in 1946, I have been standing politely in line. Lots of post-WWII kids made for crowded classrooms, long lines for everything, 15 kids trying to make a 9-member baseball team -- all of those important things in life. Being raised in Minnesota, I was engulfed with the Democratic Party. I knew only one way to look at politics. After a career in the Postal Service and a career in the military, I found a number of alternative points-of-view. But the classic wait-and-see position has always worked well. It has also worked well for the hundreds of like-minded folks I have worked with and ran into during my travels. I consider these people the middle class.
That middle class is now gone. The income disparity has ruined the U.S. Young, untested and arrogant people have snuck up on us and infiltrated the government. The clowns in DC cannot do anything! Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann? Are you kidding me? How embarrassing do we have to get? Is the pro wrasslin crowd finally taking over?
It could be the influence of the movies. Mindless action jumbles with no redeeming value or no story line. It has spawned the waste of time following Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Who really cares what they do or how the think? It could also be that today's youth have no skills other than to disrupt and ignore. My last three years working in the schools at all levels has shown a shocking risrespect for all things educational. I'm bored is a common phrase. The loss of discipline in schools is apparent in the eyes and energy levels of the teachers.
The lack of a military draft has caused tremendous troubles--from the untouchable, entitled youth that DO NOT CARE--to the disastrous back-door draft that has sent thousands of Reserves and National Guard into needless wars. News media follow the going-away ceremonies and the Welcome Home ceremonies--but totally ignore the trauma and the disconnect of the families and the destroyed small-town structure that goes with the weekend warrior's being taken away.
Maybe this is the bigger cause. Feed the aristocracy. Give the King all of his ransom. Starve the worker bees and hive will suffer. Ignore the middle class and the building blocks start to disappear. Now that I have my Medicare card, and social security and full medical coverage (because of my service to my country), I can stand tall and look out over the crumbling horizon and shed a tear. I can now watch with dismay when the so-called leaders in DC do absolutely nothing while Rome burns. I am sad for my children and grandchildren. I reluctantly say that it is finally time to shut off the TV and tell all those annoying politicians that call my house and knock on my door that I DO NOT CARE!
