The Future of Our Nation is in Our Hands

The America my parents knew, and even I came to identify with in the early ’60s and beyond, may have faded into the background. Has the American dream that many of the families who came here during the years of immigration at the turn of the 20th Century also disappeared? I truly don’t think so in my heart, but that fire needs to be rekindled. 

I really don’t care what the “talking heads” on Sunday Morning news shows sayor those rabble-rousers in chatrooms on the internet. When I walk out within my own community or when I’m traveling during the summer months I do find if people only stay glued to that tube in the living room, they may have a negative view of the nation we all love. 

It’s like Chinese water torture, one drip at a time continuously with nothing but negativity. Heck, you can understand why we may get a little pessimistic at times, as we are constantly fed a steady stream of the most negativemonologues you can imagine. 

I can’t blame it all on the media, but they do know what drives their numbers up and their ratings are what they live by. 

I remember when the election team surrounding Ronald Reagan launched the ad program called Morning in America. What a genius move on their part compared with the steady stream of negative advertising. That message resonated with the American people, and we need a similar message today. Some of those same negative tactics are being utilized by today’s two candidates seeing the temporary residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue for the next four years. 

I don’t think the yearning for the American Dream has been lost, but the understanding of the meaning of the American Dream has been changed by politicians in Washington. It may have been best described in the 1931 book The Epic of America, where author James Truslow Adams describes America as; “A land in which life should be better, richer  and fuller for everyone, with opportunity  for each according to their ability or achievement, regardless of fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”   

His description of a land where opportunity is available for all depends on how much they are willing to work for it. I know some reading this passage might complain about how life is unfair, and that is a utopian view of the landscape.  

Well, I can tell you, life isn’t fair and never has been, and it can throw a curve ball at you at times. While Adams’ views on it are aspirational, they are the kind of encouragement men and women needed on both sides of my family. 

Unfortunately, today we find government programs skyrocketing, especially in giveawaysthrough carefully structured federal programs. The incentive for hard work to acquire those benefits has been all but removed.  

Recently, we have spent billions of taxpayers’ dollars to forgive student loans. That relief has been at the expense of those who, over the past years, have worked hard and repaid those student loans to the government. It was a poorly thought-out program, which has divided many in the country. 

Changes in the economic picture of our nation have unfortunately dimmed the luster of the “American Dream.’’  CEOs of some of our larger corporations add to that problem, as some of those CEOs make upwards to 300% more than their typical worker. Couple that with the fact that that the wealthiest 1% of Americans now bring home 40% of the nation’s total income. 

Income and wealth inequities have sored here in America and the frustration is growing, especially as we watch the collapse of our border and the handouts being distributed amongst those who come to expect so much from this “land of opportunity.” 

 We must turn our nation around and regain the luster that was based upon the hard work and dedication of the American people to ensure our children have a better future than what their parents enjoyed. That goal can be achieved by reinstalling the hard work ethic that was once a hallmark of the America our parents and grandparents left us. We stand on the shoulders of those two generations and owe all we are to them. The future of this great nation lies in our hands, and I hope we make those who came before us proud.