Where is the joy?
The truth of the matter is, as a people, we have become less tolerant, less compassionate and more fearful of everything. We have been at war way too long, in too many areas of the world, to justify on any other grounds, than to protect and gain profits for a few. This country needs a good dose of peacetime. To keep in these conflicts, we have been sold daily, fear of this or that. All the time, having enough weaponry to blow this Earth apart. We have been sold that our place in the world is to be the top cop, not noticing during the same period that fewer and fewer of the other nations offered less and less help in doing the so called good deeds. We have done this for so long we can”t bring ourselves to admit that we have been had. We are a proud people, and to admit error is not easy for us.
We have gotten so deep in this that we have allowed our government and powerful to put the rightfully expected needs of our citizens of our nation on the bottom rung of the ladder. Yes, they throw us a bone once in a while, a tax break here and there, a raise in the minimum wage, a few more rights for some, a small leveling of the playing field for the ladies, but, are we as well off in our lifestyle and living standards as we were in the 1950s? I think not.
You used to be able to be a conservative or liberal thinker in both parties, but now, the leadership has the power to clean its ranks to just one mindset, each shouting we are the good guys and the others are the bad guys. In representing the voters now, you have to back the party line, and not the citizens you represent.
There is a daily sadness in our lives now, and this must stop, if we want to regain the joy in the hearts of this nation”s citizens.
James Hall
Clearlake Oaks
