Witness to the Decline
By Alan
Caruba
Listening
to Obama deliver his State of the Union speech was painful, considering that he
promised that his agenda would “not add a dime to the deficit” while spelling
out twenty-nine new programs involving the expansion of government to further
extend its tentacles into everyone’s life. And, of course, the only way to pay
for this is more taxes.
If one were to try to identify the decline of the American society and system of governance, it would be tempting to say it began with the election of Barack Hussein Obama, but it began much earlier. I am inclined to believe it began in the 1960s when the nation’s educational system was taken over by the teacher’s unions and when education—a word that does not appear in the Constitution—became a federal government department in 1979. The systematic dumbing down and indoctrination of several generations of Americans began in earnest.
One could go back further to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, elected four times (1933-1945). FDR vastly expanded the federal government, offering many of the same failed programs to “solve” the Great Depression that Obama put forth in his first term. FDR actually prolonged the Depression which ended with the advent of the nation’s entry into World War II. It mobilized America’s manufacturing sector and, after the war ended, was the basis for a booming economy in the 1950s.
Americans, from the days of the pilgrims onward, were always concerned with the moral fiber of their lives and the nation. Despite the nay-sayers, it was and is a Christian nation, though it also offered tolerance to other faiths, incorporating that into the Bill of Rights. The Founding Fathers were classic conservatives, expressing a firm belief in the essential role that religion plays in people’s lives and in society.
Morality
was a concern during the “Roaring Twenties” in the decade that preceded the
Great Depression and gave rise to the changing role of women in society. The
“flappers”, young women, were a cause for concern for their parents as they
took to smoking, drinking in speakeasies, and embracing their sexuality. In
1919 women gained the right to vote.
The
decline of societal norms takes many forms, the latest of which is the approval
for women to serve in combat zones alongside men when their traditional role
has been to provide support in non-combat functions. The military has been used
for societal experimentation and now embraces open service by homosexuals. The
integration of both has opened a Pandora’s Box of problems as women service
members are vulnerable to rape or become pregnant due to consensual sex.
Consensual
sex is as old as mankind, but handing out condoms in the nation’s schools or
permitting underage girls to secure an abortion, often without the knowledge or
consent of their parents, only encourages it. The Centers for Disease Control
recently reported that half of all new sexually transmitted diseases occur
among young people despite years of “sex education” in the nation’s schools.
What passes for entertainment, films and television, are rife with the message
that there are no limits or consequences to sex outside of marriage.
Though a distinct minority, homosexuals, lesbians, and transsexuals have attacked the central issue of society by insisting on same-sex marriage, a practice that has never existed throughout Western society or any other. In a similar fashion, the Boy Scouts of America, arguably one of the finest organizations for instilling patriotism and many worthy skills, is under pressure to permit gay members and gay leaders. This, too, contributes to the decline of moral standards. A President who now openly advocates same-sex marriage and other measures affecting homosexuals is undermining a central pillar of society.
At one
point, Americans in an effort to address widespread alcoholism among the
working class accepted Prohibition, lasting from 1920 to 1933, only to discover
that a nation cannot change behavior by proscribing it. The Amendment that
created it was repealed, but not until it had generated a new class of
criminals who understood that Americans would drink, would gamble, and would
frequent houses of prostitution, services provided by the likes of Al Capone
and his associates. These days the concern is for the widespread use of illegal
drugs and in some states the use of marijuana has been decriminalized.
I am a
hybrid between conservatism and libertarianism. It has not escaped my attention
that the states happily rake in millions from casinos as well as the sale of
booze. If we want people to accept responsibility for their choices then that
should include their bad choices as well. A million laws and regulations cannot
change human nature.
Even
though the Second Amendment ensures that citizens can arm themselves for self-defense
and to act as a brake against a tyrannical government efforts to restrict gun
ownership and even the purchase of ammunition is yet further evidence of a
decline in common sense and an understanding of history in which citizens are
vulnerable to a well-armed government. Meanwhile, why the Department of
Homeland Security is purchasing millions of rounds of ammunition is a genuine
cause for growing concern.
Americans with any common sense know that no amount of law can deter the handful of mentally ill who commit murder. Outlawing gun ownership makes about as much sense as outlawing cars or anything else that causes death. It is also unconstitutional.
The
interposition of government between citizens and their personal physicians and
the provision of medical services represents the greatest threat to their lives
and to the twenty percent of the economy which such services represent. How
morally challenged is it for the government to deny medical care based on a
patient’s age or condition? That’s what Obamacare will do despite claims to the
contrary. How morally challenged is a government that seeks to require
religious denominations to abandon their most closely held beliefs?
The
failure to reform the “entitlement” programs of the 1930s ignores the changed
demographics of a society in which Americans now have an average life
expectancy of 78 and who live well beyond that these days. Forty percent of the
government’s expenditures are dedicated to these programs before a single
dollar is spent on any other domestic and defense programs. That is
unsustainable without reforms to these programs.
Lastly,
there is the absurd notion that humans have any control over the climate or
contribute to natural events such as hurricanes, blizzards, forest fires, and
droughts. The criminalization of emissions of carbon dioxide exists only to
exert government control over the economy and our lives. It has no basis in
science. It is a form of Green tyranny, not much different from Red tyranny.
Many, not
all, Americans are experiencing a growing sense of the decline of our society. It
is the decline of the nation’s moral standards. It includes the expansion of
government in the name of “fairness.” Life is not fair. In the end, your life
depends your decisions. The Constitution says you are free to engage in the pursuit of happiness. It does not
guarantee happiness.
We are
witnessing an expansion of ignorance and of apathy. Those who worry about such
things have ample cause.
© Alan
Caruba, 2013
**************************
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at "Warning Signs" and shared on dozens
of news and opinion websites. His blog recently passed more than 2 million page views.
If you love to read, visit his monthly report on new books at Bookviews. For information on his professional
skills, Caruba Editorial Services is the place to go!
You can find Alan Caruba on both Facebook and Twitter as well.
*********************
VISIT J. D. Longstreet's "INSIGHT on Freedom" Face Book Page!!: (Just click on the link for more conservative commentary by J. D. Longstreet and other popular conservative writers!)*********************
No comments:
Post a Comment