Can the U.S. be saved?

Posted by SolitudeIsBliss 10 years, 10 months ago to Culture
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Growing up outside the United States, like so many others, I dreamed of coming to this country. As a kid I imagined the roads to be paved with gold (it was a long time ago and I had a vivid imagination LOL) but nevertheless it was THE promised land. I first came to the US via the US Army. While serving, I had the great honor of becoming a U.S. Citizen. It was the late 80s and Ronald Reagan had relit the American light of Patriotism and Exceptionalism ! However, many years ago I noticed a trend in the way attitudes were changing. Remember the baseball player John Rocker? You may recall him as the former Atlanta Braves pitcher who famously said in 1999:
"I'd retire first. It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing... The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?"
Agree or disagree with his comments, I knew then that PC was taking us to a completely different direction. Rocker was sent to re-orientation and sensitivity training (ie thought re-alignment camp) !
But these past few years, under the Obama administration, I find this country has lost everything that once made it great !
Freedom of speech is gone. The idiocy that is seen on a daily basis of Political Correctness run amock: an elementary kid eating a pastry and a teacher thinking she sees a gun ! Don't you DARE say Merry Christmas !
Freedom of religion - non-existent, especially if you're a Christian (I'm an agnostic but will always defend the right of anyone to exercise their freedoms).
We reward the non-productive and penalize those who work hard ! Re-distribution of wealth.
As a small business owner the government and its non-ending issuance of regulations is making it harder and harder to even be in business ! It seems that small businesses in this country are doomed to fail because of Government interference.
I fear that the America I fell in love with cannot be rescued or saved !
What say you ?


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  • Posted by $ Abaco 10 years, 10 months ago
    I remember that Rocker episode. The media force-fed it to us.

    No. America can't be saved. It's too late. I am here to make the most money I can for my family. And, if other options happen that will allow me to make more in another country, or to simply live a better life there, I will be ready to leave. I'm not looking real hard at this time...but I am looking for future options. I love what America has been, very much.

    There is a concerted attack on the family, on strong men, and on small business. That's why it's too late. They're not letting up - not the Democrats or the Republicans.
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  • Posted by straightlinelogic 10 years, 10 months ago
    Fate follows philosophy and the last one hundred years has seen nothing but philosophical deterioration. We almost reached The Golden Pinnacle (book plug) of human freedom during the Industrial Revolution, which saw unprecedented technological and economic progress. We did a U-turn with the income tax and Federal Reserve in 1913 and it has been downhill ever since. The technological innovation we've had since then is a legacy of our dwindling freedom, but it is far outweighed by galloping collectivism around the globe. The ideas that made the U.S. great will never die, but it will take a massive economic, financial, and political crisis for its citizens to rediscover them.
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    • Posted by Hiraghm 10 years, 10 months ago
      I wonder if that Golden Pinnacle is why the Steampunk culture is becoming popular?

      In the Galt speech, he said something about everyone remembering a golden age, an Eden. Maybe the Steampunk culture is a reaction to modern political correctness, and an unspoken desire to return to the age of loudy, noisy, prosperous, free technological advancement?

      Or maybe I'm projecting...

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      • Posted by straightlinelogic 10 years, 10 months ago
        What is the Steampunk culture?
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        • Posted by iroseland 10 years, 10 months ago
          Its like Neo-Victorian with some good old fashioned Jules Vern thrown in to make it more awesome. It is interesting to consider the reasons that SteamPunk is becoming a thing. Look at the producers in that world. The "makers" that people really admire tend to be exactly the kinds of folks who you would imagine meeting in the Gulch. There are plenty of left loons that want to dress the industrial revolution in PC cloths but they tend to be pretty much ignored. This is probably because they don't have anything to actually show for their whining. My wife and I attend lots of Steampunk events around the country. I get to wear celluloid collars, dink lots of Absinthe and Viennese waltz. So, it works out pretty well for me. Over the last year we have been really taking the Punk part seriously. I have a coat covered with buttons and patches devoted to 19th century and early 20th century industrialists and inventors. I get complements on it..
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          • Posted by straightlinelogic 10 years, 10 months ago
            If you like that time period (it's my favorite), may I suggest my novel, The Golden Pinnacle. It's set in America during the Industrial Revolution. It's available as a book or Kindle download and there is plenty of information and reviews on its Amazon page.
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  • Posted by mminnick 10 years, 10 months ago
    The United States can be saved. If enough people decide that the PC movement is anti-American at worst and a really bad ides at best and drop the idiocy then the US can be saved. The general populace must learn to express themselves again. They must learn not to fear the comments of the Progressives. They, the people must speak and think their own words. They must act as they believe is the best way. Will some people still speak against them? Sure. That is what America is about.
    The philosophy (if it can be called that) of Political Correctness must be shown to be the wrong philosophy for America. Free thought does not grow from a limited view of the world. It does not flourish when limited by the constraints of PC. Yes some will say stupid and hurtful things. When this occurs, the reaction of the people surrounding the speaker should be tolerance, not immediate condemnation and outrage. These reaction may occur and speakers need to understand that that reaction is OK because those people have the right to respond in that way. Requiring the speaker to go to sensitivity training, anger management etc. is not acceptable. This is forcing the will of a vocal minority onto a free individual of American society.
    Once the shackles of the PC philosophy are broken, things like Common Core, Global Warming (the dogmatic discussion of), etc. will remain topics of discussion, but not as if they are the “Law” from on high.
    When this occurs, America will be on the path of liberty and freedom again. With people waking up the cost of the PC philosophy this is beginning to happen. The nascent beginning are being seen with the resurgent interest in Ayn Rand’s works, especially Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Her non-fiction works (Philosophy, who needs it, Capitalism) are also becoming more popular and being read more often. The movie Atlas shrugged (Parts I, II, and III) are sparking interest in her philosophy. The rebirth is possible, it will need much assistance from committed people, but it is coming.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 10 years, 10 months ago
    The problems are real, but they have been a lot worse. It's a path with ups and downs, but things are actually getting better. On one hand there's a paranoia about the vaguest facsimiles of guns, but many things are getting better. Things we take for granted today were a battle 30 years ago.
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