Blowing In The Wind

America has changed for those of us over the age of forty.  It hasn't changed for the better.  Is the America we once knew gone forever?  What did it mean as little as twenty years ago to be an American?  I suppose everyone might have a different answer to that question, but here is mine.

An American was one who believed in -
  1.  Individual liberty, not conformity to politically correct agendas
  2.  Fair justice, not the best legal judgments money and/or political connections can buy
  3.  Free speech, not censorship
  4.  Equal opportunity, not necessarily equal outcomes
  5.  Personal responsibility, not blaming others and claiming victimization
  6.  Work ethic and diligence, not sloth and endless welfare
  7.  Self-reliance, not dependency
  8.  Compassion for those who need it, not enabling indolence
  9.  Expanding the economic pie, not fighting for the pieces
10.  Free markets and private enterprise, not coercive and controlled pseudo-capitalism
11.  Competitive markets, not government manipulation favoring special interests
12.  Suffering consequences of personal actions, not being bailed out
13.  Incentives to succeed, not incentives to drop out
14.  Strong national security second to none, not appeasement and capitulation
15.  Human rights for all, not ignoring genocide and oppression
16.  Limited government, not all intrusive and controlling
17.  Reasonable taxation, not confiscation and redistribution
18.  Democracy, not government of the special interests
19.  Balanced government budgets, not massive unpayable debts crippling future generations
20.  Personal choice in seeking services, not required government mandates
21.  Real education, not dumbed down and irrelevant feel good courses
22.  Teaching our children math, science, history and literature, not the mindless politically correct trash of environmentalism, the evils of Western Civilization, or race and gender studies
23.  Always helping those truly in need, not taking advantage of other's generosity
24.  Moving forward, not demanding reparations for transgressions long ago
25.  Overcoming obstacles, not quitting because of them

Most of us over the age of forty still believe those principles and values should prevail.  But they don't.  Anyone who thinks they do has not been paying attention.  Our society has changed dramatically in the last twenty years.  Today the ideas and beliefs following the 'not' in each of the 25 principles above dominate our society.

Capitalism is today considered by the leftists in power to be the economic philosophy of greed and inequity, even though it produced prosperity far beyond any other economic system in history.  Capitalism in America generated a vast majority of people who live very well, for both the wealthy and the huge middle class, and it substantially improved living standards for all including those at the bottom.  Any other economic system produces a tiny class of elite rich rulers and a huge underclass of subservient vassals.  History is full of examples.

Over 150 years ago America fought a war to end slavery, yet today we are all becoming slaves to government dictators and their bureaucratic storm troopers as it grows ever bigger and controlling.  The country we once knew is well on its way to becoming another memory just blowing in the wind.