Not the America I Remember

Fifty
years ago, when I immigrated to this country, one of the things that amazed me
the most was the great abundance of everything, especially when I went to the
grocery store. I remember going to the
supermarket and seeing all the enormous quantities and varieties of food; fresh,
frozen, processed etc. Coming to America from a small town in Sicily, where
food stores were usually small family owned establishments with little
selection and limited inventory was without a doubt a life turning experience
for me. In fact, growing up as a
teenager in the United States was the greatest event of my life and it was an
experience I will never forget. Moreover, living in this country for the past
fifty plus years, has been an eye opener and a blessing in more ways than one.

Unfortunately
though, this year as I celebrated my 52nd year living in the United States, I
see a different America. This country is not what I encountered when I first
set foot in New York’s harbor on a
cold, wintry day many, many years ago. Today,
the United States of America is a country in decline in every sense of the
word. Economically, financially,
socially and morally America today, is not the same country it was 50 years ago
when one could define this nation with a single word, “Plenty.” Yes, America of the 1960’s was by all
accounts, the envy of the world.

Sure,
some of the abundances are still here because we have all the natural resources
to maintain such a standard but what has changed so dramatically is the
achieving factor. Today, those
abundances have become unaffordable for many working people throughout this country due
to the erosion of our money and the high costs of goods, services and the
amenities that for decades we took for granted.
More importantly, today, most
families need two wage-earners to purchase the same goods and services that 50
years ago were purchased by only one wage-earner.

What
has changed? I remember my father once saying, “…here in
America with a weekly paycheck, one can pay his rent, buy his food and still
have money left over for a new pair of shoes and going out to a restaurant for
a family dinner. Well, today, life in these United States is not as simple as
that, because while some still enjoy the luxuries of the good life, many have a
hard time making a living.

What
happened? Why did our country change so negatively and in such a short time?
One of the reasons that I can surmise is the fact that society in general has changed. We are, for better or worse, a country in
turmoil, a country divided, a melting pot society where anything and everything
is permissible. There are no barriers, no limits and no personal responsibility. Why, the federal budget is the best example of
this extravagance. Another reason, is the
Federal Reserve Bank that continues to print money without ever thinking how
this money is going to be repaid. For example, we owe China billions, cities and
states are going bankrupt and still, we spend and spend. Remember Reagan, when he said, “.government
cannot spend what it does not have?’ Well, think for yourself. A third and most important reason for our decline
is the fact that the best minds in this country are being summarily silenced
because the Washington’s elite and the liberal media perceive anyone and everyone who
speaks the truth as being, “politically incorrect” in their discourse. In other
words, speaking the truth has give way to, “Political correctness” where the
truth no longer matters as long as the discourse is in the form of the status
quo. We have become a nation where
people would rather believe a lie than the truth. It is to say the least, a pervasive social
malaise permeated through the intertwining of our American culture where our basic
American ideals are constantly being compromised and at times, washed away for
good. Every time we compromise our
ideals, we go another notch on a downward spiral on the demise of America.

Whenever
we lax the rules because someone cannot qualify for admission to a school,
employment or promotion or worse, when we subsidize people for not working or
producing etc., when we fail to speak because it is politically incorrect, when
we pay farmers and other entities to not produce, all we are doing is falling deeper
and deeper into the annals of a mediocre society. A society that if unchecked,
will continue to fall and in time, all that we will have is a another failing third
world country and the United States as we know it, will be no more..

America today suffers
from what I would call, “a malaise of the status-quo.” This is doing business as usual, without ever
checking at the collateral damage that is being done from such complacency. I say, this country has seen and heard enough partisan
bickering where nothing is done to accomplish the work of the people. We all heard the phrase before, “The
do-nothing Congress.” Well, what do
think we have today in Washington? I
say, encourage bi-partisan discussion, let us hear what rational people have to
say, discuss intelligently instead of resorting to name-calling and the
politics of destruction.

Both, democrats and
republicans are guilty of such behavior because when it pertains to partisan
politics, both are guilty of giving away America. Let us once and for all include some kind of sanity
into the daily discussion of issues. Stop
the bleeding by disallowing frivolous spending in the form of, wasted and
un-necessary social programs, handouts to the rich, giving away billions to
interest groups, subsidies to the farm industry, bailouts to businesses,
corporations and oil companies. It is
time for action, it is time for fiscal sanity, it is time for the American to
get what they truly deserve; a standard of living worth of the country that I first
saw and remember.