Going Backwards Down a Gravel Road

I've read a couple of articles recently that talk about the idea that a large percentage of Americans now think that today's children will not have an America as powerful or as prosperous as when they become adults. I'm not sure that I agree with that assessment. I'm not even sure how you quantify it. And I'm not convinced that any feelings I might have that would agree with that opinion aren't just the normal musings of a person "a little" past middle age, or maybe just reflective of my current disgust with our socialist leadership and the long term damage they are inflicting.

Then, a couple of weeks ago when we were back at the Northern Compound in Michigan, I heard a news report that one area county had decided that rather than fix a few local paved roads which had deteriorated badly, they were going to revert them to gravel. Yep. No money, and no longer a priority apparently. Grind up whats left of the old, tired asphalt, and take them back to 1950-something condition.

I assume that you are starting to see the connection I'm making here.

At one time, not that long ago, we tamed thousands and thousands of old country roads with asphalt, guard rails, graded shoulders and real bridges across little creeks, not just big steel culverts. During that same era, we also built an entire interstate system across the country. Most of this was done in about a thirty or forty-year period. Apparently we had the money and the will to do these things. Why do we not have the same things required just to maintain them?

I know. This is a small point to be making in the bigger question, but I made the connection in my head anyway. How and why is it, that we could we ride down a nice, smooth, and paved country road in our new 1965 Pontiac, but now, we need to rattle down the same road in our 2010 something-or-other, on gravel ??! That isn't what I call progress, and in fact, might point to exactly the kind of thing that indicates a country going the wrong way.

Of course we could, and should, expand the issue beyond just a few country roads to really consider our entire infrastructure of roads, bridges, sewers, water-mains, etc., etc.. When we do that, then the question of what we will leave our children is a very legitimate one, and I'm afraid of the answer. But why is it that way, and does anyone really care?

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste...or Used to Be

Check it out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100822/ap_on_re_us/us_taj_mahal_schools

In one of the school districts that can least afford it, the idea of style over substance, or in other words, building monuments instead of minds, is almost criminal here. Not only does this beg for a change of priorities in how kids learn, but it also screams another reason why taxpayers MUST take America back.

How the hell did any of us who grew up (and learned) in those "cinder block jails" of the 60's and 70's ever amount to anything?!!

It's No Excuse

Last Tuesday, Omar Thornton walked into an employee disciplinary hearing for him, and began shooting. In the end, he killed eight and then himself.

After the rampage, and before he killed himself, he left a 9-1-1 call describing how he and other black workers for the beer distributor company had been racially harassed. This apparently was his "excuse".

After reflecting on this tragedy, it occurs to me that as actual acts of racism in this country becomes less and less problematic, versus say, a century ago, it is being used more and more as an excuse for other acts of social sickness. Actually in two ways: First, for those who are truly racist in their minds, a person's race becomes the predominant or sometimes only reason not to like someone. Or worse, to actually abuse or hurt someone. But that is the textbook definition of it after all and in that aspect, is nothing new or different about the human condition that has existed forever.

But the second way it is used is in more as a convenience. Convenient because it is now more and more fabricated. Even when it is present in a human relationship of some kind, it is often exploited. Even the president of the United States has done it, in his famous, uninformed and malicious comments about the Cambridge, MA police and their dealings with his Harvard professor pal. It was convenient to quickly accuse the officers of racism, when in fact, none occurred. A "teachable moment" it definitely was.

In the story of Omar Thornton, I believe that racism was a convenient excuse. At the very least a gross exploitation.

Thornton had a very good job. He made excellent union wages to drive a beer truck. I have personal knowledge of what these people make, and it's one of those typically outrageous salaries where unions have succeeded to a point beyond what is in their own long-term, best interests.

But, even with that, Thornton decided to break workplace rules and the law, and steal, then resell some of the beer he hauled. Stupid. He was guilty, knew he'd been caught, and showed up at his hearing to hear of his fate. Yet he wasn't going down at all. He was going to take the others down, and indeed he did.

I've only felt the sting of racism a few times in my life. They occurred as a kid, when I attended a mostly black and Hispanic inner-city school. As a white kid, I was in the small minority and so it was inevitable I guess. But even so, I don't claim to understand what many blacks live through in the workplace and in other settings.

But I know this; no matter what the degree of intimidation was, it is not enough to justify killing eight co-workers. Nor is it enough to kill yourself over...and leave a grieving family of your own. And why did Thornton express his issue only after getting caught stealing? These days, a company lives in abject fear of lawsuits driven by inappropriate behavior by it's management. One who has a legitimate claim about being a victim of discrimination, as Thornton so claimed, has only to hire a decent lawyer, and stands a very good chance of being compensated for his maltreatment.

Don't buy into Thorton's sad excuse. Ignore the inevitable speeches from the Sharpton's and Jackson's. This guy was sick. Really sick. His personal issues went way deeper than being verbally harassed.

No more racism excuses for thugs, crooks, malcontents, and the mentally ill. It's false accusation only helps breed the real thing.