The United States of America is imperfect (as are her leaders and citizens), and we might fill volumes criticizing her (them). On the other hand, she is arguably the greatest country in the history of the world, and we might go farther by protecting her and the foundation that helped her become the greatest country yet. And of what is made the foundation of America? What conditions helped create her greatness, which if protected and enhanced might make her greater still? May we suggest four cornerstones of her foundation that we need to preserve and enhance:
Cornerstone #2: Preserving a Positive Future for our Children. The second cornerstone of the USA is that we are far-sighted enough to leave the country in good shape for our posterity. The founders said that they were creating a new government to "secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." A country can only stay free if it can think far enough into the future to make a good long-term plan to keep its children free.
This cornerstone is in jeopardy as evidenced by the following: The massive national debt that we are bequeathing to our children as their "inheritance". Debt is a form of bondage, slavery and servitude. It is not freedom. We have sold our children down the river. Many of us are focused only on making it to the next paycheck, let alone thinking about our children's freedom from debt in the future. We don't want to pay higher taxes. We don't want any of our benefits cut. We send these messages to our congress and representatives, and they can't agree on a budget because there is no way to do what we want them to do. We want the impossible, which is to continue to live above our means without it ever catching up to us. By our mandate, they increase the debt that our children will have to shoulder. We don't want to face the music, so we push the weight of the chains of slavery onto our children.
What you can do to protect this cornerstone: Help America wake up and stand on her own two feet and take her lumps like a man...er, woman. As other countries have had to undergo austerity measures to manage debt, we have seen rioting and unrest. When we have to endure hardships and austerity, let us have an attitude of strength and fortitude, with trust in our ability to meet our challenges and best them. Let's do something different, new and American! Like write our congress and representatives and demand that our benefits be cut, and our taxes be raised. Never heard of people doing that? That's because we haven't been thinking about the long-term freedom of our children. When we listen to politicians, let's cheer for those that are balancing the budget, instead of buying into the fear that the "fiscal cliff" is going to be our doom (meaning we shouldn't make any budget cuts). Don't buy into fear. Believe that America can have a balanced budget. And that's only the first step. Even with a balanced budget, we still have a whopping debt that we are financing and leaving to our children. That's not good enough. We actually need to pay that debt off (you know, reduce the principal, not just pay the interest on it). That means paying off all that "free" stuff that we already used up. That means paying more and getting less. This is really hard to do, and will require us to be well tempered. We have have heard Tom Brokaw call the generation of World War II "The Greatest Generation." I say, let's call it the greatest generation "so far". The greatest generation in my mind is the one that can leave a free and prosperous nation, debt-free, to their children, and that generation is yet to come. We have to face the music sometime; it is unavoidable. The sooner the better, because if sooner, we avoid getting into more debt and making things worse. Let us be the generation that stands up and starts the process of turning this ship around. As you help the USA prepare for the measures of austerity that are unavoidably before us, there is one rather critical thing to learn: how to produce your own food. People can share housing, can carpool to share gas and cars, and cut corners on all kinds of luxuries, but people need food. So plant a garden. Plant a tree. Get some chickens. Even if you live in a high rise apartment building, put some vegetable grow boxes in your windows, or under some grow lights. And get all your friends to do the same. A people that can produce food and survive are much more likely to be even-tempered under austerity measures. Stand up America, and stand on your own two feet. Free your children from bondage!
