Is her dominance as a world power over? Has she jumped the shark, so to speak? Has the sleeping giant lost her teeth? Some might argue that America is on her last legs. Saddled with a multi-trillion dollar deficit and rapidly losing the ability to pay her bills, America is slowly sinking. She appears to be heading the way of Egypt, the Holy Roman Empire, and Great Britain. Once they were the most powerful nations in the world and now they are all but shadows of what they used to be. Is America the Next Great Used-to-be?
There are a number of reasons I ask this question. But before I get to them, I want to first say that I am a proud American. I am glad that God saw fit to place me in this great country, despite her faults. But history has shown us time and time again that nations rise and nations fall. Just as there are no exceptions to death (Rapture aside), America will have no exception to her demise. The question becomes when will it be and will it be during our lifetime?
The first thing I want to discuss is America’s mounting debt and her ability not to pay it. As I wrote in my book, For Such a Time as This: The Darkness Cometh, people should live within their means. This means that we are not to spend more than we bring in. If we do, we are in debt, and thus at the mercy of the debtor. America has constantly spent more than she brought in. She is now at the mercy of her debtors who could call her loans at any time. There are those who speculate that it won’t be long before the dollar is no longer the world’s currency. If that happens, our prices will skyrocket. Gas will be $6/gal. I don’t even want to speculate on food.
Our justice system is overtaxed. The jails are overcrowded. Some jurisdictions are giving slaps on the wrists or even releasing those who have committed small crimes and misdemeanors and those who have good behavior. The courts are so overcrowded; it takes over a year before a case goes to trial. Casey Anthony was tried for a crime that was committed in 2008—so much for a speedy trial. Two men were executed in Arkansas for crimes that were committed in 1997, 24 years after their conviction.
Why are the courts overcrowded? That’s for another post but I will say that part of it has to do with the decay or our society’s morals. As a society, we protect the whale and abort babies. Profanity is widespread on television. Words we couldn’t utter in our parents’ presence is broadcast loudly every night on broadcast television. Sex is too. Nearly every sitcom is sex-oriented in nature. Sex is promoted through billboards, television advertisements, magazines, and a host of other sources. Pornographic internet sites are easy to access regardless of age restrictions.
Our education system was at one time the rival of the world. Now, it is on the brink of collapse. Years ago, I had a friend from Arabia who told me that they learn in high school the things we learn in college. Texas’ education system I know is messed up because their teachers teach not to necessarily broaden the minds of its students but help their students pass the TAKS test, the Texas Standardized Test. Because of budget cuts, school programs such as band, drama, and sports are being cut and teachers are being laid off. This will cause overcrowded classrooms and teacher stress, resulting in problems in teacher retention and recruitment. As if the teachers don’t already have enough problems with classroom discipline.
Our government is leaderless and aimless. I believe in supporting our president, regardless as what political party he (or she) belongs to, as I wrote this in my book, For Such a Time as This, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t criticize the work he (or she) is doing. When Obama was elected president, he announced that change had come to America. Either I don’t see the change, the change has not come, or his version of change was different from mine because things seem to have gone from bad to worse. To his credit, Obama is not solely responsible the multi-trillion dollar debt this nation has, but what has he done to lower it? What has he done to limit big government? What happened to his line-by-line audit of the U.S. budget? He military people are resigning/retiring, presumably because they don’t agree with the way he is running this ‘war on terror.’ There appears not to be a cohesive strategy. I’m still looking for the green jobs that were promised. Apparently, he hasn’t even started on this issue because he has not blamed the Republicans for blocking their creation.
Republicans are not without excuse. When Bush was in office, things were not much better. We were fighting two wars (one of which no one wanted). Our military was poorly equipped. No exit strategy was planned. According to Obama, there was no way to win the peace. Under both Bush and Obama, our commerce is suffering. Due poor leadership and the recession, businesses are closing, people are losing their jobs and their homes, and we are importing more than we are exporting.
The problem with our political system is that the democrats are trying to get some of the wealth the Republicans have and the Republicans are trying to hold on to it. I do not subscribe to this ‘redistribution of wealth’ that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity talk about but I do believe that those with wealth should pay their fair share of taxes. Let’s be honest, we all know that people hide money in tax shelters so they don’t have to pay taxes on them. If for no other reason, why are they called ‘tax shelters’?
I also do not subscribe to entitlement programs. I believe them to be another form of enslavement. As I heard Matt Hagee say Sunday, the more help the government gives, the more control their take. Those who can work should work. Those who can’t, perhaps should get some sort of assistance. Instead, our government is giving millions of dollars to able-bodied people who choose not to work, who choose not to be productive, then they wonder why they’re broke. They reward sinful living by paying money to women who bear multiple children out of wedlock. The fact that they do so is bad enough, but that they charge the government for doing it is unthinkable. I think the government should require a license for any unwed person to have a child. They should be able to tell the government how they are going to support this child. In lieu of the license, they agree not to request welfare for the child. If they have a child without a license and request welfare, they should be put in jail and the child put up for adoption.
I know this sounds harsh, but until people are forced to become responsible for themselves, they never will do it. The only other option, end all welfare programs, except in certain circumstances. Either low-income children will start looking like the children of Ethiopia or the parents will be forced to find another way to support them (or face jail). Otherwise, the parent should lose custody. I recognize that exceptions need to be made but this should be the rule overall. Those who do should not be required to take care of those who don’t (not can’t).
With a nation with so many flaws, can we really call ourselves a world leader? Just because we have a large military with big weapons, should we be called a world power? Those in a leadership position should lead by example. The only example we seem to be leading by is what not to do.
America can be a great nation once again. We need leaders who will stand up and do the right thing.. We need someone with vision and the ability to get things done, regardless of party affiliation. We need people who will not accept the status quo but give voice to the things they are concerned about. This is what I do. I let the president, the mayor, everyone knows when things should be improved or when I think they could do a better job. A nation is only as strong as its people. Right now, I don’t know if the government is leading the people or the other way around.
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