When did we become a country that begged for handouts? When did we stop asking ourselves, “What can I do for my country” whether “what can my county do for me”? When did the dollar become unstable? When did our name become a world joke? When did we stop valuing excellence and instead rewarding mediocrity? When did it become fashionable to take from those who earn and forcibly give to those who do not? When did common sense become so rare? What do they put in our water, or teach us at school to create such unproductive, self righteous, citizens?

Why did we come to this new land so long ago? Was it to escape government and religious persecution? Maybe so, yet it seems we’ve become the parents we rebelled against. Now as the child I look around and see parents I do not like. The lack of freedom is appalling. A penalty or charge for any step outside the box. Yet I am willing to fight to achieve my dreams, hopes, and expectations. I see others who are ok with more taxes, and more rules in hope they may get dinner for free or out of that bad mortgage.

I am amazed at our distain of failure. No child left behind, everyone’s a winner, a politically correct tip toe around any form of common sense or hurt feeling. I wonder when we decided life was no longer painful. Birth can’t be painful, life can’t be painful, death can’t be painful…or so our culture would have us believe. It has gone so far as that life isn’t just pain free it has the expectation to be pleasurable. An inalienable right to life…for free.

However, life is hard. Yes, its graced with bounty and pleasure but should be at the end of hard work. Life is a fight, and those who would have you believe otherwise are hiding the secret to it all. When we put truth in this little jar, way up high, where it hard to see…there is no wonder we’ve went astray. So let give the right of everything to everyone, and not hurt anyone’s feelings. Let’s dress up the dirty truth, the bloody, ugly truth of life and pass out happy cool-aid to everyone. Let’s reward poor planning, and the lack of hard work.

Yet I wonder when this all started. I suppose it’s a complicated tangle of history. An over stimulated altruistic feminine force, not wanting her children to feel pain. I am pessimistic that this utopian world we are trying to create is as lustrous as we would all hope.

I am a naturalist, and I think we can find our truths in nature if we look hard enough. We can look to our past and gain so much wisdom. There are models that work and those that do not. I think we all need to be real with each other. Throw it on the table and deal with reality; instead we pussy foot around everything to save others feelings.

Our countries ills are simple to fix yet not politically correct. I don’t see the battle between, socialism and capitalism, just common sense versus feels good political policy. If we want our schools to perform, families must. For families to survive adults have to grow up. If you want adults to pay taxes let them be in charge of where it goes, or do not collect taxes. If you want to end or prevent many wars, live and let live. Be self sufficient and sovereign. If you want to protect our borders, shoot to kill. If they make it through offer no services. All of a sudden our economy gets a boost too. As a California resident with an abysmal state budget issue, I think we need to get out the common sense knife. Cut it all and let the system rebuild. Let people pay for their medical services. The insurance companies and government inflated doctor’s prices, it’s not an open market. Take it all away and let it rebuild.

We are unhappy with the system, so we just make it bigger. Why not tear it up and start over. Oh, that would be painful! My stance is that the fear of pain will strap us with unimaginable burden and loss of freedom.