When Times were Tough
Just look at life from in front
Grandma and grandpa used to be the center of the family. It did not matter which side of the family, they were the hub. Go to Grandpa's house for holidays, go to church with Grandma on Easter. Eat your lovely dinner, but the kids were set aside at the "kid's table."
The problem today is that we have a larger kids' table. The US Government is grandma and grandpa. They have decided what is best for the rest of us. They have made the decisions, decided what we are going to eat (remove trans-fats from fast food restaurants), they have decided what kind of car we should drive (global warming fears) and they have even decided who should work and who should not. They have been charging us rent to live on our own land (taxes) and they are forcing the elders (corporations and small business owners) to share what they have with their younger siblings (the unemployed, the indigent, the illegal alien).
I remember Grandma's house. It always smelled sweet like pie and cake, and wonderful like fresh baked bread and meats, ham, turkey, and roast. Everyone laughed, everyone loved, there were many hugs but there were rules. The rules were to be excellent with each other, get along, play nice and help set the table and clean up afterwards. The rules were straight-forward and taught us the importance of helping and lending a hand, but still gave us the ability to choose.
My Aunt would say that pie was part of dinner and if we wanted pie we should get it, even if we had not eaten beans and mashed potatoes. The holiday was a treat and we were allowed to enjoy it. Our holidays are now even structured by the government. We are not allowed to say Christmas, nor to put a nativity scene in our front yard. We are not allowed to smile at our neighbor for fear they may think we are bearing our teeth to attack. Heaven forbid that we should wish to help someone work for their money instead of handing them a five dollar bill.
I wish for the days of big gardens, and big family holidays. I wish for the time when church meant something. I don't even have church any more. It has been tainted by the greed and bad taste of greedy men who say they are "of the cloth." Who's cloth, exactly? That of the tax man who is now trying to decide whether you should also pay taxes?
Robin Hood, mythical as he may be, had the right idea. Rich should not get rich off the blood and sweat of those who work. The Sheriff of Nottingham lives in the White House. He is robbing from the hard work of the citizens of the region and pocketing what he chooses in order to fund his own prospects--overseas prospects that will enrich his own life. The US government is not a profit center, it is supposed to protect and serve, not pilage and rape. He chooses to believe he's being Robin Hood, taking from larger corporations and rich folks, but his math is skewed. Tax a single person who makes over $200,000 a year, and a family that makes more than $250,000 a year. It COSTS that much to raise a family properly. Everything is more expensive.
I wish to plant my garden, sew my own clothes (they'd probably stay together better anyway) and make my own life. I wish for the simpler times when people knew who they were and knew who the bad guys are. I wish for the time when the bad guys were not left in control, but the guys in the white hats would always come in and rescue us. We need to carefully find our guy in the white hat. We need him today. We need to be sure we are not being fooled into getting another Sheriff of Nottingham who believes himself to be Robin Hood.
How sad our great country is today. We are victims of our own ignorance. Teach your children well so that this mistake does not occur in the next generation. Our only hope is to go forward now.
