We are abandoning what made America great

 My father was an immigrant.  He did it legally; he got citizens to guarantee a job, filled out all the necessary paperwork and waited for approval.  He came to this country with hopes, a job to earn his keep, and a desire to make a life for himself and to help his mother (a widow) and his sister.

He also came with a vision of America.  He often told me that he knew people here were different... from many parts of the world.  But he also said they (and He) came here to become a part of what America was... a blending of many nationalities that came with a common desire to become "better" than they could in their "home" country.

Dad respected his birth country, Norway, and honored the people there.  BUT he always pointed to his citizenship papers and was proud to say he was an American... not a Norwegian-American, but just... American.  He came here not to reproduce Norway, but to become a part of what America is all about.  And he saw people joining in pride to be part of that whole.  

Sure, many nationalities upon arrival banded together to make their adjustment easier, even as their children went to school and became proficient in English, history, and learned how to succeed in America... and to be proud of belonging.  

My father loved music and he often made the analogy comparing America to an orchestra.  All classes of instruments are different, and the players have different abilities as well as individual attributes.  But they come together knowing the purpose is to advance the performance of the orchestra.  They are segregated by instrumentation, they play different parts, they interpret music in varying ways.  But all that individuality is voluntarily subjugated to the conductor's direction and interpretation to create a whole... a whole musical offering that sees the beauty of the unified effort and vision.

THAT was the America that welcomed (well, mostly.  Even "square heads" were joked about and not always welcome in the beginning) his presence and his willingness to "take a chance" and depend on his own self-worth and the quality of that effort.

Today, many in America want each instrument to not only "be in charge" of their music, but to declare that to not get their own way was an insult and a lack of respect.  That seems true within the instrument category and withing all of the instruments in what used to be an orchestra.  That "orchestra" has turned into a group of anarchists producing chaos instead of music and not even being in the same room without throwing words (or worse) at each other.  The Conductor has been "cancelled" and two attitudes have taken over:

• victimhood, and
• tribal narcissism

Add to that a foolish and false belief that there are no such things as consequences, and the result is disintegration of all that enabled America to become the great nation it once was, as President Reagan once described it, "a shining city on a hill" for the rest of the world.  It (or at least the politicians and self-described leaders) has destroyed itself.

Just as chaos of individualism absolutely destroys the purpose and existence of an orchestra, so the current narcissistic victimhood tribalism ideology will destroy the United States of America.

Sadly, Reagon's city on a hill is being destroyed from within.  I miss it, and my father would feel even more disappointed were he still alive.

The Smartest person I have ever known...

I have a University degree.  I have a Doctorate.  I have known many people with multiple degrees, as well as people who successfully ran large companies.  I have also known those in the Academic World, studying, ad nauseam, the intricacies of various parts of our world, both physical and mental.  I have also spoken to those who were homeless, those who begged on the street and at traffic lights.  Each and every one of those people taught me something that I had not known before speaking with them.  Everyone we meet has the potential to teach us something if we take the time to listen without pre-judging.  Yet they each pale in the mental presence of the smartest person I have ever met or known:  my father.

My father was born in Norway.  His father died in a mining accident when he was very young, leaving his mother and sister in very dire financial circumstances.  He had to quite school after the 6th grade in order to help earn money so the family would not starve.  That experience formed his attitude about life forever.  He had suffered poverty.  He grew into a man who was generous to a fault, yet very, very aware that one needs to be frugal and consider that you never looked at any opportunity with an eye to "what can I make?" but rather to first ask, "what can I lose?", followed by "Can  afford to lose it?".  Only then would he evaluate the possible gain.  When recessions hit, he saw them earlier than most around him and by the time it was obvious to all, he had explained that our family was going to have to do with less, that we were going to keep as much in savings as possible, cutting costs and doing everything possible to be ready if everything "went south."

My father came to this country in 1921, not speaking the language.  He could not tell anyone that he was trained as an electrician.  The saw that he was from Norway and assumed that he was a carpenter and offered him a job laying hardwood floors.  He worked hard, learned well, grew to be a foreman in the firm, stayed employed, albeit at a lower wage, through the depression.  He quickly agreed to take lower pay, understanding that some pay was better than no pay at all.  Again, the experience underscored and intensified his belief that he had to take responsibility for watching out for his own economic security.  He started his own business in the suburbs of New York City (actually, at that time it was "the country", before people started living outside the city and commuting...it was mostly farmland), and always lived within his means...and trained me to do the same.

I have survived pretty well over the years...mostly by applying the rules of life taught to me by my father.  I did this when I was young out of knee-jerk training, even as I thought my father was behind the times.  But as I grew older and saw the wisdom of being self-reliant wherever possible, I began consciously considering "what would Dad have said about this" whenever making decisions for me or for my family.  The only time I have ever been disappointed was whenever I failed to follow that remembered quiet voice in my mind.

Thank you, Dad.  You prove, as do so many who came to this country with real life experience rather than letters after your name, that being smart is not formal learning...it is application of the practical experiences in our lives, using them...even the failures...to make the future better.

Japan...would WE be prepared?

No.  Not a hard answer, is it?  But most people I speak to talk about the government being broke,...or stretched too thin.  This all may be true, but the primary reason we are not, and never again will be, prepared is that we have lost the sense of self-reliance and self-preparedness that our parents (well, at least MY parents) had. They never stopped drilling into me the idea that no one else's lifestyle mattered...you needed to afford your own. Keep up with the Jones'? They didn't understand the term and when I explained it, they just laughed and labeled it insanity. You lived within your own budget; you put aside money for "rainy" days; you make decisions and then lived with the consequences...no "blame someone else" mentality was allowed. I remember once I got into trouble...not for doing anything wrong, but because I was hanging around with some "friends" who, indeed, had done something wrong. I got a suspension out of it and complained. My father said it was my fault..."you are known by the company you keep and if you want to be highly thought of, don't hang around with them...there are consequences for bad choices, so don't complain to me" 

Today, Americans are wrapped up in "blaming someone else" and expecting the government (or "someone") to bail them out of trouble. They don't even TRY to prepare for "rainy" days...they are too busy keeping up with the Jones'. Smoke and mirrors and the illusion that there are no consequences. Stupidity is the norm for the day throughout America.