Political Forum - US & World Political Discussion Forums - View Single Post - The steady decline of the American way of life

Joe Terrazzini · 05-06-2008, 03:13 PM

During a conversation with my grandmother of 85 years I realized just how far down the cultural ladder we have slid. She grew up in on of the poorest towns in New Jersey. Her, her sister, brother and mother lived in a shack with a coal stove, an out house and water from a pump that was 20 yards away. He mother used to send her down to the railroad tracks everyday to pick up coal that had fallen from the rail cars (she was five). Needless to say they were quite poor. At one point I asked her what The Great Depression was like. She blew me away with her answer. "We were so poor we didn't even notice", was her answer. Stating that it wasn't till after the fact that she had heard of this "Depression". During the conversation she longed for those days of abstract poverty. I was puzzled to hear her painting such a rosy picture of what seemed to me to be deplorable conditions. When I questioned her on this she simply stated, "We were poor but we were happy".

Happy.

Something I see very little from my fellow Americans who I interact with every day. It seems as thought the "American Dream" has morphed into the "American Nightmare". I don't pretend to know the reason why or even imply that I have a solution but the palpable unhappiness that I feel from people seems to be the symptom of a much bigger problem. We have allowed ourselves to become lulled into submission and have accepted this sorry existence as a way of life. Broken families, rampant drug use, the loss of simple virtues like honesty, compassion and goodwill are all but lost. Just the simple fact that Paris Hilton's most recent scandal holds much more interest to the average American than the varied world plights of hunger, genocide or political upheaval speaks to our values. Don't agree? Just turn on the TV. The networks are only giving us what we are asking for. Between the reality shows, MTV's "Cribs", the spread of legalized gambling and a whole host of distractive items and events we seem to have lost the will to become better than we were yesterday. Stagnation leads to a whole host of negative results. Our seeming disinterest in the political process has left our present government with the notion that they can pretty much do whatever they want. They seem to know that we might bitch about it but the latest Hollywood scandal will soon extinguish any rise against the machine. We are becoming sub-human and it is spiraling out of control. Fear, distrust and isolation has replaced love, trust and inclusion. I have been a willing participant in this downward spiral for quite some time. However it wasn't until I saw that my young children are become a more amplified version of that lesser self that I snapped out of the "National Trance" and began to resist.

I'm here to sound the alarm.

We are under attack. Not from Islamic extremists but from that lesser, lazy, uncaring form of humanism that we have allowed to dominate us. Examine your life and the lives of those around you. Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Do you recognize that this is the most exciting time in human history to be alive? Or are you simple detached , unhappy or waiting for that distant day to come where its all going to be alright?

We can stop this if we choose. Our country was founded by people that believed in the unending creativity that exists within the heart of every man and woman that walks this planet. Call upon that greater self to say no to the distractions and yes to the dynamic human spirit that is screaming to be heard. Lets start over and give our kids something to be proud of.

Do it now.

05-06-2008, 03:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Joe Terrazzini Reeve Join Date: May 2008 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 52 Country: Country:	The steady decline of the American way of life During a conversation with my grandmother of 85 years I realized just how far down the cultural ladder we have slid. She grew up in on of the poorest towns in New Jersey. Her, her sister, brother and mother lived in a shack with a coal stove, an out house and water from a pump that was 20 yards away. He mother used to send her down to the railroad tracks everyday to pick up coal that had fallen from the rail cars (she was five). Needless to say they were quite poor. At one point I asked her what The Great Depression was like. She blew me away with her answer. "We were so poor we didn't even notice", was her answer. Stating that it wasn't till after the fact that she had heard of this "Depression". During the conversation she longed for those days of abstract poverty. I was puzzled to hear her painting such a rosy picture of what seemed to me to be deplorable conditions. When I questioned her on this she simply stated, "We were poor but we were happy". Happy. Something I see very little from my fellow Americans who I interact with every day. It seems as thought the "American Dream" has morphed into the "American Nightmare". I don't pretend to know the reason why or even imply that I have a solution but the palpable unhappiness that I feel from people seems to be the symptom of a much bigger problem. We have allowed ourselves to become lulled into submission and have accepted this sorry existence as a way of life. Broken families, rampant drug use, the loss of simple virtues like honesty, compassion and goodwill are all but lost. Just the simple fact that Paris Hilton's most recent scandal holds much more interest to the average American than the varied world plights of hunger, genocide or political upheaval speaks to our values. Don't agree? Just turn on the TV. The networks are only giving us what we are asking for. Between the reality shows, MTV's "Cribs", the spread of legalized gambling and a whole host of distractive items and events we seem to have lost the will to become better than we were yesterday. Stagnation leads to a whole host of negative results. Our seeming disinterest in the political process has left our present government with the notion that they can pretty much do whatever they want. They seem to know that we might bitch about it but the latest Hollywood scandal will soon extinguish any rise against the machine. We are becoming sub-human and it is spiraling out of control. Fear, distrust and isolation has replaced love, trust and inclusion. I have been a willing participant in this downward spiral for quite some time. However it wasn't until I saw that my young children are become a more amplified version of that lesser self that I snapped out of the "National Trance" and began to resist. I'm here to sound the alarm. We are under attack. Not from Islamic extremists but from that lesser, lazy, uncaring form of humanism that we have allowed to dominate us. Examine your life and the lives of those around you. Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? Do you recognize that this is the most exciting time in human history to be alive? Or are you simple detached , unhappy or waiting for that distant day to come where its all going to be alright? We can stop this if we choose. Our country was founded by people that believed in the unending creativity that exists within the heart of every man and woman that walks this planet. Call upon that greater self to say no to the distractions and yes to the dynamic human spirit that is screaming to be heard. Lets start over and give our kids something to be proud of. Do it now.