The America I Knew

I grew up in a small suburban town just north of Milwaukee, WI in the 1970's and 1980's. My parents were middle-class hard working folks who always provided a safe and loving home for my brother and myself. It was, by most standards, your typical small town with a McDonald's and a Ben Franklin store and several churches of varying denominations. The elementary and middle school were just a block up the street from our first house and the baseball field and basketball courts were easily accessible for kids like myself to play all day long in the summer. So what is the America I knew?

The America I knew was a place where a kid could hope and dream the biggest dreams, and if he put his heart and mind to it, could achieve them and more. It was a place where neighbors knew one another and helped out in times of need. It was a place where families ate dinner together around the kitchen table and talked about their days. It was a place where families gathered at church on Sunday mornings to listen to the sermon and fellowship with their Christian brethren. It was a place where you learned right from wrong and accepted the consequences for bad choices. It was a place where you put in an honest days work and were rewarded for it with a decent living and benefits.  It was a place where the American flag was respected and hung high with pride. It was a place where a kid could and would play all day outside during summer vacation. It was a place you felt safe and secure even when the rest of the world was far from it.

The America I knew is not the America I see today. The America I see today is full of envy and jealousy. It is a place where laziness has replaced hard work and determination. It is a place where half of the people prefer a government handout and expect it, instead of working to attain a decent level of wealth. It is a place where single-parent families are much more common and a family dinner is few and far between. It is a place where a vocal minority has led the silent majority down the road of moral relativism and thus to a path of moral decay. It is a place where socialism is gaining popularity while capitalism is constantly under fierce attacks. It is a place where one nation under God is now a divided nation with many false Gods. It is a place where you fear an enemy attack and that sense of safety and security has been greatly diminished in an increasingly unsafe world with numerous bad actors eager to bring harm to the United States. It is a place where people increasingly ask what the country can do for them instead of what they can do for the country. It is a place where class warfare and racial tensions have become the norm. It is a fractured republic in need of a mending of the heart, mind, and spirit.

Where is the America I knew and loved? The America of hopes and dreams and an unshakeable spirit and the shining light on the hill? Our Founding Fathers fought too hard to throw this grand experiment away. We have had peaks and valleys throughout our brief history as a nation and have managed to muddle through. The next several years will be pivotal in whether or not we can get back to the America I knew. If we choose to ignore our Founding Fathers and our Constitution and head towards Marxism, then the America I knew will definitely be lost for a generation or more. If you believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and believe in the Founding Fathers and their unique vision, then now is the time to stand up and revive our republic. One man can't save our nation, but a people who want to be free and vibrant, can indeed join together and make this country a shining light on the hill and a beacon of liberty. The America I knew can be found again but it is up to each one of you to help turn our republic back from this ill-fated course.  The decision rests with us, my fellow Americans. What is your choice?