THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW

I am what is called a child of the 60's. The 60's were a turbulent time. Our President, John F. Kennedy, was killed in Texas. There was controversy over who killed him from the very start of the incident. There was a guy in Texas named Billie Sol Estes who was charged with some kind of fraud involving grain storage, grain that was not there. The Sergeant Major of the army was charged with getting rake-offs from the sale of government surplus. And then there was the war in Vietnam. Crime and corruption was everywhere. Young men were dying daily in Vietnam and the young of the nation were highly disturbed about it. Youth went to the streets and demonstrated and fought with police. The news coverage was huge. "Hey, Hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?" Johnson backed out of the presidency and Richard Milhouse Nixon, a Quaker by rearing, was elected President. The killing in Vietnam went on. Kids were shot on a campus is Ohio. Bobby Kennedy was shot dead in Los Angeles. Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis. Other people died for various sick and demented reasons. It was like a battle of good vs evil. The lines were drawn and both sides got to it. Rebellion among the youth was rampant. The music, the newspapers and the movies were all involved, one way or another. It was a very interesting time in our history.

But the things you did not talk about doing was working for the government and joining the system. You could get a job with the Post Office, as it was called then, but that was it. Anything else was selling out to the enemy. Joining the system was a 9 to 5 job, with a house in the suburbs, a plastic wife and 2 children. Social norms were very rigid back in those days. Anyone who thought much about what was going on in this country rejected the social norms. The government was walking on pins and needles. They did not want to mess with the people. The people were too easily aroused and their children were too prone to street violence.

But things changed. One thing that changed was the availability of credit. You want to go to college? The government would loan you the money. You need money for little nuisance purchases, just mail this filled out form in and you'll get a credit card. You want a car? We'll put you in the drivers seat right now! And then it was the house. The house in the suburbs with the plastic wife and the two kids. And for all of this crap a generation sold out and gladly accepted it's ball and chain. The good life was possible for those who played the game.

New terms were entered into the American lexicon like Globalism, Diversity, Multiculturalism, and others. We had new things to occupy our time and energy exploring. We were on a trip into what we were told was the Promised Land. Our national conversation was what the TV said we should say. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and then years were upon us. And before you knew it, the nation had been sold out. The crooks were totally in control. So today we sit in our little homes and watch the misdeeds of men play out right in front of our eyes. We see very rich and powerful men trying to milk our national money, and our children's and our children's childrens money. And they are doing it with impunity. They have the cooperation of the media, the political parties and the businesses of this country.

But I escaped while the getting was good. I had a God who smiled upon me and led me out of this morass. And I thank him for it, most every day. I live where men worked and sweated and dared to buy their own property as a group and not as individuals. Back in those days there was no chance for a poor guy to have what I have. But the group could do it. But in order to have this you could not sell out. You had to remain true to your cause. You had to remain true to the group. And you had to remain true to God. Most of these principles have been eradicated from society. Buried so deeply that no one ever thinks about them. But the day is coming when men will revert to the old ways to have a decent life on this earth. The new villages and communities will start and they will grow and they will show mankind that all is not lost. If you can get started, you better do it!

Stay alive.

Michael

mboone@rtccom.net