Next Rant

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And in conclusion We've all sat through long boring lectures. We tend to snap to attention when we hear those words: And in Conclusion. Now that I have your attention  I can begin my rant? The American industrial machine is still the the most powerful machine in the history of the world. We were born in the aftermath of what should rightly be called "the First World War." We called that war "The French and Indian War. Our British cousins call the war "The Seven Years War". It was the first war to be fought by countries on various continents  throughout the world. The war brought to the forefront  Americans like Washington,  Franklin and Jefferson.  The war laid down the birth place of the American Revolution  The industrial revolution spawned two children, each designed to remedy the abhorrent conditions of the working class: Socialism (with it's political cousin communism) and Free Market Economy. Socialism is  built on the negative aspect that people are unable to manage their own destiny. Under socialism wealth is shared by all and those with marketable skills are guaranteed a style of life that compares favorably with everyone else. A free market economy approaches a meritocracy. Those with marketable skills are rewarded for those skills. Are there inequities? Of course. But unlike socialism or any form planned economy, incentive is rewarded and therefore flourishes. Today our nation is under fire from within and without. Op/ed's in many of our leading newspapers talk about American power In the past tense. We are portrayed as another mercantile empire that got rich off of the sweat and labor of the poor. Over 58,000 of my brother and sister veterans are memorialized on a wall in the DC mall. This wall is a memorial to a war that We Did Win in spite of the actions of the nay-Sayers and their intellectual parents. I Include the current president of the United States, Barack Obama in that group. To the progressive mind all war is evil. Progressives look at concepts such as nationalism  and patriotism as self defeating by their very nature.  Unfortunately bullies do exist. However symbols are created and people flock to their standard for a reason. Socialism and its political cousin Communism were a response to the negative social aspects of the industrial revolution. Dickens wrote extensively on this topic. America, on the other hand, was blessed with a boundless set of natural resources and, to quole Daniel Boone, lots of elbow room.  Those who tired of living in the mill towns of the east could pack up, buy an ox-cart and head west.  While socialism has planted its foot in crowded eastern cities, The west is still relatively free.  Howie