“A single strong man well armed and provided with intellectual, literary and moral ammunition is worth hosts of barren dwarfs.”
Chaplain Hervey H. Hayes
Letter to the Secretary of the Navy
14 November 1831
Many Americans entered the 21st century with a public posture of complacency toward world events. Across our nation, we now sustain a sense of urgency when considering the complexity of issues which face us. The post World War II era presented us with a handful of global threats which were manageable through nation-to-nation directed communications, alliances and treaty formation. The vastness of changes in the geopolitical terrain since the beginning of this century provides strong challenge to traditionally strong nations who now face emerging difficulties with new political maps on the table.
Unrestrained illegal immigration with a high influx of unskilled and uneducated laborers now shows us as a nation struggling with levels of imported poverty which increasingly strain the citizen tax base. One reason for immigration quotas is so that the poor can be slowly absorbed, better sustained and more easily assimilated into the host nations' value system. It is true compassion, which enforces immigration quotas. Absorption, sustenance and assimilation have become wayward orphans with our compromised national enforcement. The pecuniary difficulties of the middle class due to allocation of tax resources to bring goods and services to the millions of illegal immigrants and their children has done two things. It has allowed for a few of the poor to move above subsistence poverty levels. But it has also lowered the ability of the middle class American citizen to move to the next level of wealth aquisition. This will continue to create a compressed lower-to-middle class socioeconomic demographic. Simply stated, it will be harder and harder for a middle-class American to break out of their financial bindings and strengthen their future generations due to excessive taxation to support the illegal immigrant and their educational and health needs.
We have aging Baby Boomers who are seeking to keep career benefits intact, while planning for decades of longevity beyond the date of retirement. We are living longer and advances in medicine keep us healthy longer. So we must consider policy that enhances keeping older workers at their desks and places of employment for longer than a traditional age 65 cut-off. Age seventy must become the "new 65".
Working class poor American citizens continue to depend on health care provision through our charity hospitals for acute and chronic problems. We need to upgrade our health care models toward community-based clinics with low-cost preventative care options. The working class poor cannot afford the luxury of wellness programs but it makes economic sense to move free-standing clinics into neighborhood communities for delivery of healthcare to poor Americans.
America has much bounty, a good heart and a strong backbone. But in reflecting again and again on the words of U.S. Navy Chaplain Hayes I wish to remind each of you that we need to carefully consider candidates who solidly present their convictions as opposed to their preferences. We need to elect those who present solid plans as opposed to mere concepts. We need to elect those who promise to fall under the oath which passed from their lips when assuming office. Will they work for each American who falls under their political care or will they become the mistress of the lobbyist who keeps their own comfort as the utmost concern? The ratio of lobbyists to elected officials inside the Beltway can be found in this book by Lou Dobbs.
While restive Americans seek "change" there resides another class of American on the neighborhood block. It is the stalwart American seeking preservation of some of the unalienable rights in our Constitution coupled with preservation of foundational American values. We seek not change, but we guard against erosion!
So as we move into this election cycle, the linking of hands between the change agents and the preservation specialists can be a healthy alliance. But let's not be afraid to face the truth. It is indeed time for some changes to be made. The preservation of certain values held dear by a majority of Americans requires our vigilence.
We have elected a host of barren dwarfs for several election cycles. Is it time to remove a race of self-serving political invalids and install a few good men? smile
Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com
|