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I have always loved Thanksgiving. It is my favorite national holiday. It reminds Americans how fortunate we are to be Americans. And it unites Americans around gratitude, the greatest human trait. Gratitude is the mother of both goodness and happiness. The ungrateful cannot be either happy or good.
So, it is with a heavy heart that I write that my mood on this Thanksgiving will not be the same as on any other I have ever experienced.
My gratitude will be marred by a dark cloud.
Not the cloud of economic crisis; Americans have lived through worse economic crises.
Not the cloud of war. America is at war in Afghanistan, and troops remain in Iraq in the war against Islamic terror; but Americans have fought far more bloody wars.
Not the cloud of politics; whatever an American’s political persuasion, every American has lived through political battles and political losses.
No, this is a new cloud. This is the cloud of “transformation.” This is what candidate Barack Obama promised; this is what President Barack Obama seeks to achieve — nothing less than the transformation of America.
But those of us who love America and its unique value system don’t want either America or its value system transformed. The former can always be improved, but should never be transformed. And the latter should always remain what it has been for centuries: the American Trinity — E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust and Liberty — as well as limited government and individualism. It also includes an abiding belief in American exceptionalism, meaning that America has usually known better what is good for the world than any world body, that America’s moral compass is generally more accurate than that of other nations, let alone the United Nations. This is not because Americans are born better or any such nonsense, but because American values have produced a particularly uncynical, idealistic nation, more willing to die for others than any nation in recorded history.
Every element of this is being transformed, perhaps permanently. The American economy and/or its health system may be fatally damaged if either the House or Senate health care bill is passed. America will descend under a mountain of debt that may permanently undermine the power of the dollar. If this happens, America will no longer be the preeminent economic power of the world. The terrible political and human consequences of this will be felt around the globe.
The abandonment of American exceptionalism — President Obama said recently that he believes in American exceptionalism just as Brits believe in British exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism — will lead to America becoming just another nation. When you no longer consider yourself special, you cease doing much that is special.
Here is the bottom line: I take nothing good for granted. That includes the future of the blessed country in which I live. A country as good as America is an aberration. There is no reason to believe that it will always remain an aberration; and those in power on Thanksgiving 2009 loathe the idea of America being different from all other nations.
Every great civilization has declined. There is nothing that guarantees America will be any different. And those in power on Thanksgiving 2009 see America more as a pompous civilization than a great one. So its decline from its self-perceived greatness is not only not a tragedy, but it’s a welcome respite from arrogance.
The idea that people should first take care of themselves, then their family, then their neighbors and then other nations is also an American aberration. The norm, advocated by those in power on Thanksgiving 2009, is to want to be taken care of by the state, have the state take care of everyone else and abandon other countries (such as Afghanistan) to their fate, just as other nations are willing to do.
As it happens, I am in Africa this Thanksgiving, volunteering with my son to distribute mosquito nets and other lifesaving necessities to the poorest of the poor in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Not coincidentally, it is an American charity (Rock of Africa) that has organized this trip. While half a world away, my heart is in America this Thanksgiving. But for the first time, it is a worried and unsettled American heart.
Nevertheless, though my mood is dark, it is not pessimistic. The very narrow victories in the House and Senate on health care reform, despite Democrats’ overwhelming majorities in both Houses, tell me that Americans are not ready to abandon the values that make our country unique. And that is something to be thankful for on this troubled Thanksgiving 2009.
Dennis,
I don't know you, but I've been editing my own Thanksgiving message to all my family for 2 hours. My goal was not to be discouraging but realistic. I gave up and read a few blogs. When I came to yours I deleted mine and shared yours with them, adding my love.
Great Job!
I very much appreciate this article so I don't want to mar or limit its content in any way. What I WOULD like to say has nothing to do with Thanksgiving or America but everything to do with mass deception. It's about the mosquito nets. Thirty or so years ago there was a controversy over DDT, the EPA made loud noises but did NOT ban it. However, the press decided that DDT was harmful. Up to that moment DDT, cheap and effective, had succeeded in eradicating malaria from almost the entire world, excepting Africa. Then overnight it disappeared from store shelves and more expensive products started appearing in its place. And malaria in Africa started spreading once again. Let' cut the mosquito-net bs, and go back to DDT. I'm sure Albert Schweitzer would agree.
melkisedek,
It is ridiculous to make a disclaimer and then plow ahead as you have done. You absolutely did exactly what you said you had not intention of doing. This smacks of the duplicitous tactics of the Left, no? You may be correct, but your comment has no place on this post.
Dennis,
Thank you for your work, your insights, and most of all for your inspiration.
melkisedek,
It is ridiculous to make a disclaimer and then plow ahead as you have done. You absolutely did exactly what you said you had not intention of doing. This smacks of the duplicitous tactics of the Left, no? You may be correct, but your comment has no place on this post.
Dennis,
Thank you for your work, your insights, and most of all for your inspiration.
I give thanks for the American people voting out the scum on the right and putting people in power who actually care about the well-being of the nation over politics and special interests and the scum trailer trash base that kept the right wingers in power for so long. Thank you, sane people of America. Take America back from the trailer dwelling trashy inbred morons who probably eat roadkill instead of turkey on Thanksgiving…
My Thanksgiving wish – that Glenn Beck and Rush Limpd**k would give each other HIV
Hmmm… I have a BSEE, an MSEE and a Phd in physics and I am an adjunct professor of physics at a major university. I think Ayn Rand's solution of the relationship between universals and mathematics was pofound. Specifically, the answer lies in the brilliant comparison she draws between concept-formation and algebra. Capitalism is the only ethical economic system in history which is based on individual rights consistent with the United States Constitution. Dr Walter Williams recently wrote a brilliant article about how really ill informed the intellectually retarded liberal faculty and their indoctrinates in the media and government are (like you WTF Idiots) regarding their great tolerance for the ideas of socialism — a system that has caused more documented deaths and human misery than all other systems combined. Read the Black Book of Communism and educate yourself.
Tell me WTF_Idiots, did you ride to the regular school when you were young on the big yellow bus or were you belted in on the little yellow bus to take you to the “special kids” school? Be careful of wishing ill on others, Karma will get you!
Wow, look at the big fake brain on USMC Sniper!
You should check out Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right by Jenn Burns. Excellent read. I appreciate intellectuals who make solid, well-reasoned points, whether I agree with them or not. Ayn Rand is brilliant. I'm glad you've read her. I still think you're a douchebag. What, are you trying to impress me with your psuedo-intellectualism? Douche.
Anyway… you won't hear me knock capitalism either. However – on it's face, the IDEA of communism isn't a bad one. Economic equality is a nice utopian idea… but it's just not practical, and it disregards many aspects of being human… not all people are equally intelligent (you), talented, driven, etc… I wouldn't say communism is unethical at all. It doesn't work, though. We know that for a fact. The idea of capitalism, much like communism, is the only “fair” model. It treats us all as individuals. Unregulated capitalism, however, is probably the furthest thing from ethical there is. And as things stand, that sort of unethical behavior, which is destroying our economy, has been largely ignored. So don't give me your self-righteous crap about how captilism is so ethical.
And you can have your dopey psuedo-intellectuals, and I'll have mine. What's your point? I don't really give a flying f**k what Dr. Walter Williams says… OK there slappy? That's one douchebag's opinion. Further, I think for people to study and to understand and open their minds to other ideas and ways of doing things can only act in everybody's benefit. It doesn't mean lefties are communist. It just means we're more open minded… and smarter than you illiterate lumps of hillbilly s**t. Go f**k yourself, buddy, OK?
Yeah, I rode with you mom. Banged her in the back of the bus while she was drooling all over the place. I guess that explains what happened to you! Sorry, my retarded son.
Oh, and let us not gloss over the economic views of one Sarah Palin, who I'm sure you whack your little 2 incher to every night. She got a D in macroeconomics.
And she loves to say that the best way to stimulate the economy is by cutting taxes and wasteful government spending. This shows that she never learned about the multiplier effect.
The multiplier effect states that government spending leads to increased consumption and an increase in GDP of a value greater than the initial government spending. Each dollar of government spending can increase GDP by more than a dollar, or has a multiplier value which is greater than 1. Reducing taxes on the other hand has a multiplier effect which is less than 1. This is because when taxes are reduced, some of the money that people retain are put in to savings rather than spent on consumption. If the government were to raise taxes by X dollars and raise spending by X dollars, GDP would actually increase due to the multiplier effect of government spending and taxation. I think it would be a good idea to shed some light on the fact that Sarah Palin and Republicans don't understand basic economic principles such as these.
Here is a beautiful young lady singing for you. She sure has your number!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZz2qlKeAJk
The multiplier effect is a crock of economic nonsense. The Keynesian multiplier effect of public works is criticized for lack of a microeconomic foundation, it is still taught in most undergraduate courses and believed to be useful for policy makers. However, it has a serious fallacy even if we accept the consumption function. It is well established that useless public spending on make work is equivalent to unemployment relief expenditure in the presence of unemployment and that the argument on the multiplier effect seriously misleads the present national accounting and thereby distorts evaluation of public works. BUT THAT WAS ITS PURPOSE as the fudgepacker Keynes himself stated!
Here is what the homosexual Keynes said: “By a continuous process of inflation, governments can and will confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method, they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some….The process engages all of the hidden forces of economic law on the side of the destruction of society, and does it in a manner that not one man in a million can diagnose.” – John Maynard Keynes Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1920
And you agree with this? Hmmm… maybe you are really just another bunboy?
Here is a beautiful young lady singing for you. She sure has your number!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZz2qlKeAJk
HAHAHAHA. I must have gotten to you. Now you're using the “you're gay” argument. HAHAHA. What are you, like 6 years old? Get a life, douche.
…and hussein won't have any special interest lobbyists in HIS WH, won't raise taxes on anyone making under $200K/year, bring transparency and accountability, and make sure every bill is read before it's voted on, while nancy, harry, barney and the rest of the dp end that culture of corruption in congress. Didn't take them long to prove you a Sucker. Wanna buy a bridge?
Wish in one hand…
Something else to be thankful for this year is the exposure of the man-made global warming hoaxsters at the Hadley CRU. It's the biggest scam in scope and total take in the history of mankind.
Lol, apparently, neither does the economy (understand basic leftist – or should I say Keynesian?- economic principles), or rather like Palin, understands, but doesn't agree.
SIlly leftists, are always putting the buggy in front of the horse. Someone has to create the wealth before the government can confiscate and squander it. It doesn't take a degree to see that 10% of something beats 50% of nothing every time.
I saw your 'multiplier effect' in the '70s, watch and learn, if you're capable of it (jimmy carter wasn't).
DDT is especially dangerous for stupid people, because to understand it's danger requires the ability to think about years into the future. DDT is still in limited use in Africa…the EPA doesn't have much pull around there….
You have a Phd in physics? Really?
“Nevertheless, though my mood is dark, it is not pessimistic.”
Yes of course…because you have hope…hope that if you keep saying some vague and terrible transformation is happening that you will be able to sell these guys the Republican candidate in a few years. Then you will stop feeling so “dark”.
I put no stock in MR. Pragers concerns. He is never concerned about illegal immigration and its ruinous effects on Americans and America. He is another phony RINO, and shouldn't be taken seriiously by any real conservative. Thank You.
WTF, You ARE GAY. You're the typical liberal gay clown that protested when California didn't allow gay marriage. You were probably one of the church defacers. Or you might have been one of the insane leftists that bit off a conservative Republicans finger a month ago at a town hall meeting. Or your probably an illegal alien,etc. In any case, you exhibit lunatic tendencies of the far leftists.
You live in a failing nation, and as much as you hide behind the patriotic die-for-America facade, there's no doubt that as the world youngest nation and once most powerful, America must concede to the fact that it's day's of hyper-elitism are over. Obama is nothing, a sharp face and good voice to keep people glued to their tv sets or computer screens. McCain would have been even worse at shouldering the post-
Bush America. Either way, America is collapsing without a doubt. Hear it, analyze it (from not the left or right, but from the middle, YOURSELF), accept it and move on. Learn sustainable practices, learn to be happy, stop blaming others for the state of YOUR world, and if you must….do something.
A poignant piece, well-written, a reason for great concern for the future of our unique country. With her novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand clearly drew this exact picture of devastating decline that we are now seeing emerge.
We timidly, fearfully, feed the monster that threatens our precious country and our way of life, liberty, and happiness. Thus it grows more bloated, more tyrannical.