| Is our American way of life ‘too big to fail’? |
 |
 |
|
By Ken Reynolds 
Ken Reynolds
In its pursuit of Communists, the House Un-American Activities Committee made reckless allegations of disloyalty and subversiveness. Private citizens and public employees even remotely connected to organizations suspected of having communist ties were fair game for the Committee. Although a member of that committee eventually became our president, it disrupted the lives and destroyed the careers of many innocent people. It also set the stage for the rise of a political megalomaniac, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. In the 1950's American citizens believed that the Soviet government was determined to take away our freedom-blessed rights, including self-determination, the secret ballot, personal ownership of capital property and the freedom to worship God, or not. In essence we believed their mission was to destroy our way of life — either politically or physically. Before the start of the Cold War, the communist ideal held a lot of attraction in America and Great Britain, especially for laborers and intellectuals. The optimistic dreams of equality and shared ownership held promise for both groups as they hoped for and sought a better system. At that time all employees were subject to the same rule of the workplace: every employer had an absolute right to hire, assign work and fire at his sole discretion. Exploitation and abuse of employees was widespread and not confined to mills, mines and shipyards. In spite of the exploitation, immigrants flocked to our shores. The American democratic republic and capitalist economic system beckoned to people who wanted to have a voice in how they were governed and to keep the fruits of their labor. Beginning with laws that guaranteed the right to form unions and bargain collectively, we moved to control child labor and to limit the number of hours employees could be required to work. From there we enacted anti-discrimination laws and established work safety regulations. Even with the increasing restrictions on employers, our economy flourished and our national standard of living rose until the American defined poverty line represented untold wealth to a substantial portion of the rest of the world. Our riches seemed boundless, and our impact and influence around the world was pervasive. We continue to attract immigrants; but our society, our nation's economy and the practice of capitalism have changed. The cost of doing business in America has risen, and companies — especially manufacturers — have sought less expensive labor and less restrictive regulatory climates. Production jobs have declined in number, and the demands for services — especially government — have increased . We prospered, but we were preparing the way for trouble. We morphed belief in individual responsibility into dependence upon government, and capitalism into financial manipulation. We promised more and more to everyone while we decreased our expectations that recipients share responsibility for the general welfare. We loosened restraints on markets and financial institutions, although the Great Depression had taught us those regulations were protections against the avarice that we look upon as sinful in individuals, but natural in corporations. By making our aging society increasingly dependent upon government, we have promised more than we presently are delivering. Our material success and our personal freedoms have long represented grave threats to societies and religions that have traditionally scorned or repressed them. They have struggled for hundreds of years to keep Western, and most recently American, influence from infecting their youth and destroying their way of life. Now, we are indecisive about how to deal with their determined effort to undermine and destroy us. By loosening our market restraints we allowed financial institutions to become too big to fail. When they did fail, we did not know what to do. When we do not know what to do, we throw money at the problem. We create government programs to alleviate societal ills instead of investing money to generate prosperity. We protest the size and expense of government, but we spend unknowable amounts on private contractors to do the work that we expect our government to perform. We sacrifice lives and squander money fighting in lands that ancient and recent history have taught us have an enduring resistance to foreign armies. Instead of learning to fear the Communists, our children are learning to fear other less easily identified enemies that are chipping away at the foundations of the greatest idea the world has ever known. In our struggle against those enemies we must not resort to McCarthyism against our neighbors because they are different or hold different beliefs. We must not demonize those who disagree with our politics. When we do those things we become self-destructive and our own enemies. I believe that we who grew up fearing Communism and defending American ideals need to step up and remind each other and our representatives that we are a nation born of differences — in material and social circumstances, political beliefs and religious creeds. Without the willingness to accept the legitimacy of those differences we will not be America. |
Advertise
| Business Directory |
| Banner Ads |
| Announcement |
| Paid Classifieds |
| Pay Online for Ads |
| Credit Card Auth Form |
| 2010 Political Advertising |
Resources
| Share Your Opinion |
| Subscribe to E-mail News |
| Contact Us |
| Search Recent Articles |
| Archives May '01-Feb '07 |
| Copy Instructions |
| Site Map |
Our Weather
|
Marble Hill, GA
|
|||||||
 |
|
||||||
|
 CALM
|
||||||
| Show more details | |||||||
|
Provided by:
 |
|||||||
Advertiser Login
Smoke Signals Online Feed
The campers were full of energy and ready to learn the game of golf
...
"I value my time with you...a great part of me will always be there in spirit"
...
Big Canoe’s professional basketball player Jeremiah Boswell hits the road again.
...
Those placing in the top eight got to stand on the podium to receive their medals
...
Have you noticed a gorgeous new square box on each of the four tee boxes?
...
Fitness Center is a popular location for healthy lifestyle programs and services
...
Plan on a day of fellowship and fun for a very good cause
...
Big Canoe ladies taught how to dock that pontoon like a pro
...
The SeaDragons are making big waves this summer!
...
The premier Big Canoe Men’s Golf Association event was held June 24-26, renamed the 2010 Mountai...