The events of recent weeks reminded me of a quotation I once read by Abraham Lincoln; he said, “I believe there is a God. I see the storm coming and I believe He has a hand in it.” Most certainly a storm surrounds us; a war on several fronts, threats of war with several other nations, on the fringe of a potential financial meltdown, devastating storms in our southern states. What will the news bring us tomorrow?
Our nation faces serious problems. I sometimes wonder what our ancestors might say about our times. I wonder how sad or maybe how angry they would be as to how we have managed our inheritance.
In part our nation is in peril because we are a nation divided between Republican and Democrat to the point where allegiance to “party affiliation” seems more critical than solving the really difficult problems we face. The contentiousness between Republican and Democrat has never been more noticed than during the state budget debacle and this presidential election.
It appears that we, the people, are more interested in how much mud is slung at the opposing candidate than we are in learning more about how the candidates will lead our country. Stop thinking that the fault lies with “them.” They are only reacting to what they believe “we, the people” will listen to, and if that is superficial it is because they believe that is what will work.
We are hearing today of the unprecedented breakdown of some of the most prestigious financial institutions in our country that are on the verge of bankruptcy and that “we, the people” will need to bail them out. Many are pointing to the greed of those running these institutions along with the failure of government to provide enough oversight to those irresponsible lending institutions.
No one is blaming “we, the people” yet the truth be known, as a nation we are all borrowing beyond our means so we can have “more stuff.” All the lending institutions did is to try to fulfill our desires to get more and “we” let them. I’m not excusing or minimizing the failure of governmental oversight or the greed of those lending to excess, but they couldn’t do it without us playing into their hands.
What is it that we are teaching our children, the next generation? Borrow as much as you can; don’t worry about saving for the future? Despise those who disagree with you and hit back with as much mud, whether true or false, as you can? Don’t study the issues and form an opinion, just vote for the party and all will be well? Let someone else deal with the problems; it’s not our job? And, after all, if you need more money, sue your neighbor and why not, everyone else is doing it. Economic and social changes have overtaken us and we’ve tolerated too many wrongs.
I know my ancestors would wonder what ever happened to personal responsibility. Whatever happened to “a penny saved is a penny earned.” What happened to our ability to disagree while still moving toward a solution rather than tearing down those who disagree with you? What happened to looking at one’s self, rather than automatically blaming others for our troubles? What happened to love your neighbor as you love yourself?
Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when we stand at the threshold with our nation’s future at stake. The strength of a nation, our nation, cannot be greater than the strength of the cumulative families that populate our great land. The future of our country and how we behave as a nation will be an exact reflection of how we behave and what we teach within our homes.
If you don’t know what you can do to make a difference to save the future of our nation, just look to your family and the principles you are teaching, either overtly or by way of example. What you teach or fail to teach your children is exactly what you can expect from future generations of Americans. Reach out to your neighbors and help them in any way that your talents and resources will allow.
If we all strive to do this, we need not fear for the future of this nation, our state or our community. Let’s reach backward to the roots of our great American Heritage and resolve to stand together, take responsibility for our actions and move forward with confidence in our cause, common sense in our thinking and great faith and hope for our future.
I look forward to your comments on this and other issues by emailing me at lkoelling@fostercity.org.
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