Nineteen Eighty-Two
Ronald Reagan had been president for a year. America as I had known it was on the way to changing. This much younger me had the benefit of a kinder, gentler society. A society that was willing to pay taxes. A society that wanted the next generation to have more opportunity than they had.
I was able to live on my own, with a young child. I was able to work and go to college and support my son and myself. I was able to come out of college with little debt. The generation below me held us up. They carried us on their shoulders while we got ready to stand on our own feet. It all changed. Seemingly overnight. Of a sudden I was living in the "I got mine, go get your own" society. A country dominated by an immoral Moral Majority. A country that was on a fast track to decay.
I was raised in America's golden period, so I know we don't need to be this way. I would like to hear from someone who adheres to the conservative economic policies, what this has done for individuals as well as the country as a whole. I don't need to hear about the obvious; more billionaires. I wonder what has benefited joe average. I wonder.
The State of the Union address will likely be pandering to the Conservadems and the others on the right. The people I grew up around held jobs requiring a shower after work. They were no ones idea of liberal. They believed in hard work and responsibility. Not the personal responsibility that the noise machine talks about now. Real responsibility, a responsibility to the society which they lived in, raised their children in.
The person in this photo benefited from their efforts and sacrifice. I had a leg up. Things changed. I got old and the country got lost.
9 comments:
If you listen carefully (even on the train) you can hear Nero fiddling...
I hear it. Unfortunately I hear it.
Um, apart from the Nero thing, that is one gorgeous photo of you. Wow! I bet you turned some heads in your time.
ah, it is still Sandra's time. People like us just have to keep doing what we do and set an example to the few we can.
I agree. Our schools have to pass referendums now. The town fights it because their kids are done with school. why should they pay? well, because my kid may be your doctor some day. bet you wish he was better educated. because the town survives on the jobs the school provides.. etc.
yeah - it is too much of to each their own.
Ganeida, thanks. I don't know how many heads I turned. It is amazing what time has done! The young one looks hopeful, the old one looks weary. I always looked much younger then I was and one day I looked older. How'd that work?
Jules, you can't have a viable society based on avarice. What we now have is evidence of what happens.
HI SANDRA,
THANK YOU FOR VISITING MY BLOG. (GIFTS FROM THE SEA)
I JUST READ THROUGH MANY OF YOUR POSTS, AND THEY ARE REALLY NICE. YOU WRITE BEAUTIFULLY, I REALLY ENJOYED READING EVERYTHING. YOU HAVE GREAT PHOTO'S TOO. I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN ABOUT THE WORLD TODAY, I AM 70 YEARS OLD, AND THINGS ARE NOT GETTING ANY BETTER, SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE TO GET BACK ON TRACK. STOP BY AND VISIT ME WHEN YOU HAVE TIME. RIZZI
Rizzi, thanks for the visit! I'll stop back. Maybe we can solve the worlds problems!
I would like to hear from someone who adheres to the conservative economic policies, what this has done for individuals as well as the country as a whole.
Well I am not sure what the Conservative policies are but I know this since 2007 my donations to charity have gone down from a high in 2005 of more than people under the "poverty level" earn in a year to zero, as has the income tax I have paid that is actually true for about a 5 year span ending abruptly in 2007. the only thing that has happened is that the country voted left and the economy, as it always has in my lifetime when the lefties held both houses, tanked. The exception was the aforementioned Reagan, consequently the highest rated President in my lifetime, and the only one commonly rated in the top 10 among presidential historians and economists.
Just my take from the experience of an uneducated person who earned every dime I ever made and never took one dime fro anyone expect to finance 1/2 my house. Not-one-dime. No credit (except the house) ever. No hand outs. just work starting at 11 years old.
Well thanks for your comment. I know this is what you believe and I have learned from frustrating experience not to attempt to insert facts into belief. I don't think I want to envision a world where children need to start working at age eleven to have a chance of making it in life. I'm glad for you that this worked for you.
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