America loses truth, honesty and integrity it takes to succeed
Growing up, I had 3 heroes. Davy Crockett, Abraham Lincoln and Walt Disney, and the 3 were inextricably related. While Walt provided inspiration through his story and his cartoons, Davy Crockett was the adventurer and Abraham Lincoln, who Walt played and looked up to in elementary school and who was the first human AudioAnimatronic at Disneyland, was the best President of the United States.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s. Even then, as Republican trickle-down economics created more poverty and Neutron Jack Welch fired people during the holidays from one of the most profitable companies in the world so that the company could realize even greater profits, I could see that the world was changing. The people were beginning to phrase things in the light that they wanted them seen in. Welch would say that firing those people was a favor to them and that they could move on with their lives to do something better. He would say that what he did was good for the company and good for all of the employees.
Welch’s example showed other companies that they could do the same thing. People who were months from vestment in their retirement programs were fired. No longer could anyone count on a company to pay for retirement as corrupt CEOs and fund managers ran away with the employees’ retirement funds or people were simply fired from their companies.
It was Disney’s version of Davy Crockett that was my hero. Fess Parker played the part and with Buddy Ebsen at his side, they rode from the mountaintops in Tennessee to Congress to the Alamo. The one motto that really caught me from Davy Crockett was “Be sure you’re right and then go ahead.”
Was Welch right in firing all of those people? Not only does he think he was right, he still defends the decision. He believes that GE would not have become the even more profitable company now than it was. He also believes he did a favor for everyone remaining on the workforce. To him, a “good” severance package compensated those who lost their jobs, their security and their identity in the name of profit is enough to offset the harm he did to them and their families. In his eyes, he did them a favor.
Honest Abe Lincoln was the pillar of telling the truth. It was there in his nickname. Accused of being 2-faced, he asked his opponent “If I were 2-faced, would I be wearing this one?” Lincoln and Crockett represented honesty, integrity and everything good that the nation and individuals could be.
You may believe that all politicians lie. However, never has the great country of the United States of America faced such a quagmire of falsehoods and prevarications. At a time when it has become acceptable to not only lie, but to also continue to propagate the lie in the face of known facts, at the highest levels, the USA is facing its next great test. And it is failing miserably.
Those, who support lies and lying because they are too blind to see the truth, too ignorant to understand the truth and too busy to care about words and actions and the inability to match the 2, easily rationalize these lies. Those who have been taken in by an unprincipled liar won’t want to admit to their gullibility and they dig in ever deeper, even when he has said
My momma always told me to tell the truth. I am certain that if I said half the things that the president and his cast of inexperienced half-wits have said, I would see the backside of a wooden spoon on my backside. The truth is the second most important thing that our country used to have. Its death and the death of love can only spell the destruction of our country.
America used to be looked upon by other countries with envy and with pride. We were the nation that could be relied upon to do our best and do the right thing. We weren’t perfect. We messed up, but we did our best. And we worked toward what was good for everyone. Now we are despised for being the greedy bastard over-swelling his belt and pushing his weight around at the table. And it starts with the people in our government.
To paraphrase Charles Dickens, there are claws under the robes of our leaders. They are the feet of a boy and girl. The boy is ignorance; the girl is want. Fear both, but fear the boy most for on his brow is written doom. If those in our government are a representation of us, then God help us. May he show us the mercy, love and compassion we refuse to have for each other and for our neighbors.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s. Even then, as Republican trickle-down economics created more poverty and Neutron Jack Welch fired people during the holidays from one of the most profitable companies in the world so that the company could realize even greater profits, I could see that the world was changing. The people were beginning to phrase things in the light that they wanted them seen in. Welch would say that firing those people was a favor to them and that they could move on with their lives to do something better. He would say that what he did was good for the company and good for all of the employees.
Welch’s example showed other companies that they could do the same thing. People who were months from vestment in their retirement programs were fired. No longer could anyone count on a company to pay for retirement as corrupt CEOs and fund managers ran away with the employees’ retirement funds or people were simply fired from their companies.
It was Disney’s version of Davy Crockett that was my hero. Fess Parker played the part and with Buddy Ebsen at his side, they rode from the mountaintops in Tennessee to Congress to the Alamo. The one motto that really caught me from Davy Crockett was “Be sure you’re right and then go ahead.”
Was Welch right in firing all of those people? Not only does he think he was right, he still defends the decision. He believes that GE would not have become the even more profitable company now than it was. He also believes he did a favor for everyone remaining on the workforce. To him, a “good” severance package compensated those who lost their jobs, their security and their identity in the name of profit is enough to offset the harm he did to them and their families. In his eyes, he did them a favor.
Honest Abe Lincoln was the pillar of telling the truth. It was there in his nickname. Accused of being 2-faced, he asked his opponent “If I were 2-faced, would I be wearing this one?” Lincoln and Crockett represented honesty, integrity and everything good that the nation and individuals could be.
You may believe that all politicians lie. However, never has the great country of the United States of America faced such a quagmire of falsehoods and prevarications. At a time when it has become acceptable to not only lie, but to also continue to propagate the lie in the face of known facts, at the highest levels, the USA is facing its next great test. And it is failing miserably.
Those, who support lies and lying because they are too blind to see the truth, too ignorant to understand the truth and too busy to care about words and actions and the inability to match the 2, easily rationalize these lies. Those who have been taken in by an unprincipled liar won’t want to admit to their gullibility and they dig in ever deeper, even when he has said
- He isn’t going to lock her up – it plays well during the election, now we don’t care so much.
- Healthcare will not cover everybody and it will not be cheaper, 24 million Americans will no longer be covered and old people in particular are set for a drastic price increase.
- Mexico is not paying for the wall. Americans are – twice.
- Trump is taking a salary as president and it’s more than a dollar.
- He was not wiretapped by Obama.
My momma always told me to tell the truth. I am certain that if I said half the things that the president and his cast of inexperienced half-wits have said, I would see the backside of a wooden spoon on my backside. The truth is the second most important thing that our country used to have. Its death and the death of love can only spell the destruction of our country.
America used to be looked upon by other countries with envy and with pride. We were the nation that could be relied upon to do our best and do the right thing. We weren’t perfect. We messed up, but we did our best. And we worked toward what was good for everyone. Now we are despised for being the greedy bastard over-swelling his belt and pushing his weight around at the table. And it starts with the people in our government.
To paraphrase Charles Dickens, there are claws under the robes of our leaders. They are the feet of a boy and girl. The boy is ignorance; the girl is want. Fear both, but fear the boy most for on his brow is written doom. If those in our government are a representation of us, then God help us. May he show us the mercy, love and compassion we refuse to have for each other and for our neighbors.