When his grandfather went off to war, the world was in ruin after a protracted depression. Germany had invaded Poland and France. My dad lived in an America where racial hatred and bigotry were an accepted fact of life. He went to war because the government ordered him there. He went because he had to go. The world needed saving. And, the Army made him promise.
When our son goes to Iraq, things won’t be a lot different and he will go with our prayers. But, we fear the U.S. he is fighting for this time won’t be able to offer him the same reward his grandfather achieved through the GI Bill.
It seems our government has been reduced to the same measures. All our children can do is imagine there will be a great future when they get there. As we bicker about ulterior motives, our children go off to war to fight for something as basic as a way of life, a way of life that could vanish in the blink of an eye.
Worse than the worries: We’ve forgotten our basic mission here in life. The reason I get up every morning is to work for the future of my kids. It’s not easy. To work for years for things like health and prosperity, you have to believe there will be a nation that offers opportunities for bright young men and women — and for challenged people. You have to believe that trust in government, hard work and optimism are rewarded.
We have too many people stealing from the rest of us. Business philosophy for too many people has been reduced to a religion of taking everyone else’s money and putting it in their own pocket. Pacino said it best in “Scent of a Woman”: “It’s f— your buddy. Cheat on your wife, and take flowers to your mother on Mother’s Day.” For too many people, career advancement is more important than ethics. Building fiefdoms in government is tops the list over working for the public that pays government salaries. We can’t even expect FEMA to show up in a timely fashion when disaster strikes.
Am I too cynical? Cut throat contests are aired as entertainment on national TV. Lenders declare an Oklahoma-land-run on money. And then after the few have gorged themselves on the profits of their misdeeds, the entire mess is dumped on the taxpayer.
I’m sickened. I regret that the time I spent preparing him to be a man in this world didn’t include more talk about watching out for himself. Most of his generation are cynical, and who can blame them? But, my son chose to ignore the talk about war-mongering politicians and corporate thieves who conspire to have our young fight wars for oil. On days like this — when it looked like the entire system could topple — I wish I had taught him to be selfish. Let someone else do it.
Then I gather my senses.
Somehow, integrity, brilliance and hard work wins the day. Somehow our heroes rise to the occasion — even as the b******* in this world work feverishly to steal it from us.
It is astonishingly remarkable that men and women can believe enough in this nation to put their lives in harms way.
We owe it to future generations to get it right. That means that once again, we have to put our faith in government and the things that made this great.
For those who fear they have become too cynical, I recommend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqsf0XynGz8
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