There's Something Happening Here, What it is Ain't Exactly Clear...

Remember that song by Buffalo Springfield? For What It's Worth is the name of the song. It was an anti-war song protesting Vietnam. It's a very well done song that describes the tension felt in our country in 1967. Oddly enough, it seems to describe where we are today as well. There seems to be a new civil rights movement in our country, one that doesn't regard the law, has no respect for society, is rooted in hate for growth and progress as a result of hard work. There is a growing youth culture of "I deserve" and "I need", with no understanding of what a "real" need is in comparison to a "felt" need. The difference being something I need to survive as opposed to something that brings me comfort and fulfills my desires.

Sadly, it's combined with an ignorance of history, and sadly those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it over and over again. Maybe this goes back to the enlightenment, the French Revolution, when the protesters there claimed "There is no God but Man". It seems that when you place yourself as the highest standard, there is rarely ever a high bar to reach for. It was a movement that bred egalitarianism, a belief that everyone deserves equal status, opportunity, and outcome. While all men are created equal, it does not necessarily mean everyone deserves an equal outcome. Some are more gifted in certain areas and they excel. Some excel because they work hard. Those people deserve a quality reward for their work. Those who don't do not. It is as simple as that. Yet our culture is inundated with the idea that they need the same standard of living as those who buckle down and work. The same idea that took root in the 60's. It is a subtle socialism masked as equality for all men. Like John Lennon's Imagine, it envisions a world that sounds like Utopia but can never be.

Think about Buffalo Springfield's words:

"There's something happening here

But what it is ain't exactly clear

There's a man with a gun over there

Telling me I got to beware

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking' their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying, "hooray for our side"

Doesn't this sound like our country right now? There's a lot of police on edge, lots of people on edge, battle lines being drawn, thousands of people protesting in the streets carrying signs and singing and chanting... About what? Here's the truth... If Obama had really done what he promised regarding race relations, we wouldn't be moving backwards, we would be moving forward. There would not be so much open hate towards whites or Hispanics or any other group out there. IF Obama had done what he said, we would all be holding hands singing Kumbaya. If Obama had enforced the law on our borders and made a way for those in need (truly in need) to come here **legally** then we would not be where we are today. My mother is an immigrant. A LEGAL one. She applied, worked and earned her citizenship and is the most patriotic person I know. She is as American as any natural born... Maybe more so. There certainly is something happening here, but it may be clearer than we might first think. But maybe that's the problem today. Not a lot of people take the time to stop and think. Think about the repercussions of what they say, what they do, how they act. Maybe if they thought a little more, they would understand what the other person is saying instead of just shooting off at the mouth in an effort to prove their point or try to rewrite history like they were doing a few months back by tearing down statues and burning flags.

Ignorance is running rampant in this country, and it's rooted in ignorance of history. For instance... Has anyone considered that the party of the KKK is the democratic party? That Lincoln was a Republican? That the majority of segregationists were democrats? There is a lot of pressure put on whites by the BLM and its supporters for reparations to be made (for what, I am not exactly sure since none of us or our parents or their parents ever owned slaves, and none of my family were even here until the early 1900's). Did anyone stop to consider that around 620,000 mostly white soldiers died freeing slaves because they did not agree with the democrats? How about "you're welcome". Listen, I know it's hard... Everyone who emigrated here had it hard. Remember how many Chinese died building the TCR or CPR? Or Italians? Or Irish? How about the Jews? Should I being half Italian pay reparations to the world for Rome enslaving a large part of them? Is it me? Am I the only one that sees this as a ridiculous notion? A hundred and fifty plus years have past. Jim Crowe is gone. Women can vote. Are there still problems? Yep. Know what the first step to solving any problem is? Look at yourself first. Examine yourself (or your movement), and begin making your changes there. Then look outward. Might gain some real traction on some real things. You might even realize that most people are just people and our priorities aren't rooted in a dead 150 year old issue, but in the here and now... How we are caring for our families, how we are going to make it to next payday, how our kids are doing. You know those important things in life that take priority. Maybe our country needs a kick in its pants to readjust our screwed up priorities.