
"The health of the middle class is probably the best index of the health of society as a whole." The MIDDLE-CLASS way: Be NEITHER filthy rich, NOR desperately poor!" There are three classes of citizens. The first are not indolent and yet always crave more. The second are the poor, who have nothing, are full of envy, hate the rich, and are easily led by demagogues. Between the two extremes lie those who make the state secure and uphold the laws." Euripides The Suppliants
The middle-class was INDEPENDENT, SELF EMPLOYED, neither dependant on the state nor did they emulate or envy the rich. Also they OWNED most of the AGRARIAN land and WORKED it. It was a constant PHYSICAL job, yet they were making decisions using their MENTAL capabilities, which made the perfect balance.The once thriving American middle class is now vanishing and eroding together with the values that were embodiment of our beginnins. The market for every form and degradation of the family is flourishing. The roles that the family used to play are now given to the state and agencies. The framers of this country and its Constitution discouraged low morality and divorces. Family and moral values were promoted as well as the personal responsibility and industry. With the progressives, we got some overseas ideas that were little by little replacing Puritan values which shaped our Republic in many ways as, for example, limited government, school system where everyone learned to read, write, and do arithmetic, ethics of honesty, responsibility, hard work, and self-control. Self-rule, self-determination and individualism were grand part of our roots.
During the time of big depression one-third of our nation’s wealth vanished in a matter of months. Manufacturing declined almost 80 percent, many cities could not afford to keep schools open. Twenty percent of New York school children were malnourished. At one point, 34 million men, women and children were without any income at all. Yet, in spite of all, Franklin Roosevelt could tell the nation in a radio address, “Our difficulties, thank God, concern only material things.” Which is not the same today. Our families are broken, traditional roles exchanged in the name of progress and superficial happiness, when the reality is not rosy. Our crisis goes way beyond material these days. Economic indicators cannot measure the values held by our children, or the misery felt by broken families." A commission of educational, political, medical and business leaders met to examine the problems of American children. They issued a report called Code Blue, which came to a disturbing and unprecedented conclusion: “Never before has one generation of American teenagers been less healthy, less cared for, or less prepared for life than their parents were at the same age.” A crisis of character and a cultural crisis, which can't be solved by medical, educational or law enforcement regulations. It's a legacy of broken lives left by their parents. Moral values are not optional. They are central to the health and success of every individual. Our popular culture has set itself against moral restraint and virtue. We see how many parents, obsessed with their own fulfillment, have lost the values of SACRIFICE and COMMITMENT. One Christian writer says: “The family is no longer a ‘we’ but an exercise in mutual therapy for the self-centered egos of its members. If any of the members, parents or child, finds that the therapy is insufficient, it is free to leave.” So, who will teach the children the altruistic values? Words do not match the example." One study found that, 18 months after a divorce, children have a rate of sudden, serious psychological problems comparable to “victims of natural disaster.” Sixty-five percent of the children—who had been functioning well before the divorce—couldn’t concentrate in school, couldn’t eat or sleep properly, couldn’t make friends, were depressed, withdrawn or hostile. Even ten years after a divorce, over 40 percent of these young people still had no set goals, a limited education and a sense of hopelessness about their lives. The study’s author concludes, “Almost half of the children of divorce enter adulthood as worried, underachieving and sometimes angry young men and women.”It is in families that we learn honesty, self-respect, compassion and confidence. Families are the school of first instruction. When they fail, the effects ripple to every area and level of society."And we can see it all around us.We don't see the old time commitment. We act by feelings which are so flickering.'The captain goes down with the ship" is a maritime tradition that a sea captain holds the ultimate responsibility for both the ship and everyone embarked on it, and in an emergency they will devote their time to save those on board or die trying.We don't see anymore too many trying so hard.And way too many children and families are left alone to face a shipwreck.Some survive, yet the consequences are very painful and sad.The postmodernists can argue and try to appease the conscience, yet the price of the pain is a soul sick society.
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