Thoughts on America

This exchange with my former high school classmate and insurance agency owner was started in 2010. His blog post, which triggered the conversation can be found at https://noplacefordummies.wordpress.com/.

Here is my introductory response, posted to MySpace August 20, 2010.

Kelly, you have sparked quite a discussion, debate, argument, or whatever we want to call it. Despite the delicacy of the subject(s) and your addressing me personally at the start of this page’s discourse (read: “rant”), I find myself strangely calm and collected.

Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts down in writing not only for me but all those who value an exchange of ideas on the problems our country is facing. Your intro seems rather jumbled, but your paragraphs on specific subjects help clear up some of the fog surrounding your exact ideological stance. Back in high school, your view on life was rather simplistic (“Kill ’em all. Let God sort ‘em out”). I see that has not changed much. Nevertheless, you display a level of intelligence that remained hidden when we were in school together. I can only image how the class ranking would have turned out if you had applied yourself.

I do not doubt you have a unique perspective on the issues that triggered your wrath. I appreciate someone who can argue from the angle of real-world experience. I, too, have experienced much that has shaped my values and ideals. For the benefit of your readers, I offer my brief background.

I joined the U.S. Army Reserves while in high school. Basic training took place mere weeks after graduation. I returned home and became one of the lazy bums you so fondly mention, but I was in no way living on any kind of public assistance. Despite having graduated at the top of my class, my army career was the only real job experience I had. Try getting a job with that resume. After living at home for several months, I did what I felt necessary: I switched to the full-time active army. I was retrained in a field more up my alley (foreign languages) and shipped off to the Federal Republic of Germany. There, I spent two and a half years in the army and another 16 living among the natives.

After more than 18 years as an expatriate, I returned home. Why? I believe I have answered this question once before, but I am not opposed to repeating myself. After all, the Russians have a saying: “Repetition is the mother of learning.”

1) Germany was not my home. I was a legal resident and had a visa to live and work there permanently, but Germany would never be my home. I was born and raised in the U.S., and I wanted to die and be buried here. Never at one time did I want it any other way.

2) I hated the German climate, at least in southern Bavaria. Too much rain.

3) I didn’t like most Germans. By our standards, they are rude and pushy. They are generally impatient and demanding.

4) I found a wonderful woman back home. Julia is the best thing to happen to me, and I wanted to be with her. We could have found a way for her to join me over there. The reason why we didn’t is below.

5) The job situation sucked. I was sick of the corporate mentality. It was one of ignorance and idiocy. A class structure to rival the Middle Ages, and everyone only concerned about their small corner of the universe. I left that to be with a smaller, more personal agency, but the boss was a jerk. Then on to a part-time job that didn’t cover the cost of living and later a large organization with conditions that amounted to slavery.

In short, I left Germany because it had nothing else to offer. Despite complete and affordable health care, a salary and benefits most Americans can only dream of (30 days of vacation, over a dozen paid holidays, performance bonuses, Christmas bonuses, vacation bonuses), I knew it was time to get out of Dodge.

Throughout my early adulthood, my Weltbild (ironically, a German word we have imported into English—an immigrant of sorts. Possibly illegal? Better call the border patrol) was staunchly conservative, a result of fundamentalist Christian teaching. Most of my dearly held beliefs were not my own. I was being told how to think and feel, instead of following my true feelings and opinions. The issue of fundamentalist religion is not exclusive to the Muslim world. That, however, is another subject for another day.

It is interesting that you made multiple calls for “fact-based” information. I would have made the same request of you. We shall henceforth apply the modified Dragnet and Declaration of Independence methodologies (“Just the facts, man” and “...let Facts be submitted to a candid world”, respectively).

What’s in a name?

First off, let’s drop the name calling. The term “liberal” is especially open to interpretation. This simple word derived from the Latin root for “freedom” has become so twisted that is virtually meaningless. Those called “conservative” generally claim to stand for freedom, especially at the personal level. That would make the term “liberal” just as applicable to those who speak the word intending it as in insult (http://www.yourdictionary.com/liberal, entry 1, definition 7: “...favoring political reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual”). I am not affiliated with any mainstream political category. I am for freedom at all levels with restraint exercised by applying common sense. Where people are unwilling or too stupid (with the latter being more common in the Texas Panhandle) to exercise common sense, a higher authority must provide guidance. Individually, my views may not be unique, but together they are my own.

Believe what you will, I care as much about my nation as anyone else. The difference is that I see room for improvement and am not afraid to voice criticism of what I see as our country’s failings. Part of what makes me seem overly pessimistic could be called a character flaw. I tend to see the negative in anything before the positive. After all, I am a perfectionist. So, sue me.

Your claim that those who do not share your views are not forming “opinions based on based on rational facts” is exactly what those people say about the people who do share your thinking. With both sides pointing fingers for the same reason, it seems the left and right are not so different after all.

The only way to tackle your claims is literally one sentence at a time. Lest a single entry rival the length of Steven King’s The Stand, I will be submitting multiple posts. Be patient.