The "Last Generation"

It is like suddenly the family you have belonged to your entire life tells you "why no, actually you are adopted." That is the election of 2012, only worse, the family doesn't really care for you all that much, they have just been putting up with you until such time as they could be rid of you, "and now could you kindly pack your bags and quit burdening us with your presence."

I have never really bought into the whole "greatest generation" hype given to America by Tom Brokaw of all people. It is not that I do not admire the fact that the generation that preceded mine fought and defeated the Nazi and Communist threat to mankind, though the latter of these two accomplishments appears to be prematurely celebrated, I do respect them for that. I also respect the fact that they survived the Great Depression but this too seems to me to be over rated since they elected politicians that in fact made their situation worse not better, yes that would be the saintly FDR in all his New Deal glory. There is much to admire of this so called "greatest generation" that took us from the shores of Normandy to footprints on the moon. But the truth appears to be that their most lasting contribution to America, indeed the world, is that they sowed the seeds to America's destruction and gave birth to the "last generation" of Americans.

In their desire and rush to save their children from the deprivations that consumed their youth, they institutionalized and put in place policies that would consume future generations of Americans in the fires of entitlement and sloth. The "baby boom" generation inherited this destructive legacy without fully appreciating that this present from their parents was a time bomb set to explode at some future date when the toxic and combustible chemicals finally ate through the thin an aging parchment of America's foundation causing a chain reaction explosion which would bring down the very nation they fought so hard to protect. This nation's collapsing explosion occurred on November 6, 2012 with the re-election of Barack Obama.

It is easy to say that, though troubling, this too will pass, but it won't, not in my lifetime. The old adage "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" applies in spades to what has happened, but it is worse than that. Because you see it was not America which was fooled by Obama, it is us who see the truth of him who have been fooled by America. America is not what we thought it was, we are now the unwanted adopted child in our own home.

The fact that we make up half the pie doesn't change the fact that we no longer are the baker of the pie but rather an unwanted ingredient in it and those that now control the dials are going to turn up the heat to burn us out. At this point it appears that they will succeed because our best shot at turning this car around on the road to tyranny has just passed us by and who knows if we will have the stamina to withstand being outcasts in our own land which we sincerely believe is our birthright but in which we now find ourselves unwanted adopted orphans.

The terrible truth is this, that for the most part our children's generation does not see America's past, present or future through the same eyes that we do. We are the last generation of American's blessed with that perspective, born in a time when America's glorious past was undeniable and  before the total distortions of that past were introduced into the curriculum of future generations.

I remember years ago going to Mt Vernon with my two sisters. My older sister and I were born a year apart in the mid fifties, our younger sister was born in "59".  Not that far apart in age really, but worlds apart in education and perspective. My younger sister was the first and only member of our family to graduate from college, my older sister and I are intelligent without that burden. While we were walking around George Washington's  plantation my younger sister made a somewhat snarky yet very funny joke about George Washington's slaves, it was a put down of our founding father, but it was funny and we all laughed at her humorous comment.  Even at the time, despite the humor, I was somewhat taken aback by the obvious sarcasm in my sister's voice. As the years have passed and my younger sister has remained a staunch liberal while my older sister and I have grown more conservative I often think of that day and my sister's attitude towards Washington. I have come to see that my sister was taught a different history of America than I was, a history devoid of balance. A history where the faults of our great nation are magnified while the glory and genius are either  ignored or distorted.

This is the generation that elected and now has re-elected Barack Obama.  This is the generation that is now teaching the children of today what America is and what it was and what it will be. My younger sister is also a member of the baby boom generation but closer to the end of it than the beginning. I suspect that when the election of 2012 is dissected we will find that the over 50 demographic voted against Obama while the under 50 voted for Obama.

Where does this lead us? This leads us to a very ominous future, a future where the people who still grasp and see what  America's true nature was destined to be, meaning individual liberty, is being supplanted by a generation that has not a clue that the default position of humanity is always towards tyranny unless actively resisted. They say that the definition of life is anything that opposes death, well liberties life is losing its antibodies and being over run by a cancer that the "greatest generation" unknowingly bequeathed their children.

It is entirely possible that we, those who oppose Obama and all that he represents are the "last generation" of Americans. But it is our fault too because we passed on our parents disease to our children instead of fighting it or instructing them that liberty is more important than....well anything. Even a cell phone.

The Greatest Generation gave birth to the Last Generation which has now given birth to the Lost Generation because I fear that the next generation barring a drastic turn around is going to be the one that loses freedom in America entirely.

Now for the good news.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Ronald Reagan

At least I have something to do in retirement.

By the way the only Greatest Generation of Americans was the founding one and perhaps, someday, the one that saves us from ourselves.