I was helping a friend with a woodworking project a few days ago and we started talking about a recent experience we had both had with an individual from our church. We both agreed that we had both been fortunate, or just plain lucky, not to have had to deal with someone like him during our working years. Of course, one thing led to another and we finally wound up discussing the state of the work force today and even the state of the United States.
Both the President and Congress suffer from overwhelming public disapproval. Our foreign policy is muddled at best. If I remember correctly, the last three or four defense secretaries have resigned, for one reason or another. A couple of them have written memoirs blasting the administration. The racial situation seems to have regressed to at least as bad as it was in the 50s and 60s….
But despite all this, most of the people I know, including our family is doing “pretty good.”
Given the state of our government, how can this be?
The fact is that a lot of people get up every morning, go to work and do their job. And as much as I sometimes complain about people, most do their jobs very well. These people have simply tuned out the corruption and incompetence of government. They’ve lost confidence and pride in the government in general and the President and Congress in particular. They have no choice — they use their own particular skills and talents and do what they must to take care of their families.
Even with the top levels of government in disarray, ordinary Americans still have been able to keep the US, if not ahead of the game, certainly in it. At least 15 or 20 years before I retired, I sat through a number of meetings that concluded that the United States would run out of oil in less than 20 years.
Guess what? I just read that the United States is now the largest gas and oil producer in the world. Can we credit the government for this achievement? Nope — how about we give credit to a few thousand, or probably more, scientists, engineers and others in the oil industry for re-inventing and refining the oil exploration and producing process….
Even with droughts, government regulations, all sorts of unfair trade practices, the US continues to produce enough food to feed everyone here and also most of the rest of the world. Thank the government? Think again….
This blog wasn’t and isn’t intended to be a “bash the government” tirade, but I, like most Americans, am getting tired of spending a lot of money for nothing in Washington. Thank goodness a good portion of the American population has taken it upon themselves to not only “stay calm and carry on” but through their efforts given the entire country a standard of living that’s still out in front of everyone else. I can’t think of another country that just carries on when their government gets all screwed up.
Only in America….
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