WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO AMERICA?

I am writing about something that has been gnawing at me for a while. I am 68 years old and a typical "Baby Boomer". I was raised by my Greek parents to have a strong work ethic and love of our country. They were a part of the "Greatest Generation". I lived a reasonable working class life in a nice beach town in Southern California.

But the country that I grew up in and the one we live in now is not the same place. And I do not mean physically. When we were growing up there were people like Ted Williams and James Stewart, who even though they were celebrities like ballplayers or movie stars, believed that they owed the country something and put themselves in harms way. In Harry Truman we had a high school educated, self taught man who climbed up the machine politics ladder and acted with dignity and honor as President. We had President Kennedy appeal to our better angels, urging us to serve our country in some way, shape or form. I became a City Planner and a public official because I felt inspired by our leaders and teachers. My departed wife became a school teacher. My son is a doctor specializing in Psychiatry. As a family we believe in service.

Today we have a President of the United States who believes that people in public service are inferior to the private sector Gods of Capitalism. We do not have civil discourse on the great issues of the day, but rather shouting matches, often based on misinformation or out and out lies. Our leadership position in the world is being threatened and undermined by bellicose rhetoric and saber rattling. The cynicism is so deep that I do not even discuss politics with people for fear of over reaction to any criticism or differing opinions. This is not the country I was raised in. It has morphed into something else.

Growing up until the Vietnam War we were generally in agreement with most of the policies of the national government, both in and out of the country. As we matured we realized that our country does things to maintain its pre-eminence that maybe we don't agree with. But now we have stopped talking about a Common Agenda and to provide for the Common Defense and are so bogged down in in-fighting that we are not addressing the pressing problems of this country. The deteriorating infrastructure has been given lip service over the past 40 years and still we have not addressed the cumulative problem. We decry the loss of jobs to overseas operations and will not spend sufficient funds to retrain people. We watch begging going on in the streets and we are numb. We are too cheap to construct housing for the homeless. We are still the most prosperous and powerful country on earth and we have millions of children going to bed hungry, distracted when they go to school the next day.

Politicians operate in sound bites and spend most of their days fund raising. In 1974, when elected officials left the government, 6 percent became lobbyists. The number now is over 60 percent. They run for these positions so they can trade off their knowledge when they leave. And the public is virtually illiterate about the great issues of the day, geography, economics, history, etc. because they will not read and commit the time to learn about the issues and the world we live in.

No, the people who raised us and our teachers, ministers, role models, taught us that we had an obligation to society to contribute, not to take as much as we can from it. That this country has spilt blood and treasure to free people from tyranny and wanted no territorial gains. America was a rare power for good in the world. But we have now become just another country vying for power rather than fighting for a better world system.

A year ago my dear brother in law, Bobby Antonelos was murdered in broad daylight in his own restaurant accidentally as collateral damage of another murder. I have received more correspondence relating to a parking ticket than updates on the case relating to the homicide. And every person who I tell the story too says, "But of course there is no money to be made from Bobby's murder." So this is the way to settle our differences in the modern world. Get a gun and settle it once and for all, the cost to families be damned.

Now we have people going before Congress such as the Chairman of Wells Fargo to be hand slapped for major fraud. We have incompetent Cabinet appointees whose marching orders are to gut the bureaucracy, not enforce laws they don't like and a President who is basically an entertainer who does know or understand how to govern.

What I am grappling with is how to be optimistic. This country survived a Civil War and came out stronger. I am hoping that we have the fibre and tenacity to weather the current storm and regain an idealistic thread for service that has been a part of this country's tradition for hundreds of years. My son and his wife have identical twin boys, my grandsons, who are age 2 and a half. They have hope, they have optimism. I may have to borrow theirs.