Category: Middle America

Blood, Sweat and Tears: The forgotten formula for long-term peace and prosperity in America

17504623_1425582290846774_1723984855442417737_oDuring a segment on my morning drive talk show on News/Talk 102.3 KXYL, Woody Tasch  of the Slow Money Institute and I discussed the perils of the modern American economy which emphasize short-term profit over a long-term vision of growth and development.

While I haven’t learned enough about the Slow Money Institute to offer any kind of endorsement, the premise of his organization falls right in line with a problem I have with the modern way of doing business in America.

Tasch’s organization raises money to offer no-interest loans to small family farms that serve local communities. His vision seeks to move America away from centrally planned agriculture to local farming by sparking a revival through financial aid.

The road will be long, and will require substantial investments of money, time and effort before any return is realized, let alone the realization of his dream. But Tasch realizes that, and forges ahead anyway.

And, without knowing his political or religious views, I wish him well, because I know that if America is truly to become great again, it will need a generation of Taschs to rise up and plant trees beneath whose shade they may never sit.

America overcame all odds to win World War II and become a world superpower. We enjoyed unprecedented prosperity in the 1950s, survived an economic recession in the 1970s, enjoyed more unparalleled prosperity in the 1980s and 1990s, and, thanks to technology, enjoy a convenient, peaceful and prosperous lifestyle never before experienced in the history of man.

This way of life was not won in a single stock market rally. It wasn’t won in a lottery, and while World War II propelled us to superpower status, our success in the 1950s had as much to do with the ground that had been tilled in the progressive era as it did with Eisenhower’s leadership in the war and as President.

The proverb, previously referenced, that a society becomes great when old men plant trees under whose shade they know they’ll never sit, was the basis for American culture for more than 300 years. The colonists knew they would never enjoy the blessings of the nation they worked to build, yet they worked to build it anyway.

The revolutionary war soldiers knew that the nation of which they dreamed, where all men are regarded as equal in the sight of God and the law, would never mature in their lifetime, yet they took to the battlefields anyway, losing life and limb at the hands of the British army.

The founding fathers knew that their effort to shape a free and prosperous nation wouldn’t be completed in their lifetimes, yet they worked to create that nation anyway.

Men built farms, businesses, communities, towns and cities, dreaming of the greatness those things would become long after they passed. Fathers left legacies and inheritances to their children. Factories were built. Companies started. New inventions sent to market. Through this great society that arose on the premise of planting trees for the next generation, we saw the industrial and technology revolutions arise, which not only lifted America out of poverty, but much of the world as well.

Today, we enjoy the shade of those trees planted by our forefathers. We stand on the shoulders of giants. However, we have become so accustomed to enjoying prosperity, we’ve forgotten how to build it for the future.

You will rarely find a CEO of a publicly traded company that looks beyond the next quarter’s earnings report. After all, that’s the benchmark by which his performance is measured. The board of directors want to see an increasing stock price, strong earnings reports, and good coverage in the media.

A temporary drop in stock price, earnings, or public perception can be the end of a CEO’s career, even if that temporary downturn could lead to a brighter long-term future for the company. Therefore, few look farther than 3-6 months out. There’s no reward for planting trees for the next generation. In fact, it can be penalized.

It’s not just Wall Street CEO’s. Politicians rarely look past the next election, therefore long-term solutions are never offered. The Interstate Highway system, Civil Rights legislation, Social Security, and Women’s Suffrage would never pass in today’s political climate. In times past, politicians would risk their political careers if they thought it would better the country long-term.

Consumers rarely look beyond the next iPhone, smart screen or automobile. What legacy are we building and leaving for the next generation? Where are the trees we are planting?

We need a new generation to rise up, and we don’t necessarily have to wait for that generation to be born or come of age. The Baby Boomers, Gen-X, Y, or the Millennials can do this. We need a generation to rise up and plant trees for tomorrow, trees under whose shade they may never sit.

The opportunities are there. Wall Street has sucked up the big money in most industries, leaving a vacuum on Main Street that can be filled by the right breed of entrepreneurs. We can build America into a great country. We can do what generations of great Americans did before us.

The question is, are we willing? Are we willing to begin a project that will not be completed in our lifetime? Are we willing to make the sacrifices to benefit the generations to come?

I hope I am.

The real issue with the Boys Scouts

13350239_624569961040640_8092507861845382051_oPeriodically, controversy will erupt concerning the Boys Scouts of America. The latest “outrage” over the Scouts allowing girls to join Cub Scouts, with the promise of adding a program for older girls in the near future, is just the latest salvo in the culture proxy war that has become modern scouting.

Liberals and social justice warriors feel that if they can effect change in the Boys Scouts organization, they can use that victory to effect change in the culture at large. Conservatives and Christians feel with every change that takes place, more ground is lost in the culture war.

And so it goes, both sides lighting up the phones on talk radio, writing letters to the editors of local papers, and blasting or praising the scouting organization itself. Lost in all of this hyper-political drama is what’s at issue itself.

In this case, it’s the idea that girls should be able to join the Boys Scouts and learn what boy scouts learn.

Now, on one hand, I get it. The world is changing, and it would be nice to have some thing to hold on to that will not change. A reminder of “the good ole days,” as it were. But as I have previously posted, the good ole days are going away, and are not returning.

That doesn’t mean the future is dim, but rather that our future good ole days are going to be different, and we’d be wise to position ourselves to enjoy the future good ole days.

When I look at what is at stake with the Boys Scouts admitting girls, I see an organization that teaches it’s members to do their best, to do their duty to God and country, and to always be honest and act with integrity. I fail to see the harm in teaching those things to girls.

When I look at what Boys Scouts do, learning to tie knots, fix things, build things, hunt, fish, camp, survival skills, archery, etc, I see no harm in teaching girls the same things. In fact, with masculinity declining in our culture, girls need to know these things so they can function in the presence of a man who cannot do these things.

Masculinity. There’s an issue. Matt Walsh, a commentator for The Blaze and a conservative blogger, tweeted in the aftermath of the decision to allow girls into Cub Scouts, questioning why boys couldn’t just have a place to be boys? Good question. However, the question insinuates that by allowing girls to go on the camping trip, we’re somehow taking away the boys’ place to be boys. I mean really, have Cub Scouts Camps become “safe spaces?”

Here’s the issue with masculinity in the Boys Scouts. Like it is in our culture, masculinity is fading in the organization. Here’s why.

Since the Cub Scouts began allowing women to be scoutmasters in 1976, with the Boys Scouts making the same move in 2014, more mothers are becoming scoutmasters. And they do a heck of a job. A great job. I know a few. The issue to me isn’t women teaching boys to be men, it’s why aren’t more men stepping up to teach these boys to be men?

This issue is neither limited to the scouts, nor is it caused by the scouts. I read an article recently where tool manufacturers and hardware stores were starting to market their products by teaching millennials how to use them. Basically, “this is a skill-saw, here’s what you’d use it for, and here’s how you’d use it.”

While it would be easy to poke fun at millennial men for not being able to use a table-saw, we have to wonder why he doesn’t know. For every 20-something that doesn’t know how to change a tire, I’ll show you a dad who never took the time to show his son how to change a tire.

For every 20-something that can’t figure out how to use a drill-driver, I’ll show you a dad who never built a deck or tree-house with his son.

The reason masculinity is declining in our culture is because dads don’t teach their sons how to be men. How to take responsibility and raise and support a family. How to fix the toilet. How to change a taillight.

That’s a cultural issue. And that’s where the culture war is being lost.

So, if the Boys Scouts want to admit girls, let ’em.

And if your daughter wants to join the Boys Scouts, let her. Maybe she’ll learn some skills so a future repairman won’t empty her wallet by charging for blinker fluid.

As for me, I’m going to re-evaluate my life, and go home and teach my boys how to build a privacy fence in the back yard.

What I learned from a recent trip to the buffet

When you have seven kids, a simple trip to a restaurant for dinner is not only a major logistical operation, it’s a huge financial undertaking. Hence, it doesn’t happen very often.

This past Sunday being Fathers’ Day, however, we decided to go to an all-u-can-eat buffet in Waco, Tex. The kids could serve themselves, thus making logistics easier. The cost of the meal would top $100, but given that there was all-you-can-eat steak and shrimp on the buffet, the benefits outweighed the costs. And so we went.

This particular establishment was packed. Yet, despite the crowded conditions, everyone got along great. People helped kids load their plates, patrons courteously allowed other patrons ahead of them in the catfish line, and everyone was having a good time.

What made the harmony among the people so amazing was that, not only was this restaurant overcrowded, but the crowd consisted of a diverse group of people. There were multiple ethnic groups represented, ranging from Caucasian, to African American, to Hispanic, to Middle Eastern, to Asian. There were also people of different lifestyles, ranging from Christians arriving for a Fathers’ Day meal after Sunday worship, to LGBTQ, tattooed and non-tattoo’ed.

Everyone got along. There was harmony. There was friendliness. One African-American lady even complimented me on my looks. (That never happens to me, by the way.)

I should not have been surprised by the harmony and congenial atmosphere experienced that day. The same thing happened at another all-you-can-eat franchise in Washington, DC, during a visit I made there two years ago. But, given the political climate of the day, I expected more cold shoulders, and less comments about my beautiful red hair.

When you read articles on social media, you are treated to a barrage of racial incidents, and commentary which tells us that racial-tensions are at an all-time high, and race-relations are at an all-time low. Turn on the news, and you see BLM protesters blocking freeways in cities where police shootings have claimed the lives of African-American citizens. These are tragic circumstances and are not to be minimized.

But if those instances are indicative of the culture at large, the deep racial divisions in our country were not manifested in my recent trip to the buffet line. Here’s what I think is really happening.

Tragedies are happening. A police officer shoots an unarmed African-American motorist. The news media sensationalizes the story, because in the 21st Century media economy, page views and impressions are everything. Sensational headlines generate traffic, which generates ad revenue, so the story is sensationalized.

Activists groups then use the tragedy as a publicity and fundraising tool, and protesters take to the streets furthering the story, which goes viral on social media as those who have been victims of racism want to show solidarity, and those who have not wish for the problem to go away.

Then, CNN does a story about race relations being at an all-time low, which generates web traffic and TV viewership, the nation debates the issue, and the drama continues online.

Meanwhile, at a buffet in Texas, African Americans, Hispanics, Middle Easterners, Caucasians and Asians are gathered together at the table of brotherhood which is adorned by an endless supply of steak, shrimp, fried chicken, fried fish, and all the fixin’s.

I could draw the conclusion that people are people, regardless of race, who just want to live their lives, enjoy good things, and get along with everybody. At my core, I believe that to be true.

On the other hand, perhaps we all got along because we were drawn together by a common cause: steak and shrimp. Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned. Perhaps the leaders and voices of our nation could draw people together by reminding us of the things that we hold dear, that we ALL hold dear, while offering comfort in the aftermath of tragedy.

Perhaps the leaders of our country could unify the country by reminding us of how great our country is, in spite of the tragedies that happen.

But that will never happen. The key to winning elections today is to divide and conquer. Convince one group that others are out to get them, and that you are the only one who can offer protection, and you have that group’s vote. Plus, calling someone a racist gets more page views than posts about unity. Our leaders and media sources will take the easy way out every time, to the detriment of our society.

So, it’s up to us. It’s up to us to see the humanity of each other. To see that the man across the table who has a different skin color, a different world view, and possibly a different religion is still a man. He has a life, responsibilities, worries and a family just like we do. He is, after all, a man.

In that humanity, we have a common bond. Once we recognize that, true healing and unity can take place in our nation, if it hasn’t started already.

I fear blogging about racial issues. I fear that my words will come off as calloused, uninformed, or even offensive.

But know this, regardless of who you are, I will pray for you, I will pray with you, and I want the best for you. And if your freedom is threatened, I will go to bat for you.

May God bless you, my friend.

 

Warren leads Democrats into 2020 Presidential Primary

Elizabeth_Warren,_official_portrait,_114th_CongressWhile much of the Democratic Party is publicly blaming Russians, racism and misogyny for President Donald Trump’s 2016 electoral victory, one prominent Democrat has conducted a post-election autopsy, found the cause of death, and is publicly proclaiming why Democrats got shellacked in the 2016 general election.

In an interview with the Guardian, Sen. Elizabeth Warren blamed former President Barack Obama and several Democrats for being out of touch with mainstream American voters. Her comments were quoted in The Hill.

Warren’s criticisms were less about the Democratic Party’s obsession with social justice warriors and more about public ties the party is developing with Wall Street. Recently, former President Obama agreed to a speaking engagement with a Wall Street firm for $400,000. Hillary Clinton was notorious for giving $200,000 speeches. These ties to Wall Street were not lost on Democratic runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders, who routinely criticized Clinton’s ties to powerful investment firms.

“The lived experiences of most Americans is that they are being left behind in this economy,” Warren said. “Worse than being left behind, they’re getting kicked in the teeth.”

For Americans living between the two coasts, the economy has left them in the dust. Manufacturing jobs, while back on the increase, are no longer as plentiful as they once were. Factory workers in the Fayetteville, Ark., area saw many of their jobs outsourced to overseas production facilities. Air conditioner manufacturing workers in Jacksonville, Tex., saw their jobs head south of the border. Michigan auto workers have been put through a pressure cooker over the past eight years.

Meanwhile, pundits on the East and West Coasts laughed off the suffering of Middle America by saying that “manufacturing is only a small part of the American economy.” While, percentage-wise, that might be true, for the manufacturing worker, manufacturing is the American economy.

When manufacturing jobs go overseas, the 200 workers at the plant who earned an average of $15 per hour suddenly find themselves competing for 10 positions offered by a new manufacturer moving to the area. Or worse, find themselves competing for an $8/hour position at a quick lube place. Income obliterated, home on the market, boat sold, and debt skyrocketing, these workers see politicians and pundits on TV say, “These jobs aren’t coming back.”

Of course Middle America is hopeless. Of course, they’re angry. And this is what propelled President Donald Trump to victory in the 2016 election. He promised to enact policies to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, and so far, it looks like he will deliver on the promise. He struck a deal to expand Chrysler’s manufacturing operations in America, and a jobs report published in Time magazine in March showed manufacturing gains.

Progress and promises like that are what will keep President Trump popular with Middle America, and could win him reelection in 2020. Despite what the polls say, Trump is still very popular in rust belt and red states, and Sen. Warren sees that.

By criticizing her party’s tone-deafness to the plight of the American people, Warren is going on record as saying she understands where most Americans are coming from, and what they want: good paying jobs that don’t require a 7-year, $180,000 degree to obtain, a decent cost of living where they can enjoy themselves but still enjoy the benefit of a rising home value, and a social safety net to help them in major healthcare crises, or to care for an elderly parent. That’s not to say her policies will actually work, but that is how she is selling them.

If she continues this rhetoric, and follows this platform, she’ll be the Democratic front-runner should she decide to run in 2020. If President Trump falters, or declines to run again, she’s a real threat to take the White House.

Congress has been selling its votes to the highest bidding corporations for years. What the politicians are beginning to learn is that no price tag can pay for a lost election, and if the interests of the American people are not being served, then lost elections are on the horizon. Let’s hope we see some real policy changes that open up freedom and opportunity for those of us in Middle America.