This country was built on the self-sufficiency of its citizens. Yes, people came here from throughout the world to find the promised land in some respect; farmers, builders, inventors and laborers all came here and worked hard to find success. Through hard work, the United States became known at one time as the finest country in the world; is it that way today, no. Through the mishandling of our government and our own apathy, our finances are in the sewer, we are no longer in any way self sufficient, our own people are doing without jobs, homes and food, and our government is the best that money can buy; just ask the special interest folks who bought it.
Instead of concentrating on our economy and the fixing of it, our government is tied so tightly with the so-called global economy that we are printing money or worse yet, borrowing it, to send to foreign governments who cannot budget their money any better than we have. We are so far into debt to China that if they called in their markers, we would all have to buy a Chinese dictionary so we could communicate with our new rulers.
Our farmers either have sold out, or are so far into debt to farm thousands of acres just to stay afloat, yet go to the store; read the labels and see that the produce, meats and canned goods are grown overseas or canned with foreign product. People talk about the high cost of goods and think that Americans are getting rich due to high transportation costs, wrong; the transportation costs are from shipping produce and meat thousands of miles from across the ocean or other continents.
Sam Walton would be spinning in his grave if he knew that most of what is sold in his concept stores is brought in from foreign countries instead of being made in America any more. You can find very few types of any goods that are made in America and sold here. There is no longer any consistency in sizes or quality. Even cars made in American are made with parts from foreign countries; have you had your vehicle recalled yet? Poor quality parts and poor quality control are the base cause of recalls.
Do you have a pet? Go to the pet treat section and try to find treats made in America with American products. With the subtraction of one or two manufacturers, the rest are made in China, sold under American manufacturer’s logos and have caused pet’s deaths and illnesses widespread.
Yes, our government has a lot to answer for, but they are not the only ones. We Americans have a lot to answer for also. We got as greedy as our politicians get and wanted to live above our means, bought goods and houses we could not afford and got ourselves in a credit mess. We ignored the over regulation of our industries that sent them overseas to find relief and demanded higher wages which added to their distress. We got tangled up in the rhetoric of the party lines instead of listening carefully and voting the right person for the job into any political office. Then to top it all off, we got apathetic with the easy credit, lives of sports and entertainment figures and fiddled while Washington D. C. burned. We broke it, only we can fix it.
I am a long time truck driver, advocate for the disabled and truck drivers, a political and trucking industry activist, writer and published poet and author. I write for 7 international websites and the Canadian Trucking Magazine. My affiliations are: life member of Owner Operators Independent Driver Association and charter member of the Women In Trucking Association. Politically I am just damned well pissed off about how the government of this great country I live in has taken away peoples rights and trampled on the Constitution...are you pissed off too? Let's get busy and get something done about it!