George Santayna
I saw this familiar quote on a blackboard recently, and it resonated in me as it has never done before. As I am approaching the downside of 60, I realize that the wisdom derived from experience in life is one of the most valuable gifts that I possess. I also realize that the events that I have lived through are lessons that I need to remember and pass on to others. After all, getting a "senior discount" is not the only advantage of getting old!
We often don't remember what happened last week! Politicians count on this flaw to manipulate us. They don't want us to remember past events and subsequent results, not as they actually happened, but in a distorted way that benefits whatever cause they are promoting. When I hear or read their arguments, I often comment to myself, "Well, that's not what happened!". I lived through it, and I remember it! Unfortunately, as I grow older, more and more of the authors of these distorted views have not actually experienced the events that they talk or write about!
History as seen through the eyes of people who have not lived it, often becomes distorted. When past events are evaluated by the current society's standards and environment, and not with an understanding of the environment and conditions existing at the time of the event, wrong interpretations, judgement and evaluations often result. This makes it easy for those who wish to manipulate our perspectives of history.
Hitler, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the recession of the 1980's, the prosperity of the 1990's, the administrations of John F. Kennedy, Nixon, Jimmy Carter - these are all historical events I have lived through and learned from. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression, my parents lived through World War II, and they often told me of what happened to them during these times and how it affected them. Those who have actually lived through Sept 11, 2001, will always remember that event and how it affected them. Our politicians often want us to forget!
Now, the great danger I am seeing is that our President and many of our national leaders are counting on our ignorance and apathy to convince us that certain actions will give us certain results that are not substantiated by history. I'm sure that in some situations, it is "their" ignorance that is displayed. But, often they count on "our" ignorance so that we accept what they say as fact.
Here are some things this "older" woman has learned from living through them -
There have always been people who cheat, steal, lie and take advantage of others. They are the minority. Most people are honest and good.
The economy has never been stimulated by raising taxes on taxpayers. Lowering of taxes has gotten the economy going after depression and recessions of the past.
Consumers have not spent more money when they anticipate or experience higher taxes and higher costs of living. Consumers have spent money when they feel comfortable about their jobs and the economy.
Jobs have never been created by taxing business, but rather by giving business tax reductions and incentives.
Investors are not the enemy. Their money has kept businesses going and growing and created jobs.
Unions have done some good in the eras when working conditions were bad. But in recent years they have done more harm than good. Unreasonable demands by unions and lack of incentives to do good work have destroyed the companies that employ the union members. I have seen this first hand!
Supply and demand and the free market have worked better than government involvement and strict regulation. Regulations have come and gone, but the free market always leveled the playing field when we let it do so.
Very often the people making these governmental decisions were the least qualified to make decisions that affected our economy because they had no experience in these areas. As a former employer, I never hired someone to to a responsible position in my company who had no experience! Yet that is what government wants us to do! I have seen the result of government regulation and it has often been unfair, unprofitable and even corrupt!
"Might makes right" when it came to our national security. Our enemies only respected our strength and feared us and our power as a nation. There has always been evil in this world and by showing strength our country has protected us. A strong military and strong defenses have kept us safe. Peace is wonderful, but it has only been gained through strength.
Our nation is unique in the world and our Constitution has been the framework for our extraordinary wealth and power. The Constitution has been the safeguard for our freedoms. Many men and women have died to defend the Constitution and our freedoms and the freedoms of others. I have lived through wars and have seen the results.
History shows that socialism, communism, marxism and all the "isms" that take away individual freedom, have never worked in the long run. Capitalism has worked and we are all living in the result of capitalism. No, it's not perfect, but there has never been a "perfect" system in the world. We have the highest standard of living in the world, the result of capitalism.
People who have not travelled outside our borders, often don't appreciate what we have in America! People who are overly critical of our country should live in another country and they would come back here with a different attitude.
I can't compress what I've learned in 60+ years of my life into a few short sentences. I can say that life experience has taught me to look at the true facts of a situation and to look at history for examples of things that happened in the past and what the results were. That helps me to make good decisions that will positively affect my life. I don't listen to what politicians say!
REMEMBER HISTORY! There are great lessons to be learned from it. Let's not have to experience the negative results of not doing so.
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