Time to Stop Coddling the Children Of America?
As the grandfather of 12 grandchildren, I worry about their safety, health, and lives in this time of excessive gun violence, denial of history, and the life-destroying spread of the virus. Despite their vulnerability, the children of America who frighten me most are the so-called responsible adults who have decided their “freedoms” are worth more than others' lives. Since America’s first President, George Washington mandated the smallpox vaccine during the American Revolution, and women donated their nylon stockings and manned rivet guns in World War II, citizens have acted like adults in times of crisis.
Unfortunately, what was once the accepted practice in America, the golden rule, has turned into a cheaply plated chain of missing links adorned with zirconium patriotism. Your children made up imaginary friends, now many adults make up satanic conspiracies, complete with the smell of sulfur. When my sons were little, in the late 70s, parents banded together in concerted, consolidated efforts to put limits on the burgeoning gun culture. Major TV networks were conscious of the number of times Joe Cartwright or Matt Dillon gunned down the bad guys on the Ponderosa or in Dodge City; the cap pistol was replaced by Legos.
There are glimmers of hope that pull you back from the brink; Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson publicly said he made a mistake lifting the masks mandate in his state too soon. Only to be countered by Florida’s childish governor who refuses to save his citizens despite the mounting evidence of the deaths among the unvaccinated and unmasked in the state of Florida. His response to questions about his steadfast rejection of science was tantamount to, I know you are but what am I.
The Covid-19 virus is closer to a conclusion than a resurrection, the hands holding the nails are those of the adult children of America. Unfortunately, it is the man-woman-child stamping their feet and threatening retail cashiers, knocking out the teeth of airline flight attendants, and attacking random citizens of Asian heritage. They seem happiest tossing sand from the box into the eyes of the real grownups. Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave the first of what came to be known as fireside chats on March 12, 1933. The subject was the banking crisis and how America’s assets would be protected and redirected amid the country’s greatest financial disruption, The Great Depression. FDR knew that the average American did not understand the science of finance so his task was to first educate then speak to how he would ameliorate the problem.
“My friends, I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking. To talk with a comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking but more particularly with the overwhelming majority of you who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days and why it was done.” Roosevelt’s text began.
Americans were in the midst of the crisis of their lives and they listened to an expert. Oh, I am sure had some form of social media existed, outside radio, banks would have been labeled tools of the devil with baby-eating bank presidents (ok maybe that is not a far-flung analogy)—nonetheless—rationality and expertise ruled the day. Not advice from your friend Harry the butcher who read something on the back of a comic book while waiting on his order of x-ray glasses.
The World Health Organization, The Centers for Disease Control, and The National Institutes of Health all agree on the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine; I think it is wiser to take one’s chances with scientists than that of a frozen food heir or a debunked biologist recommending [Ivermectin] which one application is that of heartworm medicine for pets.
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