The un-raveling of the United States of America...

I’m going to share a little story with you people. I might get some negative karma for it, but so be it…I didn’t come here for a popularity contest.

I was born in Sept. 1965 in a little Virginia town called Covington. When I was just about ready to enter the fourth grade ( I was only 9…the laws were different then) we moved to West Virginia and bought a farm.

Shortly after the move, my father died of a heart attack. My mother had to go to work. (she worked 2 jobs, a day shift and a midnight shift at the hospital).

Our farm was kinda small. We kept 4 cows and a bull, 100 chickens at a time, a couple of goats, some ducks and an ornery ass pony that would bite the shit out of you. We had two gardens about 75 feet wide and 150 feet long and grew everything…potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, Lima beans, pinto beans, okra, onions, lettuce….you name it...and then canned it for the winter.

After dad passed and mom went to work…guess who tended to these things? Me…a 9-10 year old. I got up at 4:00am to start feeding. I was back in the house by 5:30 and took a “bath” …no shower here… and got ready to catch the bus at 6:30 for an hour ride to school.

As our farm was pretty small, we didn’t have hay fields so to winter the animals, I worked the summers for our neighbor. They were an older, retired couple and their kids and grand kids lived miles away. Each summer we took in about 200 acres worth of hay. The old man drove the tractor and I did all the other stuff…like loading twine in the baler and removing clogs and debris…. dangerous stuff for a kid. But….I was a smart, careful kid…so…I’m here today. I cannot describe to you the pride I personally felt that I actually did things that "mattered" to the family..."I" made sure we had hay for the animals for the winter.

The point I am trying to make is…America has lost its way today. Our kids don't know what it means to "make a difference" for the family welfare.

There was a time we were damn tough…the rest of the world was awed by how hard working and clever we were. They marveled at the things we could accomplish. Today…we are a joke to them.

I give a bit of my story to make a point. When and where I grew up…this was common, everyday and “expected” stuff. Kids were relied on to do their part for the family…now today…we only ask our kids to not use too many minutes on the family cellular plan. WTF?

If our country is declining as it appears to be (rhetorical statement)…it’s our fault. We are raising a generation of pussies and sissies who think they are entitled to what they want without putting an ounce of effort into it…

Well let me tell you something…I put gallons of sweat into this world…and I still haven’t earned the right to be “entitled” to anything…you work, you eat…you don’t…..you don’t.

So…anyway…this is why we are falling apart at the seams and the rest of the world laughs at us when they used to respect us…we have spoiled our children and now the “ckicklings” are coming home to roost with a wide open mouth and hand extended….

I’ll post some other time about our failure to properly teach and implement discipline…this “no spankie” generation is the death cry for us all…I got my ass tanned often…and I am a better person for it…but that is another tale for another day….