Birthdays are meaningless

Birthdays are meaningless. They are merely a method for noting the passage of time. If we were living on another planet, our years would be longer or shorter depending upon the speed of axis rotation and the length of our solar orbit. So, there’s nothing magical about surviving another year…unless one happened to live on that former planet called Pluto. There I might be celebrating my fifth or sixth birthday…hmmm. So, birthdays are meaningless and represent mere accidents of time and place. Here on earth I celebrated my 65^th year of mortal existence. Here in the United States I became a semi-official ward of the state. Here in my own mind it doesn’t matter.

Fortunately I’ve never had that traumatic birthday that propels one’s life into a tailspin. Thirty, forty, fifty and sixty slid by without much notice or concern. But 65 is a little different. Thanks to my government and its bloated self-importance, I know must consider Medicare, Social Security, death panels, sustainability, inter-generational transfers and senior citizen discounts. I’ll have to start carrying a coin purse and delaying the lines at check-out counters. I’ll begin driving 35 miles per hour in the left lane with my turn signal in constant-flash mode.

When the Social Security scam was developed in the mid ‘30’s, the retirement age was set at 65 because very few of us made it to that exalted age. Even then your (our) government was looking for ways to hammer us. Today those of us who make it this far can expect another 15-20 years of productive life which has totally driven many actuarial experts to enter 12-step programs. Bummer for them, problems for the government and the people who pay the taxes, but bully for us energetic golden-agers who refuse to sit down and waste away.  It thrills me to see my peers enjoying life and contributing to our communities, states and nation. It saddens me when our geezer class clutches to their government programs with a death grip and sense of lifetime entitlement. It radically ticks me off when career politicians and bureaucrats pander to the oldsters by promising more of the same distribution of goodies. It won’t happen. It cannot continue. Face the music and begin dancing, fellow golden-agers.

In preceding generations it was assumed that one would work until death intervened. Today, however, because of government and political lies, we believe that we are entitled to twenty years or more of taxpayer-subsidized leisure. Even the government has recognized the folly of its promises, and thus, we have the “death panels” or quality of life panels embedded in legislation for the express purpose of culling the herd. Due to our expanded longevity the pressure on the system has become too great to continue. As a husband, father and grandfather who desires to spend many years with my loved ones and helping my grandchildren to appreciate the value of individual liberty, I refuse to accept the societal and governmental descriptions of who I am. I am me. Perhaps in some respects similar to other 65 year olds, but uniquely me in most ways. Government will not define me. Government cannot confine me. After all, birthdays are meaningless. No column tomorrow because of pressing obligations: sleeping, sunning and socializing.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com   or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

What's the Hurry?

Once in a while a reader or a listener on the radio show asks me why I seem so intense. Intense…isn’t that a place where primitive campers stay? One of my favorite aspects of this writing and the radio show is that people make me think. So, why am I so intense about big government, career politicians and liberty? Like any good preacher would tell you, three points are best for delivering the message. I just happen to have three points right here: 1.) my age; 2.) the hyper-accelerated growth of government; and 3.) the fact that nearly 50% of our citizens do not pay income tax.

We’ll address each impetus one-by-one. My age is instrumental because as someone in my mid-sixties, I have a sense that my time for generating an impact on our state, nation or society is slipping away. I love my children, their spouses and my grandchildren. I cherish my extended family and my dear friends. I am fond of many neighbors and acquaintances. I truly respect the historical foundation of our nation and revere the Framers who adapted the wisdom of the Bible and the experience of the ages to “form a more perfect union.” I have booted many opportunities throughout my life to follow an idea or a dream to completion. I do not want to leave this earth without having done all I can to preserve or restore the “blessings of liberty” for everyone who is important to me and for those whom I’ve never met. Medical technology has progressed in an amazing fashion, but I do recognize that as time passes by, my influence and impact may be limited.

The 60’s were a turbulent time in our nation’s history. That was the decade when I reached legal adulthood. The 60’s rivaled the 30’s for expansionist government programs. “The Great Society” and other grandiose plans by LBJ greatly increased government’s reach and size. Richard Nixon gave us the EPA and OSHA in the late sixties and early 70’s. “Roe v. Wade” dramatically altered the role of states in social policy and redefined “privacy” in the American lexicon. All of these occurrences greatly expanded government, but they were foundational for the geometric growth of federal government power and influence. Today, the size and scope of the national is growing too fast for many of us to comprehend. The tentacles of influence were established in earlier decades and are bearing fruit (rotten) today. The growth of government at every level resembles an avalanche that picks up momentum and mass as it rumbles down the mountain to destroy the isolated hamlets in the valley. For me the rumble has become a roar that is impossible to ignore.

As of this moment, theoretically speaking, we still live in a democratic republic. Human beings are usually motivated by self-interest, so if roughly half of our working citizens are paying no income tax, they have no vested desire to limit the taxes on the remaining 50 per cent. We have reached the “tipping point” that will determine whether we can return to a free republic or slide into an oppressive statism. It seems obvious that if more than a majority prefers big controlling government, ballot box remedies are no longer feasible. The only glimmer of optimism is that many non-voters are in the non-paying group, but progressives and statists are continually devising new schemes to involve the looting class in the electoral process. If our republic is to survive in any manner envisioned by the Framers, it must be done now….and quickly.

These three reasons drive my strident writing and broadcasting. I hear the “tick, tick, tick” as time slips away both personally and nationally. I believe that our nation as designed was the greatest model for human fulfillment ever constructed by people…with the help of God. There may have been better untested formulas available to the Founders, but the geographic and political differences among them made those more difficult to achieve. The Articles of Confederation were much better for state sovereignty and individual liberty, but lack the structure for a unified national presence…which clearly has grown too large. My time has come. My time is now. Please join me.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com     or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com