Watching the European protesters is ominous. Watching the Occupy Wall Street protesters is painful. As the images of chaos intermingle and blur, as explosives taint the sky, and policemen drag purposely limp bodies across the street, one squints to differentiate and wonders, “Are those Americans?”
American character was built on true grit and a glorious gut for liberty, wanting no strings from government dictating an individual’s destiny. Since when did Americans become whiny children screaming, “Give me liberty and give me, give me!”
Tantrums on the streets, stomping on First Amendment rights, begs the question, “Where is reason?”
Thomas Jefferson said, “If there is any among us who would wish to dissolve this union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated, where reason is left free to combat it.”
Reason is a necessity in maintaining Republicanism. Yet it is sorrowfully missing from the liberal mainstream media, culture and public schools. The Democrats, “the party who depends on dependents,” as Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., recently put it, nurture the “give me, give me; the government owes me,” mentality. Rare are lessons on free enterprise, American exceptionalism, the Constitution and civic duty.
If today’s unreasonable rebels knew the U.S. Constitution, then they would know that the First Amendment gives “the right of the people to peaceably assemble.”
Explosives, defiance, bonfires, sexual assaults, cesspools of urine and obstruction of ports are not a peaceful, nor a proper, representation of American dignity.
Thankfully, the Occupy Wall Street movement (Occupy America is their true intent) does not define the majority of Americans. Nor does the AARP, which in its recent commercials warns that it is 50 million strong, so don’t touch its members’ entitlements and don’t forget they are “voters.”
Senior citizens worked hard, paid their fair share of taxes, and deserve their benefits. It is the tenor of the AARP message that is off key.
Optimism lies within the “Magnanimous Majority” of American generations, young and old, who are willing to make hard fiscal choices that benefit the country — choices that are noble, willing, selfless, constitutionally educated and reasonable.
Over the centuries of American history, brave men and women have given life and limb to keep the torch of America’s promise alive. Today, the choice of fiscal sacrifice is the call to action. We face an evil not in the form of a tyrant, not yet at least, but of another sort: debt.
Numbers do not lie. The debt-to-GDP ratios are as follows: Greece 166 percent, Italy 121 percent, Ireland 109 percent, Portugal 106 percent, USA 100 percent, France 87 percent, United Kingdom 81 percent and Spain 67 percent.
Reason is the basis of all edification. Two plus two is four and minus $15 trillion is a problem. Debt equals demise. It doesn’t take an Alexander Hamilton to figure this dilemma.
Mandatory spending, which is 65-70% of the pie, must be addressed. Inherently the people have the power by electing representatives who are willing to make tough choices. The essential ingredient is to support them when they do.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has introduced a new bill to deal with Social Security’s insolvency by raising the normal age of retirement three months a year, starting in 2016, going from 67 in 2019 to 69 in 2027, affecting no one currently over the age of 58.
Dealt with now, more austere measures may be avoided later. As our debt clicks to $15 trillion, do we have a choice? We do, of course. The choices are to whine and not support courageous decisions or to hunker down and quickly slash spending, avoiding a total meltdown of our country.
The Magnanimous Majority will be the movement who, by honorably choosing to fiscally sacrifice, will save America, keep her virtues strong and leave her a better place for future generations.
Janine Turner, a longtime television and movie actress, is a talk radio host on KLIF Radio in Dallas.
