Morals: Relating to, dealing with, or capable of making the distinction between right and wrong.

Ethics: Conforming to moral standards.

To be immoral or unethical is knowing right from wrong and choosing wrong actions. Not difficult, right?

There is a troubling trend that has popped up in the last two years. An eruption of orators spewed from nowhere began casting the American people into a mold of "immoral, unethical masses."

America has always been a model country where its people can live at a level of freedom unknown to most of the rest of the world. Americans are generous, family-based, hard-working folks who take tremendous pride in our homes and families. We usually find ourselves fighting for, financing, feeding and giving shelter to other less fortunate people everywhere. So what did we do to earn all the name-calling? We elected the wrong man in 1992, and to make matters worse, we did it again in 1996. It was a mistake to turn our country over to what has turned out to be a bully, liar, and a user of people and an abuser of power. We will be more careful in the future and we will get over this.

American has been bombed by our enemies, fought and controlled the influence of communism, we have won two major world wars, but never have we experienced such an onslaught of name-calling insults that appear on TV, radio, newspapers and the internet. These "judges of our morals" are Americans, many are leaders in our communities, who have taken on the job of sorting us all into groups, each one more evil and corrupt than the others. I find myself reacting to these fools and want to scream at them to "shut the hell up!" Here are some facts that these hateful people have overlooked.

1. Americans have a serious problem in Washington DC. Our politicians have used every one of us for their own personal gains. We are over-taxed, under-protected on our borders, lied to, for our own good and ignored by those bureaucrats whose promises are shallow and forgotten. (Who's immoral?)

2. Our Constitution has been weakened by the top officials from the White House all the way down to the interns. We have lost the respect of the leaders and people all over the world, as our leaders do not keep their word.

3. We have lost respect for our Justice, Defense, Education, Law enforcement rules and leaders (the drug war is a comedy of errors) and we suddenly realize that our hands are tied and there is little any one of can do to correct this abuse. This is power abuse at it's worst.

4. The education system in American is incomplete. By the time our students are ready for a higher education, they are unprepared in language skills (communication) math, and what is considered within the law. Problem solving skills have taken a back seat to social issues rather than training classes. We have allowed millions of 18 year olds, who have no sense of history and couldn't describe a Constitutional Republic or Democracy, to vote! Do any of these kids know why their families migrated to America? Do any realize that their responsibility at the ballot box must be preceded by research of the issues? This isn't a moral question; this is a question of ignorance. (Can you see the difference?) We can never regain our place in the world without regaining our love and respect for America!

This is not a question of morals or ethics that can be put at the feet of our citizens. If anyone is to blame it is the manipulators from the top authority in WDC. How are we to stop the poisonous influence that has weakened our families, killed our young men in foreign lands, and ignored the education of our future Americans? We are not immoral, corrupt or unethical! We are confused, abused and mad as hell with these incorrect labels.

Okay, America has some warts! We were too trusting of our politicians and educators. It will take a lot of time and work to get our self-esteem back. We must never allow any bureaucrat to take control of our lives ever again. We need to research the best schools for our kids. Schools that can be contracted to keep the discipline and education standards up or we close them down. We need to again trust our local police and judges. (The Simpson trial was a real eye opener). We need to take another look at our own family structure. If our homes are not the "Beaver's" model, we must do what we can with what we've got. We need to retain the respect for adults and insist upon it within our family.

Discipline is the missing key in many cases. Our homes should be the place that we can return to every evening that is safe from any hurtful action (safe from each other, too.)

I hear the pontificators blaming our lack or morals on our music, TV shows etc. Okay, we are allowing some bad programming to get into our lives. The influence of violence in art and entertainment is unbalanced by most of our standards. We all love music and I will not slam what our kids prefer, but why not expose them to the "masters" when they are very young? It will not be a wasted effort. The same applies of art and books. This is not a moral problem!

It would be more constructive for these loudmouth moralists to write better music, produce better TV shows, and publish better books instead of insulting us with their slanderous words. They should be promoting a smaller government that relies on individual responsibility instead of a desire for a government that will micro-manage our very lives. We don't need or want our government setting our standards of morality -- Isn't that a scary thought?

If they continue yelling insults at Americans, they will do more harm to our spirit than if they poisoned our drinking water. I don't even trust them enough to expect a positive input.

Our society has slipped somewhat these last 50 years. If you look closer you will see that we need to pull together and cut that damn federal government down to size. Put the responsibility back in the house/senate where it belongs. (Section 7 and 8 of Article I in the Constitution). And most important, educate ourselves on the issues before we vote. We must all take full responsibility for our children, their respect for the law and their ability to stand tall without the support of WDC. We can do it without Big Daddy or Elmer Gantry.

Published in the January 21, 2000 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright © 2000 Ether Zone Online. Reposting permitted with this message intact.