The Road Home

The Road Home
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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Winter of Our Demise

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

Saturday, for no particular reason, is a slower day around our house, and it just seems to be a good day to post an older article. We're going to try this on Saturdays in the future and see how it works.

The information included below is still relevant to our times. I would appreciate your comments, words of wisdom and thoughts about how we can improve our society. That should keep everybody busy for days.

I hope you enjoy this Saturday morning, leisurely read.


Originally published May 2, 2015


A month or so back, Fern and I were driving down some long, lonesome highway somewhere, going to a place that I can't remember where we went. But while we were traveling, I observed some of the changes that occur during the seasons, and at that same time, it dawned on me that
there are lots of seasonal changes. Plants in the garden for the most part grow one year and are gone. Some come back the next year and some don't, but there are other types of seasonal events that happen. In my neck of the woods, folks grow and harvest pine trees. They just seem to have a longer season, somewhere between 20 and 30 years. There are also people. I'm approaching 66 years. I might have 10 more days or maybe 10 more years, God willing. But see, my season started with conception, and my season will end when I take my last breath. Let's guesstimate and say 70 years. In 70 years, I'm a spring chicken compared to some in the tortoise world. So, you get my idea here. I've read about some insects that only live a couple of days. That's their entire season.

Now, so much for the trip down memory lane. What I'd like to talk about is the season of our demise. You see our country, like all other countries, is controlled by a beginning, a middle and an end. Like some fruit flies that live for two days, and some trees that live for hundreds of years, everything has a beginning and an end. I raise goats. A good, solid, productive goat will produce somewhere around 10 years. I've seen baby goats born, and live 10 years, and I've seen baby goats born that never see another sunrise.

So, in the history of our developed world, our country, the United States of America, is a relatively young, thriving nation. I know some would question that, and in a moment I'm going to explain what I mean. But as nation, we are showing growing pains. Like me, we're starting to show our age and things are starting to slow down. That is part of the process of being mature. One of the things that I have accepted is that someday I am going to die. Sad as it is, someday our great nation will cease to exist as we currently know it. 

Let's step back in history a little bit. Not many of us around today actually remember the Great Depression. There are a few older folks around that still do, but not many. I would venture to say that most folks under 30 know very little about the Great Depression. Like the depression we're in right now, back then there was a debate as to when it started and when it ended. But have no doubt, we are currently in a financial depression. Play any word game you want, or do the semantic shuffle, but we are in a depression, because we have been in a severe recession for over six years.

Let's get back to the Great Depression. What caused it? Who knows? Who knows what's caused the depression we're in right now? Remember, the winners write the history books, and we are only taught what very influential people want us to know. But are you aware that in our great nation we have had multiple severe depressions? Actually it's really no big deal, because most people
back a 100 or so years ago, were extremely poor. This affluent society that we live in today, and you quibble, "We don't live in an affluent society!". You might say, "I only have one SUV in front of my house." Well folks, 100 years ago, let's say 1915, there were no SUVs. If you had a covered type chariot for daily transportation, you were wealthy. Now remember 100 years ago, 1915, few, very few people had electricity. That same few did not have running water and there was no such thing as a Wal-Mart Super Center. Credit was unheard of for the most part. Few, few people owned firearms. You can see the pattern here. By the way, in 1915 we were in one of those severe depressions.

What do you think got us out of that depression? It's the same thing that got us out of the Great Depression. It's called war. But right before we got into World War I, a private group of the very wealthy and influential folks created the Federal Reserve banking system. You hear about it occasionally on the news now days. Ever heard of quantitative easing? Or liquidity? Have you ever heard that
 the dollar has been devalued to just about nothing? Some people think this is a direct result of the creation of the Federal Reserve system. Which, by the way, the word Federal is just a name, like Federal Express is just a name. It is convenient, though, that it was started right before World War I. Okay. A depression before World War I, the Great Depression before World War II, and I don't know what history will call the depression we're in right now, we'll have to wait and see on that one. But can you guess what's coming? Good guess. Let's back up one more time.

While Europe was fighting, back in the late 30's and early 40's, the United States became the industrial base for the world. Remember the winners write the history books, and we were the good guys, along with western Europe that we were providing war supplies to, so that they could fight the bad guys. You know, Hitler and the Nazis. During this period before we were involved in World War II, our industrial base was ramped up to full capacity. But the war in Europe didn't go too well. 

A little history here. We had huge convoys of supplies leaving our ports and going to Europe as fast as we could make them, and as fast as the supply ships that we were building could carry them. Well, remember those horrible Hitler Nazis? They took out full page ads in our east coast newspapers advising the American public that they were going to start sinking those supply ships. And they did. But they warned our country multiple times. Remember we were supplying western Europe with bullets, beans and bandages. So they did start sinking some of our ships. Soon the war cry went out and we sent our good, homegrown, American boys to Europe, and we helped defeat Hitler and the Nazis.

Let's skip over to the Pacific now. We all know that the Japanese government bombed Pearl Harbor. Did the American government know that Pearl Harbor was going to be bombed? History now shows that yes, absolutely, they knew. But do you know why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor? It's because we put an embargo where the Japanese could not import oil. Japan was a quasi modern, industrial nation and we shut off their oil supply. We know what they did. It's called Pearl Harbor. 

Okay, now we have a war on two fronts. Our industrial base really kicks in now. Everybody is working. My mommy worked in an aircraft plant. All the men, or most of them anyway, went to fight in
the war. My dad and his brother went to Europe, and my mother's two brothers went to the Pacific. Why all this history stuff? Because this is the beginning of the "spring" of our nation. We destroyed, and I believe rightly so, the industrial base of most of Europe. What we didn't destroy, the German's took care of before we got there. The same thing happened in Japan. So, World War II is over, all of our soldiers are coming home, and everybody needs jobs.

Jobs were there. We had passed the Rural Electrification Act, so all those back woods, country, hicks could now get rid of their icebox and get a refrigerator, and every other modern convenience that their citified cousins had. At the same time we're also rebuilding Europe, Japan and England, which Hitler pretty much
took care of destroying. Let's take a look at things now. The British economy along with it's infrastructure and industrial base, was pretty much destroyed. The same with most of industrial Europe and Japan. Britain was the reserve currency, but now their economy was in shambles. The reserve currency now becomes the U.S. dollar. This means that most international trading is done with dollars. At that time the United States had beyond a doubt the strongest economy, the strongest industrial base and the strongest military. You say, "What about China?" China was still closed to outsiders, so at that time, they did not figure into the picture. 

Guys like my daddy are now helping build appliances, or automobiles, or any of the thousand items that our new, blossoming industrial base can produce. The
good folks in Europe and Japan want these products also. People are leaving farms by the droves to go get the citified jobs, so they can live and work in a town, buy a little house, which they're building by the thousands, which means more jobs, so the cities are expanding, infrastructure has to develop, neighborhoods and streets need to be built. Don't forget your rural country cousins that now have electricity, they're in the process of getting water and sewage to every house. Times are great. Times are wonderful. Everybody is working and everybody is happy. We are coming into the "summer" of our content. 

Southern California is growing like a weed, the valleys of California have been turned from desert into the most prolific producers of food the world has ever seen. Highways are being built, along with hydroelectric dams, and now the common man can get credit. You see, everything is growing. Except the farm population, that is. But, no big deal. The farmers now have larger pieces
of equipment, stronger credit, which means companies like John Deere can produce more jobs. The growth just never seems to stop. The whole world is trading in U.S. dollars. Europe is getting back on their feet. Japan has made some shifts from their Imperial based society to a more democratic based system. Japan is ready to take off on a financial venture that has never been seen or replicated since. But in the modern world, as of today, Japan's financial system is in serious dire straights. They are the fast track of what we are. Their economy will never survive.

But, back to the good Ole' U.S. of A. During all this time, we the happy Americans, are becoming a huge consumer based society. We now have more junk than we will ever need or use in our lives. We bought so much stuff from Japan that they had to outsource their work to the Philippines and then Malaysia. Japan can't produce enough, fast enough for our insatiable desire for consumerism.

Something we haven't talked about yet is that during and after World War II, we are the largest oil exporting nation on the planet. Imagine that. We were the largest oil exporting nation on the planet. It's not that our oil production abilities decreased, it's our oil consumption increased. Even though we're still producing huge amounts of oil, we have now become an oil importing nation. Most of that oil comes from various countries, but primarily Saudi Arabia. Things are still good, things are still happy, but we should start seeing a pattern here. It was about 1957 when we shifted from exporting to importing oil. As mentioned earlier, credit had opened
up for the common man, but things were still not growing fast enough. Our currency was based on the gold standard. The same gold that in 1933, President Roosevelt legally and conveniently stole from the American people. But, in a brilliant financial move, President Nixon removed us from the limitations of the gold standard, and the U.S. dollar was now free to grow as fast as it could. We're looking at the end of our summer season here.
Going off of the gold standard, with the unfettered dollar, the common man, through changes in banking policies, now could comfortably put that piece of plastic in his wallet. We are still a consumer nation. We need more, we need to feed that addiction toconsumerism. Madison Avenue has now become experts
  at convincing us that we need more. Don't worry about it, you can pay for it later. Just put it on your credit card. But everything is still LOOKING good. We not only have one SUV in our driveway, we now have two! Suburbs are growing at a phenomenal rate. People are now escaping the cities, that 20 or so years ago, they were leaving the farm to move to. More expansion, more infrastructure, more roads, more electricity, water, and so forth. Don't forget, since 1945 up to the mid 60's we had a huge population growth in this country. Why not? Life is good, we are living in the lap of luxury, and we are the envy of the world. But there is a sickness brewing. We are addicted to consumerism. I want more. Everybody has two cars, and a big, cheap house out in the suburbs. Gasoline is cheap. I can drive anywhere I want to. I have earned that right. Debt just continues to build. 

I can remember in 1978 when economists said that the Dow Jones would never cross 1000. Well, obviously, they were wrong. That phenomena hasn't changed any. For the most part, economists are just talking heads. You see, we're starting to go downhill. Abortions are now legal. Marriage is starting it's decline. Man is rich, he doesn't need God anymore. We start to see financial bubbles coming up and collapsing. We get involved in the
Vietnam War. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? Supposedly some of their little bitty boats fired on one of our ships, and Johnson agreed to escalate our involvement in Vietnam. Ten years later, about 79,000 of our soldiers are dead, and who knows how many of the Vietnamese we killed. We find out later that the Gulf of Tonkin never happened. It was a lie. Or as Hillary Clinton would say, somebody misspoke. It never happened. The Vietnam War tore our country apart. Some think that's when the rapid social decay of our nation started. Remember Hanoi Jane? To this day I don't understand why she is not in prison for treason. 79,000 young men and women died for some unknown reason. But we do know historically, that the Gulf of Tonkin never happened.

The military industrial complex made fortunes, and it did provide jobs in this country. The undertones from the Vietnam War left an indelible mark on society. During this time we saw the Civil Rights Amendment, which in theory was probably the right thing to do. But in application, it's the Civil Rights Amendment that is now allowing same sex marriage in our country. So, be careful what you
wish for, because I expect pretty soon, we will see sisters marrying sisters and fathers marrying daughters. You see, it's their civil right to do so. We got the peace and love movement, the suburbs are still packed, society is decaying at a phenomenal rate. We have a couple of little crashes here and there in the financial sector. A lot of retired folks get their 401k wiped out. But, ironically, the first chance they get, they put their money back into another 401k, because they're going to make a fortune. Now everybody has three SUVs in their driveway. Ten year old girls are wearing $50.00 blue jeans that make their hips look curvy, not to mention their skin tight t-shirts, then people at church sit around and comment about how pretty they look. 

You see, ladies and gentlemen, we have entered the fall of our society. It's been a good ride. My grandfather got to leave the farm, and go to work for an aircraft plant building airplanes. At that time women
earned their place in the workforce, even though there is no one home to raise little Billy now. So we have a new industry pop up called daycare. Everybody after World War II has a good job, if they want one. Everybody works, and we are going to have growth forever. Well, anybody with a half a lick of sense knows that is impossible. Our infrastructure is now decaying. Water lines and sewer systems in every major city need to be completely replaced. That's never going to happen. Our electrical grid system is a fossil just waiting for a collapse. Our schools have become institutions of putrid vile. Our industrial base we have effectively crushed by sending our jobs to other countries. 

And I really hate to say this next item, but if you believe that our government is working for us, The People, then you are delusional. Our elected officials, for the most part, are the most corrupt group of people ever assembled. But most people don't care because things still appear to be good. Look at the crime in our
cities. Look at unemployment. Look at welfare. Turn on that great educator called the television and compare it to 50 years ago. If you can't see the progression of filth and trash, then you are taking way too many psychotropic drugs. Look at the way mother's dress their little girls. Listen to what comes out of little boys' mouths. If you are a decent individual, you are a minority. If a person tries to live a humble life and raise their own food, then they are labeled a terrorist. Can you imagine that? Our government has systematically managed to associate decency with terrorism. 

Let's review. We had a spring. It was a good time after a long-term bad time. We had a lengthy summer. Now we have crept into the fall. We are a mature nation, and some day we are going to relinquish our
world domination to some other country. This is a natural progression. Are we going to do this peacefully? History would say no, we're not. Is our government going to become more tyrannical? Absolutely. We had better learn to accept the fact that martial law is just around the corner, because if you believe that your life is private, then you're both delusional and taking psychotropic drugs. As usual, the future is not here yet. But it's coming. 

Let's take a look at some things that we do know and can forecast with some degree of certainty. Are our schools going to start teaching American values? Well, actually, they are teaching American values, because we have allowed them to teach trash and filth. So the schools are going to continue doing what they're doing. Is our obvious moral decay going to make a turn around? No, it's not. The answer to that one is obvious. Is our economy going to improve? Well, that depends on who you listen to. If you think rising unemployment is an improvement, if you think more people being serviced by government social
programs is an improvement, then yes, it's going to improve. It's been improving for years. Do you think our corrupt government is going to start telling the truth? I don't think that's possible, because if our politicians were to tell the absolute truth about what's coming in the future, then we would have anarchy in the streets. They can't tell the truth. But that doesn't mean that they are still not corrupt. And that is only going to worsen. What about our financial system? How are they going to continue to feed their need for more of our money? You can only tax so much. So why don't they just take our money? You say that will never happen? I would have never thought that a man would let an airport agent feel
up and fondle his wife while standing right beside her. But that happens everyday. They also do the same thing to his teenage boy and daughter, and that's okay too. Because remember, Roosevelt stole gold and silver from the people. If you don't think that our government will not take all of our savings, then you're not paying attention to history at all. All they have to do is issue you a debit card, or an EBT card, or whatever name they want to call it, and try to convince you that your money is now secure with them. 
Okay. So. Now we know a little bit about what to expect in the future. How are we going to get out of this conundrum? War. We've been at war for the
last 20 years. But I'm talking about big war. People fight different than they used to. A fellow sitting in front of a keyboard can shut down a plane in mid flight. I'm talking about a commercial jet liner here. They can shut down our banking system with the punch of a key. They can shut down our power grid with the punch of another key, and it can't be stopped. This next war is going to look a whole lot different than the last few wars. I'm not sure that some of those keys might not be punched by our own people. It wouldn't be the first time they've done it.

Folks, we're getting older, our time is expiring. Hold your grandkids, hug your spouse, keep your powder dry, for winter is at the threshold. It is inevitable.

We'll talk more later, Frank

9 comments:

  1. I see that no one else has commented on your post/repost this morning. Well, I for one have been thinking on what you have shared since reading it earlier today. I hope I don't offend anyone with my response. I believe that most people who read your post are very good people, and they are very frightened. They are realizing that what you have shared is more factual than they are prepared to see become reality. The truth can sometimes be very scary, and society has not learned much from history. No wonder the leftists have done everything possible to rewrite our history. If the truth doesn't fit their takeover they simply make up lies. They destroy the well intentioned people who get in their way.

    I don't think of myself as an optomist or pessimist. I have always tried to be a realist. The future is looking pretty grim and each day we are challenged to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. I have no real answers or solutions other than to live our lives to please God. As a Christian, I know we will need to go through dark times before our faith in God is rewarded. Be strong and alert. What we see and hear are often misleading...CWfromIowa

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    1. Hi, CW, thank you for your observation. I've known a couple of people in life that had a really bad experience. Some couldn't even talk about it. It's like if they never brought it up, it didn't happen. I knew a lady that was involved in a car wreck once and some people were hurt. This happened in her mid thirties, she had three children, and she never drove a vehicle again.

      I wish I had answers why people won't look at, or can't see what's happening in the world. My best guess is that it is just too difficult. There are some things there just aren't answers for.

      It's very difficult to deal with what I will call 'fake news' or lies. Sometimes folks feel betrayed, and betrayal is a very difficult emotion to deal with. I am a Vietnam era veteran. I did not serve in Vietnam. But I know a number of men that died there and the traumatic effects on their families that will never heal. What got us into the Vietnam War we now know, historically, it was a lie. It never happened. And this is just my era.

      This has been going on forever. There are days when I have doubts, it seems that all of the principals I have been raised on have been constructed lies. Maybe it's just being older. I fear for the future.

      Sorry for the doom and gloom.

      Frank

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  2. Frank, your article is still spot-on. I'm a 78 year-old female who has experienced the years during and since WWII. We got electricity in our rural area when I was 8 years old. Computers came into being during this time. In college I learned to program by wiring boards to direct the functions of the computer. A whole room was required to hold the computer equipment. The information age was born - quite a contract to today. Morality, faith and family were forefront. Trust was evident since we never locked our doors at night or when away from home and never had a problem with an illegal entry. People believed in and practiced taking care of their own family and helped neighbors in need.

    Was our government corrupt then? Yes. Most of us didn't realize how corrupt since we didn't have news 24/7. Now we know! Civility in our government is at an all-time low. I don't see it getting any better, actually, I believe it will get worse. I'm not sure how or if our country can survive and certainly not as the country we have known. We are too divided. Our only hope, as I see it, is God's intervention. I believe he intervened in the last presidential election and I pray he intervenes again. Is this a copout to give up my responsibility for taking care of self and family? No. We continue to prepare for the unknown while living a balanced life of enjoyment and happiness.

    So glad to have you and Fern back. We need this type of wake-up call and discussion. Most people I know are oblivious to or in denial of our country's precarious situation. They do not want to talk about it and some of the same people do not vote because there is no perfect candidate. BJ in GA

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    1. BJ, thank you. Thank you for taking the time to comment.

      What you say is accurate, and to use an old term, it is right on. I do wish I could see with clarity what is coming. I can't prepare any more than I already have. Maybe mentally and spiritually.

      I wish people liked the old ways, but they don't seem to like the old posts we put up either. Everybody wants new, improved, they want to be dazzled and entertained. I recommend people turn off the TV and talk to the folks around them. Turn off all the electronic gizmos. People talk about it, but most don't do it. That would not be entertaining. New and improved. Wonder when the last time was when these good folks read the Bible.

      Thank you for your comment. Frank

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    2. Frank, I'm not so sure that people don't like the old posts. I like them but it's difficult to respond to them when you don't have an answer - you just don't know what to say. They are quite thought provoking and require some time to mull over, and sometimes our minds just drop it before it's thought out - too difficult - denial - lazy. Sure hope you keep them coming.

      Could be when these first came out we were scared to death under the last administration and working desperately to prepare. Your words certainly motivated up to do so. Now, I feel like we have been given a short reprieve. How long will it last is a mystery. Depends on our behavior, which isn't a comforting thought. Also, if anything happens to the president all hell will break loose so we shouldn't become complacent in the present. Not that I think he can do everything but I think he is holding it (disaster) back somewhat.

      Speaking of the Bible, times are scary. All things are in place for the tribulation period. If cash is abolished watch out. That chip will control everything. That possibility hasn't been available too many years - now it is fully available. One comfort for me is Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Because, my understanding says things are bad! God has answered my prayers in ways that I had never envisioned and his answers were so much better than I had even imagined. Keep the faith.

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    3. JR, sometimes it's difficult to 'keep the faith'. I feel Fern and I have a fairly good grasp of where we are and what's going on. But that's just us. The very few people that I see, either what I call often or seldom, have a clue what's going on. And if they do, they don't do anything about it. They talk, moan, whine, gripe, then they flop their butts down in front of the TV and watch more of it. Whether folks are aware or not, between TV and social networking, their minds are being controlled. Some days it just gnaws at me. Maybe today is one of those days.

      I really do appreciate your words of encouragement, and I really do. Tomorrow will be a new day. Fern and I are going to try to post an article tomorrow. If you have the time, would you read it and tell me what you think? Thank you again for the comment, and by all means, keep the faith.

      Frank

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  3. I'll read it and give you my take. Tomorrow WILL be better.

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  4. Your posts are like a well aged bourbon. Better as they age. (We only have bourbon here for emergency anasthetic and disinfectant)
    This was an excellent read as it shows the progression of the decay.
    The education of our children is a cancer. I never realized how many useful real world skills they dont teach anymore until we met Amish children here. They go to school to Grade 8. Then they go to work. They have been taught basic maths. The young men understand money and saving it. Young couples buy a home, the young husband takes care of the family and the young womans dowry and hope chest sets up the house. They value their children.
    Our young people just seem to want stuff and more of it.
    There is far more to your post I could go on about, but I will stop before I really get carried away.
    I pray for this country and I am so glad we live where we do.
    God Bless you both.

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    1. Hi, Fiona. You're probably right about a well aged bourbon, but does it age in the bottle or while still in the white oak?

      Fiona, Fern and I are retired educators. I'm not going to blame the schools or the parents, but I once heard a wise man say, "At 8:30am today, society will walk through the doors of our school." Takes a lot of factors to form a society, I call them disciplines. They appear to all be failing society. Let's wait and see what tomorrow brings.

      Thanks a bunch for the comment. My favorite was a straight, not a blend. Frank

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