Are we overdo?

[airborneveteran]

Look up the Communist Manifesto and look at the 10 Demands in that document. It seems to me we've already had a bit of a revolution. Most people seem o.k. with it. I'm not o.k. with this "silent revolution" we've had, but I'm older and I agree that U.S. demographics don't favor any active change in our system.

[frank10]

Oak Tree: your seem to have a good "Foundation" for your opinion.

[K1986]

Scoutfish-

I don't usually hang out in the issues and politics section of this site because quite frankly it makes me embarrassed to think I am part of this great organization with some of the people that post on it. I was searching for something specific when I came in here for a college class I am taking when I stumbled across your post, and it made me think of a book I read recently that I thought you might be interested in. It's called Suicide of a Superpower: "Will America Make it to 2025". It is something I as a Catholic and a fan of our scouting organization found quite informative and inquisitive at the same time.

The book highlights your very statement about how America's government has long outlived many others of it's type and how how recent events of our governmental decline put us on the same path as others that have died by denying their founding, essentially bullying it's people. Says one book reviewer, "One nation under god, indivisible," of the Pledge is passing away and in a few decades an America our own parents won't recognize will take it's place. For me, as a leader of one of the most profound and impacting youth organizations in our great nation this concerns me.

When I watch some of the actions being put forth by our law makers I find myself preaching more and more at my boys that what we stand for as Americans and citizens of our God is what we must take out into the world. That we need to be good to our planet, that we must be kind to EVERYONE no matter their race, gender, orientation, religion, or whatever else you can think of. Because in my Scout Law "help other people at all times" does not exclude anyone (even if BSA as a group does exclude some). Maybe if we can instill these ideals on our youth deep enough, no matter what our government does to destroy themselves there will still be enough people left to rebuild ourselves from the ground up again.

So to wrap this up and give my opinion on your initial quandary, I'm not so much sure we are overdue so much as we are definitely on the path of the same rapid decline and so many nations before us and it doesn't look pretty. And I'm gonna get out of this issues and politics place before I have a heart attack because, well, WOW that's all I'm gonna say.

 

Happy Scouting everyone!

[packsaddle]

K1986, You do know that 'the pledge' wasn't adopted until 1942 and "under God" was inserted even later in 1954, right?

[K1986]

Packsaddle-

 

.....AND?

 

By the way I am a History teacher, so yes, I am aware.

[JMHawkins]

There are a couple of fellows named Strauss and Howe who have a theory of a four-generation cycle to American (and British before that) history. They claim that the nature of our government and society means that every four generations there is a window of opportunity to make significant societal changes. The window is open for a while, then after people have absorbed as much changes as they are willing to accept, it closes for another four generations and whatever problems remain unsolved will have to wait for the next cycle.

 

Their theory makes some sense and is backed up by annecdotal data. It's pretty much Harri Seldon stuff, but it's very erie to read them describe feelings and sentiments so accurately.

 

If you buy their theory, we've just entered one of those windows and are due for an interesting next decade or so.

[Tampa Turtle]

None of this is relevant.

 

I know for a fact that we slipped into a tear in the space-time continuum on January 26, 2003 and we diverged from reality.