Understanding America...

 

Many people want to see America as country with a lot of faults while many people want to see America as a country that has no faults at all...  BOTH EXTREMES ARE WRONG as is evidenced by the song Monster by Steppenwolf released November 1969...

While history does repeat itself, one must fully understand the past in order to make plans and/or change for the future...  America has grown and has changed but America still repeats its past sins over and over again as if it has not learned anything...

Despite repeating the past, America has economically and financially grown to be the most powerful country in the world...  however, that dominance is now being challenged by CHINA...

• China has a larger military than the USA
• China has a larger navy than the USA
• China's economy is growing faster than the USA
• China owns 1/3 of America's debt
• China is aggressive pursuing Space exploration
• China stated it wants to dominate the world

AMERICA is no longer great...  and, I am not saying that to say America is a bad country...  but it is losing their leadership position in the world because a group of people think America no longer needs to be dominate...  that it should use those resources to give everything to America's citizens...

There is nothing wrong with that until China decides that it wants to control the USA...  then, what will we do?

Will we fight back?

Will we ask our immigrants to fight for us?

Will our WOKE military want to fight?

Our future reminds me of a Joni Mitchell song that later was made popular by Janis Joplin...  BIG YELLOW TAXI

Home Sweet Home

Staying-at-home has been a problem for most Americans who relish the idea of FREEDOM more than they relish the idea of their own/others health.  While I am a HUGE proponent of FREEDOM, I am not yet willing to RISK my own HEALTH in order to receive the FREEDOM that most of us took for granted before it was taken away.


I am reminded of Janis Joplin and the song Me and Bobby McGee

Lyrics

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
And I's feelin' near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
It rode us all the way to New Orleans

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandanna
I was playin' soft while Bobby sang the blues, yeah
Windshield wipers slappin' time, I was holdin' Bobby's hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew

Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no
And, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know, feelin' good was good enough for me

Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
From the Kentucky coal mine to the California sun
There Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything we done

Yeah, Bobby baby kept me from the cold
One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He's lookin' for that home, and I hope he finds it
But, I'd trade all of my tomorrows, for a single yesterday

To be holdin' Bobby's body next to mine6
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', that's all that Bobby left me, yeah
But, feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues

Hey, feelin' good was good enough for me, mm-hmm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
La da da
La da da da

Is COVID-19 causing us to lose our common sense because we cannot bear to lose the freedom of not being able to go where we want to when we want to, putting our own health and the health of others at risk in the process.  For some of us, COVID-19 could end of lives if we don't stay at home and for others, not staying at home could cause future quarantines and future loss of employment because we did not exercise common sense...

Personally, I am not willing to take that RISK and am perfectly willing to stay at home as long as it takes to guarantee my life.  It is simply not worth the RISK.