[Richard]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Back up your perspective, say, 40 years and do a relative comparison.

We've gone past "1984" in loss of individual liberty, IMO, in many ways. I believe it's due to a collapse of standards in honor and morality, and it's being programmed into our kids.

I would suggest the same of you. I was a young SF Medic serving in SEA then and remember the times well.

The economy was stagnant, there was a pending global fuel crisis, America was withdrawing from its long-time commitments to SEATO, the military was struggling mightily from a loss of public and governmental trust, virulent nationalist terrorist groups were actively engaged in seeking to change our society, there was a constitutional crisis and little faith in our governmental system as the Republican Party and its leader (RMN) were being 'pounded' by the MSM for illegal electioneering activities, and so forth.

I try to make such comparisons as an on-going part of my thought processes when evaluating the 'news' of today, and think you should maybe attempt to do the same and avoid what I perceive to be your worm's-eye views of History compounded with a penchant to romanticize the past while "catastrophizing" the future.

Reflexively, as I read throughout the blogosphere today, I often wonder if we can pinpoint a place/event in the timeline of our history where America seems to have gone from a collectively optomistic to such a pessimistic view of its future.

And so it goes...

Richard