Address To America - Re-Post From 2010

These Three Things

My name is Bobby Taylor. I am an American. I was raised by great parents who are part of what Tom Brokaw calls the Greatest Generation. Theirs is the generation that sent 16 million men and women into harms way during World War II to protect our freedoms and defend the greatest country in the world; The United States of America. Luckily for my mother, my brothers and sisters, and me, my father survived the war in the South Pacific. Regretfully, almost three hundred thousand of the Greatest Generation gave their lives so that I, so that we, can live and work and raise our families in the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave. They took responsibility, very personal responsibility, for assuring that we could continue to live the American Dream!

I grew up on a small family farm in Cullman County, Alabama. My parents taught me that good things come from hard work, and that life offers no guarantees. They taught me the value of honesty and integrity, and they taught me that I am responsible for who I am, what I have, and where I will go. My parents taught me that if I want something, I have to work for it. They taught me that nothing in life is free! They taught me to be responsible for myself while being willing to help others. I learned that when I fail, it is my responsibility to pick myself up and try again. I learned that it is not anyone’s responsibility but mine to provide what I need or what I want. It is not the government’s job to take care of me. Not only should I not expect the government to take care of me, I know that I do not want the government to take care of me, because in order for the government to give me anything, it must first take it from the person who created it, or grew it, or earned it. And as I have already said, nothing in life is free. If I allow the government to take care of me, it will want something in return. It will take my liberty. My parents taught me, and I learned, and I know, that I must take personal responsibility for my life!

Our country was founded by people who believed that good things come from hard work. They did not come to this new land expecting to be given anything but a chance, and they got a chance. At first it was a chance to starve during the cold winters. A chance to die from disease. A chance to be killed by an unseen enemy. But because they worked hard and persevered, our Founding Fathers were given the chance to create the greatest country in the world; The United States of America. They didn’t quit, and they didn’t ask somebody else to take care of them. America’s early settlers chose unbelievable hardships in order to have freedom and opportunity. Do you think it was easy for the refugees on the Mayflower to leave their homeland and everything they knew, cross a big ocean on a small boat, and settle in a new land just so they could be free to worship their God in the way they wanted? Do you think it was easy for George Washington and his soldiers to spend a cold, wet winter at Valley Forge without proper equipment and food, just so they could fight another battle, a battle that they would probably lose? Do you think it was easy for Jim Bridger, Kit Carson and hundreds of other Mountain Men to cross the Mississippi River and the plains, and then have to conquer the Rocky Mountains, as they sought their individual freedom and expanded our new nation? Remember, these earliest freedom-loving Americans did not have the Interstate Highway System to make traveling easy, they did not have the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to keep them safe, and they did not have government healthcare to take care of them when they were sick. These real American Patriots voluntarily faced hardships that we cannot even comprehend just so that they could have freedom and opportunity.

Let me ask you a very important question; what are you willing to do in order to have freedom and opportunity? Are you willing to do without government handouts? Are you willing to make your voice heard? Are you willing to take action so that the out-of-control Federal Government knows that you will not trade your freedom and economic opportunity for bigger government, more taxes, and a national debt that is bankrupting us for generations to come? I know we want to be free, but are we willing to face the hardships that may be required to maintain that freedom?

America is great, but it is not perfect. Here are the major problems with our government, These Three Things:

Number One: Government is too big, and it wants to get bigger. Many of our elected officials, and here is something that is truly bi-partisan, believe that we are unable or unwilling to take care of ourselves. Big Government believes that it knows what is best for me and it believes it knows what is best for you! Big Government does not understand that personal responsibility and liberty is the bedrock that supports our Constitution and is what has set us apart from the rest of the world. I am not an orphan who can do nothing without Big Government’s help. I am an American, and I can stand on my own two feet and I want to stand on my own two feet! Hey, Big Government, get off my back and get out of our way!

Number two: Big Government has to have a big checkbook. The only problem is that Big Government does not have any money. So guess what? Big Government has to tax me, and tax me some more, and Big Government has to tax you! As long as we allow Big Government to grow, our taxes will grow even faster. But that is not the worst of it. The worst part is that even though Big Government keeps taking more of our money in taxes, it is still spending more than it has taken from us. The country’s debt is no longer our debt. It now belongs to our children and grandchildren. No business can survive by continually running up debt, and neither can Big Government. Eventually Big Government’s house of cards will fall, and mighty will be its fall. Hey, Big Government, stop stealing from me and my children and my grandchildren!

Here is the third problem with Big Government: It thinks it can run our business, and many of our businesses, better than we can. The free market is what made America the most prosperous nation in the history of mankind. American ingenuity, not government control, is what makes our economy the envy of the world. You can go to any country in the world, and you will immediately see just how much better Americans live than the rest of the world. Oh, sure, you can find the rich in foreign countries, and you can find the poor in America. But nowhere else in the world will you find the abundance of goods and services that are commonly available to most Americans. Our government cannot balance its budget. It can’t make a profit off its rail service or the Post Office, even though they are monopolies. Union Pacific Railroad and Federal Express can turn a profit, but not Big Government. Now we are letting them run, or maybe I should say ruin, our healthcare system. Duh. Has anyone looked at the VA Hospital System to see how the government is doing at managing healthcare? Has anyone noticed that Medicare and Medicaid are broke, and that already many doctors do not accept patients who are “government insured”? Government was never meant to run our businesses and Government should stay out of our business. Americans using the free market and free enterprise made us the richest country in the world. Hey, Big Government, let free market capitalism grow our economy!

What can we do to bring America back to its roots and insure our country survives and prospers so that our children and our grandchildren can achieve the American Dream? We must do These Three Things:

Number One: Vote for candidates who support limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the free market. Enact term limits at the voting booth to get the “old school” politicians out of the way. A candidate may have views different from you on many issues, but they must promise to support these three positions in order to get our vote: Limited Government. Fiscal Responsibility. Free-Market Capitalism.

Number Two: Call, write and email your Congressmen and the President. Let them know that you are not going to sit quietly by while our country and our children’s future are foreclosed on because of their irresponsibility. Let them clearly know that you are in favor of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and the free market. Every time you hear something that makes you feel bad about our country, and every time you hear something that makes you feel good about our country, let your elected representatives know about it. Sound off!

The third thing we must do: Tell your friends and neighbors how you feel. Tell anyone who will listen how you feel. Do not be a “closet” patriot. Everybody else is coming out of the closet, so must the American Patriots. Attend rallies, marches and town halls so that our message of Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and Free Market Capitalism is amplified across the country. Create a blog and use Facebook to voice your opinions. Communicate in every way you know so that our message is heard loud and clear. If there is not a good candidate running for an office in your district, then find someone to run who will protect our country by upholding our Constitution. If there is no one else, then it just might be your turn. Support the movement. Put your wallet where your mouth is. You do not have to give hundreds of dollars to make a difference. Every little bit helps. How much we really care about our country will not be measured by how loud we yell, but by how much time, effort, and regretfully, money, we are willing to invest to maintain our freedoms.

The battle we are in now is a bi-partisan, multi-cultural battle. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, left or right, straight or gay, whether you are religious or atheist, pro-life or pro-choice, whether you are young or old, black or white, whatever your "cause", Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and Free Market Capitalism will make your life better. These Three Things will make America better. The only people who will be hurt by These Three Things will be the professional politicians who are robbing us and stealing from our children and generations to come, and those who think Big Government should provide for their every need by creating a welfare state that redistributes the wealth of America and where personal responsibility is a thing of the past.

The United States of America is a great country. It is the greatest country. But we are on the wrong track. We must get back to our roots. We must once again make our Constitution the supreme law of the land. We can no longer be quite. Our message must be heard. We will be heard. We must elect representatives who will uphold our Constitution, and who believe like we do in These Three Things; Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, and Free-Market Capitalism.

May God bless you. May He bless our cause. And may God Bless America!

Bobby Taylor is a retired entrepreneur who lives in Cullman, Alabama. He and his wife, Kim, have four children and eleven grandchildren. Bobby is a proud veteran, having served six years in the U.S. Army, a pilot, and describes himself as a Constitutional Conservative. He loves the outdoors and is a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association, the National Rifle Association, the Great Smoky Mountains Association, and the Iditarod Trail Committee. Bobby Taylor can be contacted through his website at www.wildroamings.com.

Re-Post From 2010

Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, Free-market Capitalism. These three things are not three independent goals. They go hand in hand. You cannot have them separately. They are THE goal of Constitutional Conservatives and most who associate with the Tea Party movement (you know, those racist, bigot, extremist idiots who should be called terrorist, at least according to the main-stream media and those in power.)

Limited government interference and regulation sets the citizen free to pursue life, liberty and happiness, while it sets the entrepreneur free to start and grow a business, powering our economy and creating jobs and wealth. The only reason for a government to grow is so that it has more control of our lives. Every time Congress votes to spend more money (i.e. grow the government), we the people lose more of our liberty. That loss comes through more regulation and/or higher taxes. Every time. No exceptions.

Fiscal responsibility insures that we are paying our own way, and are beholding to no one. Although the Bible does not condemn or forbid debt, it does give some very wise counsel: Deuteronomy 28:12: The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.  Proverbs 22:7: Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender. Just like you and me, it is in our nation's best interest to not be in debt. Just like you and me, our nation should be mature enough to live within its means. The more government grows, the more it spends. The more it spends, the more it must raise our taxes, unless it goes into debt. So just what is government debt? It is the outward proof of the inner cowardice of our government that keeps it from saying NO to spending, while at the same time not having the guts to vote for tax increases.

Free-market capitalism is the engine and the proof, the cause and the effect, of a free people and a free nation. Without personal freedom, the free-market will disappear. Without a free-market, personal freedom can not exist.

Re-Post From 2009

Billboards and Life

Through a business arrangement, I met a man whom I think will become a friend. He loves the outdoors, and is a dynamic Christian, speaking to groups across the country. When he learned that I was from Alabama, he mentioned that he had a good friend in Sylacauga, David Pursell. David is an Auburn graduate who owns FarmLinks, a golf resort and grass research facility on Lay Lake. I had never heard of David or FarmLinks.

It is a small world after all (to quote a famous mouse.) Not two weeks after having the conversation about David Pursell, my son-in-law asked me if I have ever heard of FarmLinks? It turns out that David Pursell is going to speak at the ACIPCO Leadership Association meeting in November (where my son-in-law is employed). In addition, on my next trip to Auburn to see the Tigers beat Ole Miss, I see the huge billboard for FarmLinks, that I am sure I have passed many times without every noticing. Then, when I get to the game, I see that FarmLinks advertises on the big screen in the stadium! It is amazing how much of the world just passes me by without ever being realized until there is something that causes me to take notice.

I am afraid that is how so many people are with Jesus. They hear about Him all of their lives, but he becomes just another billboard on the cluttered side of the highway of life. He is often passed by until a "bump in the road" jars them out of their complacence. Little do they know that if they will stay close to Him, He will make the whole journey smoother. Trusting Jesus will not improve your gas mileage, nor will he appear to fix your flat. But He will make your life better.

Why I Will Vote For Ron Paul

Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Paul. All of these men believe in the historical America, where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are guaranteed by our Constitution, and free-market capitalism is the force that created the greatest economy in the world. I believe any of them will be better for our future than Barack Obama, who believes that bigger government and wealth re-distribution are the keys to establishing a fair and just utopian society here on the North American continent.

Romney - He is too willing to compromise and change positions to suit me. I believe, deep down, that Romney's primary reason for seeking office is power and the opportunity to create more wealth. He is a free-market capitalist, but I believe that he likes the deck to be stacked too much in his favor. Although running as an outsider, I believe that he would bring a lot of the same that we currently endure to Washington. I do believe that his election would improve the economic plight of Americans.

Gingrich - If the most important job of our President was to win debates, Gingrich would be my guy. However, even though God may have forgiven him for his moral failures, his character is not what I want to see in our President. As Noah Webster said, "In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular party of the candidate - look to his character." Gingrich has none. He also has made a living "working" with the establishment in Washington, sometimes we organizations of dubious reputation.

Santorum - I think he tried to please too many people in Pennsylvania, ended up pleasing no one, and lost his Senate seat. You must have convictions, i.e. "You have to stand for something, or you will fall for anything."

Paul - There is no question where Ron Paul stands on any of the issues. None. He has been singing the same songs in Congress for over 20 years. He is a Constitutional Conservative who loves and fights for liberty. His economic insight is almost frightening, having accurately predicted the housing bust and economic problems we are currently experiencing. He has a sound money policy.  He has a radical but rational plan to downsize government and shrink the deficit. His plan is to cut spending, not just reduce the speed of its growth. He clearly wants to return the US to a Constitutional Republic based on individual freedoms and individual responsibilities. He believes strongly in States Rights and the enumerated and limited powers of the Federal Government. He believes in a strong defense, but one used for defense, not offense. He believes in declared war when our nation is threatened. He does not believe that we should be the policeman of the world, or that it is our right or responsibility to interfere in the affairs of other sovereign nations. He will secure our borders, so that we can have a legitimate and legal immigration system. He is NOT in favor of the legalization of drugs, per se. He believes that there should be no Federal drug laws, but that States can enact those laws if desired. His philosophy is that individuals should be able to make their own decisions (individual freedom), and that laws should be made only in order to insure that everyone has equal access to those freedoms and opportunities.

States Rights

I think this is an article worth reading.

Santorum and Obama: Two Peas in a Pod?

by Connor Boyack

George Orwell is no doubt smiling down from the heavens after witnessing last night’s Republican “debate” in Ames, Iowa. Why, you might ask? This event featured more doublethink (if not hypocrisy) than any other in recent history. Recall that Orwell defined doublethink in 1984 as “The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them…” The Ames Debate offered several instances of this very thing, many relating directly to the Tenth Amendment. Congresswoman Bachmann, for example, has positioned herself repeatedly as a leader in the tea party, state’s rights, and Tenth Amendment movements.

Asked last night whether there was a difference between the state or federal government mandating that an individual buy a product (referring primarily to health care insurance), Bachmann responded that there was no difference. It is “unconstitutional,” she maintained, regardless of whether it is imposed by the state or federal government. She did not cite which part of the Constitution denies states this authority. Of course, that’s because no clause in the Constitution prevents states from doing it, as Congressman Paul rightly noted in response to Bachmann’s doublethink. Paul stated that the federal government is not empowered to go in and stop states that do bad things. Moments later, Senator Santorum jumped in to criticize both of them, claiming that their responses were indicative of “the Tenth Amendment run amok.” 

Said Santorum: Michelle Bachmann says that she would go in and fight health care being imposed by states, but she wouldn’t go in and fight marriage being imposed by the states. That would be okay. We have Ron Paul saying oh, whatever the states want to do under the Tenth Amendment is fine. So if the states want to pass polygamy, that’s fine. If the states want to impose sterilization, that’s fine. No! Our country is based on moral laws, ladies and gentleman. There are things the states can’t do. Abraham Lincoln said “the states do not have the right to do wrong.” I respect the Tenth Amendment, but we are a nation that has values. We are a nation that was built on a moral enterprise. And states don’t have the right to tramp over those because of the Tenth Amendment. Leaving aside the fact that he inaccurately portrayed Rep. Paul’s stance, it is obvious that Santorum is no Tenther, but rather a power-loving thug looking to impose his personal set of morals and values on any people living under whatever level of government he can use to accomplish his goals.  In this respect, he’s hardly different from Barack Obama at all. Obviously, Santorum has either not read or understood the Tenth Amendment — included in the Constitution which he has on several occasions sworn an oath to support and defend — which provides for the very things he is criticizing.

States do have the ability, under the constitutional system the Founders put in place, to “do wrong.” They have the sovereign authority to decide whatever they wish on whatever matters they like, provided that this authority has not already been delegated to the federal government, or has not been explicitly denied them in the Constitution.

For as we read in the Tenth Amendment, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

In Federalist 45, James Madison provides a well-known quote regarding the balance between federal and state powers:

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.

Nowhere does Madison describe the Constitution as empowering the federal government to intervene in a state’s affairs when it is believed by others to be “doing wrong.” Indeed, the very purpose of the Tenth Amendment is to enable states to retain the authority and ability to do stupid things (and hopefully good things, too). For if the other states can, through the federal government, force another state to not do something they consider to be “wrong,” then what can that federal government not do?

Another common attempt used by nationalists to impose in one fell swoop what they otherwise would have to introduce in 50 different states is to authoritatively affirm, simply, that we are “a nation.” It was notably used in the last presidential cycle by Governor Huckabee who claimed that “…we are one nation. We can’t be divided. We have to be one nation under God. That means if we make a mistake, we make it as a single country.” Without qualifying these remarks with the constitutional limits placed upon the federal government — and thus describing what that “nation” can and cannot do — support is manufactured for policies that have no authority, yet which are then imposed upon everybody.

The federal government was created by the states, and unless explicitly denied the authority, states retain the ability to pass dumb laws — even horrible ones.  In fact, many already do!  It is up to the individuals in that state to fix those laws and improve their government.  It is not the right or duty of their neighbors to use the federal government to correct their behavior/

When we sit back for a moment and recognize that the federal government already claims the power to require to you to purchase health insurance, to tell you what size toilet you can have, what kind of plants you can grow in your back yard, what kind of light bulb you can use, and so much more – don’t we realize there’s already too much federal power?  For people like Obama and Santorum, it sure doesn’t seem that way.

The examples mentioned here are unfortunately not mere doublethink. They are constitutional treason. They are violations of the oath of office to support and defend that document, and they are either ignorant or intentionally destructive attempts to impose upon an entire nation of people things that should be left up to them to decide.

In doublethink, writes Orwell, “the lie always one leap ahead of the truth.” It is true that the Tenth Amendment is important, that the federal government should be restrained, and that the Constitution should be upheld. Unfortunately, most of the politicians promoting these truths are doing so in the shadow of their contradicting lies which run totally contrary to those positions.

Thus did Orwell also write that political prose is crafted “to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” Voter beware.

Connor Boyack is the state chapter coordinator for the Utah Tenth Amendment Center. He is a web developer, political economist, and social media consultant changing the world one byte at a time. Read his blog or follow him on Twitter.

Labor Day 2011

It is raining in north Alabama. I think it is raining all over the Southeast. As I look across Lake Guntersville, I can only see a few hundred yards. The fog and rain are keeping me from seeing clearly. The lake is rough, and I am glad that I am not outside. This is not a pretty picture. This is not why I built my house here, but it is why my house has a firm foundation and a solid roof. Luckily, I know more than what the current conditions tell me. I know that someday the clouds will clear, the lake will calm, and the view from my window will be beautiful. I will once again venture out onto the lake to enjoy life.

Everyone experiences storms in their life. Some are minor storms, and some are major storms. While the sun is shining, prepare for the storms, for they will come. Create. Earn. Save. Do what you can do to insure that you can weather the storms. Do not depend on someone else to take care of you. Your ship will come in only if you have built a secure harbor with a shining beacon to guide it to you. The only things that will accidentally wash up on your shore are shipwrecks.

Our country is in the midst of a storm this Labor Day. The economy is bad. The housing market is bad. Many people are unemployed. Businesses are afraid to spend. I believe the culprit is too much government. Although I strongly disagree with the policies of the current administration, both major parties have created the problems that are killing our nation. Both Republicans and Democrats have grown government and ignored our Constitution. The responsibilities of the Federal Government are clearly enumerated and limited in our Constitution. Everything else belongs to the States, or to the People. We cannot expect nor do we need someone else (the Feds) to take care of us. The less the Feds give to us, the less we will be forced to give them. I know that I can spend my money better than Washington can. The out-of-control Federal Government is the problem with our economy. If we cannot right the Ship of State, it will sink, and it will take us with it!

You need to do three things this Labor Day in order to get our Nation back on the right track. 1. Commit to create, earn and save for your own well-being. You cannot depend on anyone else to take care of you. 2. Commit to work to elect Constitutional Conservatives to local, state and federal office next November. I believe both liberals and conservatives can trust our Constitution to be the beacon that will guide our nation back to liberty and prosperity. 3. Commit to turn (back) to God and pray asking Him to cleanse your heart both personally and ours as a nation, and to forgive us for removing Him and His Son from our daily lives. It was God's blessings that created this nation. It will be His blessings that calm the rough waters we are experiencing now.

Donations, Donations, Donations

I have donated to: Ron Paul, The Tea Party Patriots, Paul Bussman, and the Republican Party. I am no longer a supporter of the Republican Party, primarily because of how their leadership in D.C. believes it is more important to get re-elected than to it is to do what is best for America. Boehner and his cronies had the opportunity to STOP our government's out-of-control spending, but instead they passed a reduction in the rate of the future increases of their spending. They are RINOs, and will hopefully be thrown out of office in 2012. My Congressman, Robert Aderholt, also voted in favor of the debt deal. I will campaign against him in 2012 if there is a candidate running who supports Constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and free-market capitalism. Amazingly, both of my Senators voted against the debt deal.

I do support some statesmen who are Republicans. I am supporting Ron Paul for President. I hope he wins the GOP primary. If not, I think his candidacy will impact the Republican platform and help other Constitutional Conservatives win spots in the House and Senate.

I just received another solicitation for a donation from MicheleBachman, Presidential candidate. I will not give to her candidacy. She should be supporting the Father of the Tea Party, Ron Paul.

Don't Raise the DEBT Limit!

Here is an email I sent to my Congressman and Senators today:


Dear Senator Sessions, Senator Shelby, and Congressman Aderholt,

I have earned a lot of money in my life. Wisely, I have spent less than I have earned. There have been emergencies over the years where I have had to go in to debt. I also have purchased homes using a mortgage. In both instances, not only prudence on my part, but realistic restrictions on the part of my lenders, have limited how deep into debt I could go. Because of these limitations, I have always been able to repay my debts. Personally. I have never had to have my children, or even other citizens with more money than me, bail me out.

Regretfully, our Federal Government is not only unwise concerning how it spends my money, it also has the ability to borrow much more than is wise. And it has done so. For some idiotic reason, there is now a current move to increase our national debt limit in order to prevent an economic crisis. Again. The analogy of trying to put out a fire with gasoline is very fitting. What fool really thinks that adding to the debt will decrease it? How will giving the federal government more of my money teach it to be more prudent with how it spends?

I urge you to lobby the House/Senate to NOT increase the debt limit! Make the government live within its means. We all know the threat of default on the US debt has nothing to do with raising the debt limit. There is plenty money in the current revenue stream to pay the obligations on our debt, as well as to maintain all of the Constitutionally required services provided by the government.

Will not raising the debt limit hurt? You bet. Will a lot of the government handouts and unconstitutional departments have to be done away with? You bet. Not raising the debt limit will force the government to live within its means, and it will force the shrinking of the government. Both of these things will go a long way toward insuring that both our economy and our nation remain vibrant and free.

Thank you for your service,

Bobby Taylor
1501 Stadium Dr. NE
Cullman, AL 35055

Things

I was born in 1956, just about in the middle of the Baby Boom generation. By the time I was a senior in high school, Veit Nam was winding down, most hippies had cut their hair, and Nixon had resigned. The Beatles were already gone, and the Space Race was over. Teenagers were already moving from motorcycles to cars, and the cassette tape was the new technology replacing 8-tracks. We had one television in the house, and it was a color set (however, you still specified that it was color, because there were still a lot of black & white sets around.) We had expanded from three channels to five, but all were free via our antenna. We had one phone in our house, although a lot of people had an extension phone.

My grandparents had upgraded to an in-door toilet only a few years earlier (about the same year we landed on the moon.) I had an uncle and aunt who not only still used an outhouse, but they had just recently got electricity. Although my dad worked at a "plant", he also farmed. I helped. A lot. It was not unusual at all for me to get home from school and then get on the tractor and plow until after dark. Of course, on Saturday it was farming all day long. When I was about 14 or 15, my older brother and I planted an acre of okra to sell to the local farmers' market. It was my first entreuprenural endeavor. It required a lot of hard, hot work, but we made good money.

I had a happy childhood.

Why now do I spend over $100/month on cable television? Why do I have a color TV in almost every room of my house? Why do I have several phone extensions in my house, as well as a cellular telephone in my pocket? Why do I live in a house at least twice a big as my parents, but I have only half as many kids? Not only do I not farm, I hire someone to spray my house for bugs, someone else to cut my grasss, and someone else to maintain my pool.

Am I happier than I was when I was a teenager?

The US Is Failing

America was great because it was founded on Christian principles and the morality of the Holy Bible that permeated our whole society. Although they were certainly unChristian and immoral actions taken by individuals within the country, and even though our government sometimes did bad things, the basis of our nation, the very blueprint for our being, was the moral code outlined in the Old and New Testaments. Anyone who denies this truth has not read the hundreds of documents written by our founding fathers. The Bible's moral code is clearly engrained within our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence of the United States Constitution. God blessed America.
 
Our country is now faltering, ready to fall. We are no longer the envy of the world. Our government is in shambles, but no one recognizes the cause of the decay. Here is what I believe is causing the downfall of our country:
 
We removed the mother from the home, letting someone else raise our children.We removed prayer and God from the school, allowing other doctrines to be taught.We legalized abortion, putting self before the good of others.We normalized and sensationalized sex, breaking down the bedrock of the family unit.We made homosexuality moral, stretching the bounds on other moral bounderies.We took away personal responsibility, and replaced it with government control.We now accept immoral behavior in our families, our communities, and our government.
 
We are also beginning to no longer support Israel. The Bible promises that God will bless those who are a friend of Israel, and curse those who are her enemies. That is a promise that is repeated many times in the Bible. If you are a Christian or a Jew, you must believe this promise.
 
I believe that God is no longer blessing America. It does not matter how many times our politicians include the mandatory "God bless America" at the end of their speeches. It does not matter how many prayers are offered to a "higher power." We the people of the United States of America, must turn back to the Bible and the absolute moral guidelines clearly outlined therein. Jesus Christ is the only way to gain enternal life, and following his teachings, and teaching them to your children, is the only way to save America.
 
Pray for Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And pray for America. But do not waste your time praying to a "higher power." Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, is the The Way.