You Built that Expletitive

I'm going to talk about myself in this piece and it's not to grandstand or make my lifestyle or choices the central theme of this blog entry. I need to acquiesce my acceptance of nomenclature of what it means to be successful yet remain passionate about moral values and less antiquity. When I was a very young man, my father provided examples for me to work hard. I wasn't raised in poverty per say, but rather from the enlistment of my father's participation in the Vietnam War and later his education, he provided me with a framework of principles & moral standards that I still use today. My dad once said, "In those days you went to war or to college and I wasn't rich, so I went to war." Now let's look at that statement and consider that were talking about. This is in 1957 and I feel it's an excellent example of an era that signifies the past great industrialized era of our country. Back then, to be a member of a minority was to be poor. That was it there was no equal rights even though civil rights were in they're developmental stage of becoming reality, you were poor and their was no class divide. The only divisions were you were poor black or white and even other race, but you were all poor. With this thought in mind, you can imagine that being shipped thousands of miles from home to another country where entire swaths of nationalities were either living in bedlam or utopia, you were acclimated to assimilate to new surroundings. I bring this up because it seems to be the point that is missing in today's society. Were living in times of division and chaotic discourse in society yet no one seems to be speaking up about these issues from a historical stand point that seems to provide any reasonable solution. So in attempt to put forth some plausible reason, I'm going to use my upbringing as an example of how hard work and determination really do pay off not just in lifestyle or worldview, but in moral & ethical standards. My dad is a veteran. He came home to citizens of his own country spitting in his face for serving his country. "You were alone," were his words. He was referring to the way the officers and enlisted men and women traveled. He mentioned that from the foreign countries they were together in groups, but once entering the United States, they split up and traveled alone not to bring attention to themselves as veterans returning from an unpopular war. He quietly returned home and worked. He eventually went to college to receive his education and return home again to serve his tribe. This where I point out that my upbringing was a little different from others because of my father's experience. He rose through the ranks of laborers and eventually became an innovator of programs that matched others skills & abilities with labor they were qualified for. In this part of his life, say around the late sixties to the mid seventies is when my sister and I were brought up. I was born in 1969 and it's the year the U.S. put a man on the moon. I always remember my dad working. He built things with his hands and we were always going outside to put something together or work in some fashion. My memories of hot summer afternoons and working until the sun went down are the most impacting to my life, as I have no doubt that it is the core principle instilled in my mentality and approach towards life. I belief you get what you work for. That in itself is a simple concept that was the example of my upbringing. If you wanted something, you worked for it. I never have been afraid of hard work because in my mind there was always a pay off for one's efforts. It didn't matter if you just had the satisfaction of sweating profusely or developed callused hands, but there was a level of satisfaction that came through achieving something. One of the most vivid memories I have in this time of my life were the other people I learned from besides my dad. My father was a real cowboy and we lived on a reservation, so he was an Indian Cowboy. Some people might not know what I'm talking about, but for those that might not understand it was the idea that you have the mentality of grit and pure toughness. The added the dynamic of being humiliated because of your race or the color of skin tends to add understanding to what I'm talking about. These men in my life associated to me a lifestyle that had a very profound impact on my outlook. Complaining wasn't a thing anyone ever did on a regular basis. A lot of decisions were made out of necessity rather than convenience. The world was tough, but you had to be tougher if you wanted to survive, so that is foundation of my experience at a very young age. My dad didn't want me to go to the military. Well, I had health problems, so it wasn't a reality for me to do that anyway. He provided a strong structure of discipline and communication that can only be characterized by results. This is the way life was you didn't appeal to higher authority if things weren't to your taste or convenience. You sucked it up and dusted yourself off and moved on. Today we live in a touchy feely society where everyone is entitled. I have come across this many times in my life and have always just ignored it because it never seemed to be a viable option. For me, that was just something other people did as last resort whenever they couldn't get what they wanted through their own efforts. Eventually, I started to realize that some people operated that way and that is just how they viewed the world. If you don't quite understand, I'm happy for you, but if you don't it's the idea that the world owes you something or that there is some benefit your missing out on because someone else is keeping it hidden from you or out of your reach. I'll come back to it later. The point is that my perspective relies on what can only be determined as a self made man. My thoughts are simple be respectful of others and treat people the way you want to be treated. I didn't make those points of view up because they were instilled into me from a very young age. Fast forward some 35 years and today the world is confusing. I left the country briefly in 1986 to go to China. I went to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and then Canton, China which is in the middle of the Asian continent by the Great Wall. The things I saw impacted me greatly from an overall view on life. I would encourage anyone if given the opportunity to leave the United States and travel somewhere in the world. Just being exposed to other cultures and nationalities gives you an open view on society as a whole. You come to appreciate everything you have ever taken for granted. For example, today we have this wedge between institutionalized law enforcement & the public safety. To serve communities is to take a vested interest in said community and walk around introducing yourself to people and getting to know specific details about areas under your responsibility. Now going back to a concept of respect & dignity for yourself and others, it's simple in my mind that when you fail other people, you fail yourself. It is your job & duty to communicate ideas and concepts that allow for open and fair discussions in your everyday activity. I'm going back to an old traditional style of thinking here in that if you take pride in your work your effort will be undeniable. I bring it up because in foreign countries the military is the law enforcement and they are not expected to be civil and obedient to societies standards. They answer only to their superiors and that's it. The general rule of thumb in other countries is don't step out of bounds and you will be okay. Now That's a very brief description. You have to understand what I mean by don't step out of bounds because it applies to your behavior including the words you say. Etiquette is a good social skill to have in western society, but the whole world is not like our experience in a democracy where you have inalienable rights. In other countries if you speak out about your personal opinion on leadership or government, you simply disappear. I'm not using scare tactics to make a point, but it's a well known fact that political asylum only applies to those who carry valuable information. It's just like I described the days of minorities pre civil rights era, everyone was poor and there was no difference. That means if your a journalist or the off spring of someone rich & powerful you might have a chance of surviving a kidnapping or some other form of being physically detained, but if your nobody you just disappear in some foreign countries. So taking that matter into fact, why do you think so many people risk their lives to come to the United States? Think about it when I say entitlement and appreciating your life here in this country. I brought up my father's service in the military because of his effort and every single person that has served in the armed forces currently or in the past is the reason we have the freedoms we enjoy. Speaking openly against your leaders is a privilege in this country and although you have the right to speak your mind openly there are still consequences to inciting hatred & vitriol into society. Pitting citizens against law enforcement and races against each other is not civilized behavior. Chanting "Lock her up," at a political convention is not rallying the supporters of a free society. I can go on and on, but it would be the equivalent of preaching to the choir in a blog entry. I have some extremists in my friends list. They are kept there on purpose, so that I know that my bias and rhetoric is kept to an acceptable level of reason and understanding. I come from a background of do it yourself and get it done mentality. There are no short cuts in my book there are no scape goats in my thinking. If you act outside of the boundaries of law, you pay the price, but today I watched a lady, a school teacher get yanked out of her car and thrown against a pickup truck before she was thrown to the ground by a man with a badge and a gun that was at least three times bigger than her. She's been quiet about this for a month and finally she's getting the chance to have that incident brought to light because of all the other incidents proceeding it. Now she's alive and has video evidence of the incident. Sure she was screaming and flailing about through the whole video, but who wouldn't be? It's like I said, in other countries you don't get a choice you just disappear. Is that what the leaders that are pitting one race against the other are proposing? The onslaught of build a wall and kick everyone out sounds like a return to the 50's to me, is that what were proposing? Are we considering turning back the hands of time 66 years? The candidate that gave a speech yesterday took his outline from 1962. He had the option to pivot to the center for a major political election, but he decided to go full Mussolini in front of the whole world. Today David Duke released a video declaring his candidacy for senate. He credited his opportunity to run for office because of the success of the previous candidate I mentioned. For those who don't know who David Duke is he is the Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan a white supremacist group. The men that I talk about that fought and died for this country would never let anything like this happen, so the question is how do people who are entitled that never worked for anything get to the point that they want everything and don't want others to exist? That's the question I think a lot of people are asking today and if they are not than they are perhaps unaware or scared. It's our job as decent human beings to recognize threats to our future and the safety of others. This type of rhetoric isn't political grand standing it's inexplicable. The dark soul of the real American heritage has been awakened in the form of bias, prejudice & superiority. It doesn't matter that the man leading the charade isn't even a politician. The system of checks and balance is off kilter because in reality these snake oil salesman have been setting up the conditions for this to happen for at least three decades. Divide and conquer America and sell off the rest has been the goal all this time and that spectacle of a public gathering solidified it's legitimacy. All I can think is the metaphor of music when it comes to the conclusion of the convention. The Rolling Stones was one if not the greatest rock bands of all time. The songs they became famous for were taken from jazz and rhythm & blues artists of the south. These artist were African American. The Rolling Stones didn't know where the songs originated from, but after many years of success acknowledged the roots of the music and made effort to bestow the credit of the music's source to the rightful owners. America was never discovered. It was home to millions of Native Americans for centuries. It's destruction and rebuilding was provided by immigrants of all nations from all over the world. This is the last frontier. If you destroy this nation and everything it stands for there is nothing left to destroy and rebuild. We the people have the right to live given to us by god and no other. Rather if your Christian or Catholic or Protestant or Methodist you have freedom of religion. Anybody in their right mind would recognize that those words were hateful and meant to destroy anyone who didn't agree. That's your monster conservatives, "You Built that!"