I remember a time, not so long ago, when Americans knew that, regardless of religion, people were inherently prone to be selfish and even do bad things if never taught any better. For example, little kids were known to go up to other little kids without even seeing the behavior from other people, take their toys away... and then look straight at the other little kid and say, "Mine!" This was not taught, other than the word Mine. The selfishness, and sin, if you will, just came naturally. So regardless of religion, kids everywhere were taught to respect their elders, mind their manners, and treat others how they wanted to be treated.
These were the good ol' days.
My how the times have changed.
I remember a time when Americans knew that the black race was treated wrongly, and used and abused, and African American citizens rose above all the racism and hate, and proved to not just America - but the world, that they weren't going to let the past defeat them...or define who they were. People like Booker T. Washington, and Thomas Sowell, and Dr. Ben Carson, and more professional athletes than we can count now - showed the world that the color of skin does not make a person; but what a person does well, and what they DO with what they do well - makes the person! I remember when the victim mentality was frowned upon in America. I remember when the every day American was proud of who they were because of how hard they worked. Those people are still quite common, but mainstream media, and career politicians, sure make it seem otherwise.
I remember a time when despite what you believed, what church you went to, what school you went to, who you voted for, who you wanted to spend your life with, how you wanted to spend your life, what you thought of police officers - most folks agreed to disagree, because they realized that DISAGREEMENT didn't equal HATE. There were just sometimes you avoided talking about politics, religion, and 'her' or 'him'. Sammy Kershaw even wrote a song about how to avoid the hate.
"Let's talk about baseball; talk a little small talk.
There's gotta be a good joke, that you've heard.
Let's talk about Nascar; old Hollywood Movie Stars,
Let's talk about anything...anything in this world-
But Politics, Religion, and Her."
He may have been onto something, but in the good ol' days, there still wasn't near as much vitriol spewed at one another like there is now!
I remember a time when all the disagreement didn't mean a hill of beans when it came to anyone talking about ludicrous things like burning the American flag, or being proud to be an American, or America being ....wait for it..........uniquely AMERICAN!
Yep... those were the good ol' days. I am afraid there are many things in this short list that just aren't like that anymore. I intend to travel my own country to see for myself. Maybe I will discover some good things, and see that tradition is not the curse word the mainstream propagates it to be.
But in my short 42, almost 43 years, these are just some of the things I know about the good ol' days.
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