This book is dedicated to my parents Nancy Lee White and JB White and to every great American
Bringing Back Some of Yesterday:
Has America Lost Its Edge?
By: David B. White
Introduction
If there were some kind of hypothetical Universal Doctor, per se, that could give the world’s countries a complete physical, the United States might go through the battery of tests and be labeled “sick”. I think other countries, with the way they carry themselves morally and politically, with their own decaying infrastructures, would also fail in their checkups as well. For the point of this book, we cannot worry about other countries health at this time because our own health is what to worry about. The United States is a young country and has always been a country seen as a young and vibrant nation. It has in such a short time financially and politically, and domestically built itself up and been revered by some countries. Over the past fifty years though the United States has seen it self fail at some things that have caught up with it self.
This Universal doctor would probably then diagnose and scramble to find anything that can help this troubled country. He may question the family tree or origin of the country and the people that made it up, to see if genetics had a role in the country’s illness. Could its genetics be a cause that has lead to the country’s illness or maybe not? Was it laziness or character loss over the many years that helped to lead the country in this wrong direction? It is this author’s strong desire after many years of watching to hopefully lead a revolt and get back to some of the great times we saw in the infancy of this country. We live in such a freedom-driven country and a proud democracy, but a country that hopefully sees drastic change in the up and coming years. Talk to anyone and they will say the same thing and that is that our world and our own country is an insane country with many more lost people.
This young continent during it hypothetical physical, would have a high temperature and would be suffering with many kinds of potent illnesses that many have been noticing for years. Unfortunately, not always knowing what to do, many people have watched our great nation somewhat decay morally and physically and of course financially. Over the last fifty years or so, we have seen some positive changes in technology and medicine and financial growth at different times, and other great things, but are seemingly failing in other vital areas of existence.
But sadly, we also have witnessed the fabric of our very own society deteriorating at a rapid pace since the 1950s. The 50’s was a time when the father of the household was respected and people went to work and gave it all they had but a lot has changed since then. The mother of the family was also respected and was at home more rearing the child and be the great nurturer of the family. It was also a time, more than we can say of today, when people more respected their fellow man and treated them with dignity and respect. We have turned in to more of a “me” society and it has caught up with us and not in a good way. The pages of this book will show us that we have done some good for the world but have also let ourselves falter at the same time.
We have lost many of our virtues and the character that once labeled us as the country many other countries admired. Sure, we are a great country with many great individuals and freedoms, but in many regards we have lost our edge as a super power. We have not lost everything though, and so many know that we can find ourselves again, but it will take some reflection to get us back. I have so much faith in this nation because there are still so many great people that love this country and appreciate all our freedoms we enjoy.
This is a time when hopefully many will reach deep into their souls and revert back to some of the times in our history when everyday life was a little bit more fun and enjoyable. After the loss of a our country’s beloved John F. Kennedy in Dallas, after he was assassinated, we had to find ourselves and we are now asked to do it again. This before mentioned hypothetical doctor would probably be surprised at her findings, because why and how could this attractive and grandiose country be so tremendously ill since the earlier part of the 20th century?
On the outside, this country, with its blossoming fields, magnificent clear streams, high mountains, white picturesque sandy beaches, and different nationalities of people looks so perfect to the outside. Perfect to the naked eye, but internally, ill in so many ways. Kind of like that gorgeous movie star or performer we dream of or admire, who you later find out, has a serious drug addiction or alcohol problem that you did not know of. We lost Michael Jackson in 2009 to a drug problem and only now we have found out he was very lonely and somewhat lost in this own world. His death in some ways parallels this country in that we look like we have it all, but in reality it is time to look at our faults and make some changes. Many people would say how can a guy, like Jackson, with all that money and fame be lonely? Well there is more to this life than just the money that lines your pocket, and we lost a great man but a lonely and insecure.
It always appeared he had a life so perfect, but little did we know of the struggles he was enduring daily. He had all the money in the world and the fame and the huge home but what he did not have was the most important thing - his soul. Maybe things are not as bright and great as they seem on the outside. If we continue to rot in the inside of our country soon we will not look good to the outside world as much anymore. Our humanity in this country has been afraid of change but the time for much change is needed now. Enough people today need to come together and change the world because if we do not we will continue in this travel towards destruction.
This writer for one owes it to my country to bring light to our problems, in the hope that one by one we can change our ways and feel proud of this great nation and really mean it. It seems like people like myself, have sat back too long and watched our country struggle and just accepted it as a way of life. Well no more. Through the pages of this book I will point out factual information that hopefully will alarm people enough to help many to make changes. All I ask is that you may have picked up this book because you feel the same way I do so make some immediate changes in your own lives. When people see positives changes so many times it energizes them to do the same and we need more of this.
Upon closer examination of the United States’ insides, the organisms or species (you and I) that make up this country are slowly poisoning its very makeup with the way we act. We are the guts or insides of this magnificent country and somewhere along the line, toxins or immorality have entered us and are hurting the very health of the United States. Not in anyway wanting to stereotype each and every person, because our country is full of some very special and loving people and in my forty years, I have been amazed at the generosity of so many people and their love. We have dedicated policemen/women and firefighters and hospital employees and everyday common people and heroic soldiers overseas, putting their lives on the line for each of us every day. I turn on the television and see people adopting troubled youths or caring for children of another world and see the love of many. So please understand that this is not a book intended to bash America, but to slowly and methodically bring some change to this great nation.
You look back over the years of this country and see so many great men and women that fought in World War I and World II and fought at the Battle of the Bulge and stormed the beaches of Utah Beach. Many great people who gave their life in the Civil War and the American Revolution and even Vietnam and the Korean War, and our wars of today in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many great people did this to give you and I, a better life here in this country and they were and are proud people. For over 200 years we have constantly been at war it seems to try and bring more peace to the world. Well the time has come to step back and bring so much more peace to our own borders and many Americans truly know this. We owe it to our present and past soldiers and our founding fathers to now fight back against the war going on in our own country and take back our country, for what so many of them fought for. We are losing a battle amongst in our own states and now we need to up rise and command internal change.
These kinds of good everyday people and soldiers, who refuse to be a part of the bad part of society, look to lead exceptional lives. Many good Americans will leave a legacy that when they depart this world they will be loved by so many for the great things they did. After all for every one of us life will go fast and there are a percentage of people who honor to much crime and greed like we have never seen in this country. People are tired of the recent stories like of a man that listed jobs for key executives on line and took money from them and never followed up with them. He just took their money with no remorse and built his own million dollar home and could look at himself in the mirror. This type of person with this type of character is readily seen in this country and it needs to stop. We have to fight this daily battle to bring back morality and good wholesome values to so many people that have forgot what this is about in this country.
Too many people today put their own welfare in front of anyone they can to advance themselves. Many years ago there was crime and there always will be because we are a mankind unfortunately also made of troubled ones. Every year it seems crime and greed and everyday selfishness continue to worsen, and this is killing who we are as a country. For the first time in my life I can get embarrassed of my country and our violent and corrupt ways. I should not be embarrassed but it is not hard to with all the school shootings and bank robberies and corporations that we hear about every day.
Over the past many years, the society has changed so much in this country and if it does not stop, this country could someday succumb to its own deadly toxins and ruin a great thing that so many built. This book will delve into what has made the country great but mostly what has brought us to the point we are at today. It has never been my intention to talk down on the United States, but to bring some very strong points about changes that must occur in this country. I cannot do it on my own but if many band together so many positive changes can occur that allow us to all live better and committed lives. There is a great saying from a great man Doc Spurgeon that reads “There is no joy the world can give like that which comes from joining good men in a common purpose.”
This is a quote that almost sounds like the words that emanate off the pages of the Declaration of Independence. Well this time we need to band together to help resuscitate our own people to once again be great.
Certain important everyday citizens were interviewed in the hope that, we the people, can bring resolution to our own issues and become great again. I have the utmost faith in this country and know down to my core that we are a special nation, but one that must change. Change can be a scary thing but it can also be a great thing that man does. Some of the ideas in this book might come across as over-simplification of ideas, but we need to get back to some of the basics of life that made the country a more harmonious society. Too many people are unwilling to make some changes but there are probably more people that will OK change because they know we need it now. As I talked with so many people they so agreed that we are a great country but that society needs to so desperately change from where we are today.
I think what the mystic doctor would see is that this is still a great country and for 230 years, the country had a great support system, but it has started to tarnish over the years. Sure today we have bigger houses and more land and technology like the internet and blackberries, phones and more millionaires, but are we better today than ever? We have a lot but we have also lost the pulse of this country and we have to get it back quickly because you can only beat down something for so long until it will wither away. There are too many spoiled individuals in this country that are doing what ever it takes to better themselves than to worry about humanity. These are some that will not change but it is my hopes that some of them do change so this country can be a better place for their neighbors.
Just like an alcoholic, a drug addict, a smoker, or a corrupt business leader, some day that way of life will catch up with each and every one of those people. That is the debate we will try to uncover in the makeup of this book. We can take this journey today to figure out how life can be fun again and that there can once again be a sincere love of one another. My hope is that the words in this book change so many people so each one of us can live in a better world. A world that our kids and their own kids, will love and cherish and not be ashamed to talk about later in their lives. There will have to be a generation that commands change and I think we need to be that generation that screams and calls for ultimate change.
Maybe it is us people that are not doing what we should to keep the country healthy. The Universal physician would probably see that for decades now, this country has been trying to find itself and cannot continue to make excuses for itself and its actions. If this country does not continue to grow and feed itself with positive people and energy and take care of itself, it may lead to its demise. The things that we think and our actions need to be brought to the forefront to help make this a great country again. I believe deep down in many Americans, we still know we are great and want to be great for the next 230 years. I will not be around but I know many will and I hope they too will want to build up our country to continue to be great.
I write this parable in the beginning about a doctor because we are at a crossroads in American history and we need to find our identity. Just like people who struggle to find their identity, our nation must today find itself. We owe this to ourselves and our families and our forefathers and to God, to make things right because our founders started us off over 200 years ago with a clean slate. I am sure if they are looking down on us and thinking we have done alright, but then ashamed of to many people’s actions lately.
Our country was new with so many dreams when our forefathers started this new country. I do not think I am a whiner or a pessimist but I am an author who is tired of hearing the excuses of so many. The United States has accomplished so much and is still the envy of the world, but needs some major overhauling if we want to remain a leader. Just like a sports team it has to play as one, or cancer will evolve in the ranks and this team will eventually fail. Will we ever be perfect? No, I do not think so, but I think each and every one of us will know when we are where we want to be. It would also be my dream that rainmakers or some politicians will read this book because they can make the better changes for society. It just starts with one person to make a change that can change so much. Our President Barack Obama I can only hope will work hard to help our nation make some changes because leaders do these kinds of things.
I would be a fool to believe that violence and all people will change but we need to see changes and if one person changes then it can cause a chain reaction or a ripple effect. One person can be powerful when they believe in something. We have seen this with great leaders like Martin Luther King and Mother Theresa and Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln and so many other great people in the world’s theatre. They were people who saw things not being good for the world at the time in their life and commanded change and became great.
Some individuals may ask who am I, to bring something like this to fruition. Who am I and why should David White be one to trust his message and believe. I am one of these powerful organisms that make up this country that is sick of seeing something so great fall apart and is willing to speak up. Across this nation I am not the only one that wants change and am willing to wake up and hopefully forge a change. There are so many great people that I talked to and admired as I wrote this book, people who want change. They too are tired of seeing a society bring much harm to it self and do not want to turn on the television everyday and see the crime and brutality of today. I talked to frustrated Americans who just were as frustrated as myself on the path of the United States.
For hundreds of years, the country grew and prospered and was emulated and revered by all the other older countries of Europe and Asia, but is has been losing its luster. If we change our ways for the better the world may also follow suit. America has so many great and wonderful and caring people that live within its boundaries and because we are a free country we always will. It always will but with murder rates rising and jails filled and the divorce rates continuing to escalate and our economy in turmoil and religious wars overseas, we as Americans have to take our country back. Sure we have made mistakes but name a country that has not, but it is time to look deep into ourselves and be the leader of change world wide. I am only praying that many people will commit to change to their lives and take this journey with me. It is such my hope that so many people will read the pages of this book and make some changes to their own lives and the lives of others.
You and I both know that a “me”society may shine for a while but there is no doubt it will fail as well. This “me” society is out for themselves and only themselves. What is in it for me? Selfishness and greed as the Bible says in different ways will tear us apart and we all know this. We will never win as a country of people that only looks out for themselves. We defeated slavery and segregation and brought about equal women’s rights, so who is to say we cannot find a way to take our heralded country back. We as individuals make up this country and thus are the only ones that can change who we are.
What caused us over the last forty or fifty years to forget about love and respect for our fellow man? What changed our mental state that we found it OK to murder a person over $20 or kill someone over a jealous rage over a relationship? How can we now today take a human life and make it worth so little. When so many people are robbing stores and homes and committing identity theft on another person or killing someone because they love the sneakers on their feet or a jacket, we have done something wrong in our own society. I think we are at a point that it will be vital to take a step back and look at some of our past and why some things worked better back then.
People in this country are killed for the money in their wallets so someone can get high for an hour. Did it start when the United States entered the World Wars in the 30’s and 40’s or was it Vietnam or was Woodstock, a time when people reached out and said I will do as I please? Did the sexual revolution of the 1960’s change our attitudes and sexual behaviors so much that true love has left so many people’s lives only never to return? Did the sexual revolution make it OK for people think of sex as just something to do on a Saturday night or at parties?
Vietnam and Woodstock seemed to be a time with high drug usage and sexual exploration ran rapid and was fun for people and became an accepted way of life. Drugs such as marijuana and cocaine and heroine are now a part of many people’s lives in high school and college. It has always blown me away that people cannot get a high on accomplishing a lot in life, over taking a drug to help them face reality. What happened to getting a high on life and wanting to succeed in life and doing right by man? Only we can answer that. Our grandparents and great grandparents for the most part loved one another and looked at man a lot differently than the average person does today. Talk to your own great grandparents and they will tell you by no means was life perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better than today. Many said to me that life was tough because you had to make a living but then life was also without a lot of the pressures and troubles of today in America.
We have so much more than these great-grandparents had with nicer homes and air conditioning and more money and so much more materially. We drive the flashier cars and have our shore homes and wear more expensive jewelry to show our worth. We have High Definition TV’s and satellite radio and several computers in our homes and much more food to eat. But you would think with all this we would be a more happier and many people are, but so many more are not content with the lives they live. You would think with all we are giving in this country that we would not have as many troubles as we do today.
Many did not have all that, but they had something more valuable then many of us have today and that was their souls and a love and respect we just do not see today. I think these televisions and the media have opened us up to a lot of filth and horror and murder and we unfortunately just accept this as a way of life. But subconsciously our brain takes in these images and it has polluted our attitudes and beliefs of what life is all about. We are better than this and I will remain positive that we can change for the better. I know we are and I for one will point out where we are missing the boat and want character and morality to be more important, that the homes and the car you and I own.
Life was cherished and other people’s lives were much more respected over 60 years ago. Talk with anyone who lived then and they will tell you that. I realize that times change, but maybe looking back once in a while and seeing what worked is something that needs to be done. Can we say that is true today that people truly respect one another like they did when our parent were growing up? I can stand up and say no!
We have done so to try and make other parts of the world better but it might be time for us to worry about our own problems and shortcomings. We need at this time to take a step back and take care of our own needs and those of our people. We cannot continue to be an officer of the world because our own sons and daughters at home need help more than ever. We have 40 million without health insurance, unemployment is at almost 10%, and many people are living without a home over their heads.
I have written this book to start a movement because I know many people out there feel the same way I do. There needs to be a special group of Americans that is willing to take back this country and sure it will not be easy but it can be done. There is no timeframe on when society needs to change. I think we will just all know when the day is here that our country has changed. I think we will wake up and look outside and just feel safer and more secure than ever before.
I believe in this country and thank God I was born here, but we as citizens have to tweak some things to make it a great country again or face going down. Maybe we can change common thought patterns and allow ourselves to go back in time and learn a little about some of the olden times when people smiled more and lived more caring and simple lives. Maybe learning some of the simple ways of life will get us off this roller coaster to destruction and bring peace to us. And we owe it to one another no matter our race or creed, or religious affiliation, to learn and excel to better not only ourselves but the people around us. We will only make it if this happens.
Let’s get started.
David White
Lancaster, PA