When Bert Fish hospital board member Jackie Hercheck was asked what characteristics differentiate American citizens from other nationalities she answered, “ The first thing that comes to mind is optimism. Americans are more optimistic than other nationalities.”
In his course at Georgia College, Newt Gingrich mentioned personal responsibility, the work ethic, belief in free enterprise, energy and generosity among others.
Another characteristic that Americans have more than any other people is the feeling that each person is as good as any one else. We have no cast systems and no jobs are reserved for some elite group of people as sometimes happens in other countries.
Americans generally believe in a higher power, natural laws of right and wrong as well as science and most believe our rights come from God and cannot be taken away by the state.
These characteristics have led Americans to one of the world’s highest standard of living and the expectation that they will be better off in the future and their kids will be even better off than they are. They have contributed to making America one of the best countries to be a citizen.
Such characteristics have led Americans to be more resistant to the idea of class warfare because so many feel that they will soon be a member of that upper class that the politicians are trying to get them to hate. Some liberal politicians fashioned their campaigns around criticizing people above a certain income level. They figured that the majority was below that level and, therefore, would line up against those above it. Their strategy backfired because so many Americans aspired to eventually getting above the level mentioned.
For the last several decades, the left has propagated a culture of dependency on government and undermined the rules of behavior that have served us so well. The penalties for bad or destructive behavior have been relaxed to the point that they no longer deter people from such behavior. Note, for example, that many public high schools maintain a child care center for their unwed students.
They have passed all sorts of rules, regulations and taxes that make it much more difficult to get ahead. They have taken up a philosophy that success should be punished and indolence supported and even praised.
The list goes on and on. However, despite the left’s decades long attempts to change the American character and culture, polls indicate that Americans still retain a lot of the characteristics that have made them so successful. Recent Pew polls indicate the following public attitudes:
* Americans believe the government hurts the economy by 50% to 39%
* Only one in five believe they can trust government.
* Seventy percent believe people are better off in a free market economy despite the perceived ups and downs
* Only a minority of Americans believe that massive debt, greater reliance on government for jobs and health and very progressive taxation offer hope for the future they desire.
With these considerations in mind it looks like the people are realizing that the Obama administration is rushing to take us to a place we don’t want to be. Americans see their future imperiled.
This is part of the explanation for the recent defeat of democrats in recent elections.
The resistance to Obama’s left wing, Marxist and anti-capitalist programs can only grow as the public becomes aware of what his change is really about.