Moving Forward?

Since our inception as a nation we as a people have moved forward.  There have always been those who wanted to hang on the the ways of the past but we have been on the whole a nation that tried new things and did new things.  We were inventors, explorers, and not tolerant of those who attempted to reign in our enthusiasm.

Our nation was founded on the principle that given a chance anyone could make something of his life.  It was not always easy because there have always been those who wanted more than everyone else and would do whatever it took to keep it or get it.  In the west it was the cattle barons, silver barons, land barons, and in the east it was the robber barons and industrial giants.  But the opportunity was always there if someone was willing to fight for it.

That has all changed.  We are regressing back to Europe of the 17th and 18th centuries.  Wealth is held by a very small percentage of the population and they are dictating the future for all.  Large corporations are replacing the independent business man in just about every major industry and market.  We import food, oil and export money and jobs.

Once we were a shining beacon to the world of what could be achieved when man was free to be an individual.  Now we are becoming a flickering shadow just barely keeping the dark at bay.  Our politicians are corrupt, our churches are more concerned about the size of their buildings then they are about helping the poor, old and sick.  We no longer hold sacred the documents on which this country was founded but pervert them to suit our own selfish purposes.  We have also taken religion from a positive influence to a negative one.  We hear only what we want to hear, see what suits our purpose and turn our backs on all the good that this nation has stood for.  If anyone dares to point this out they are deemed unpatriotic, a heretic; if this doesn't harken back to the inquisition I don't know what does.

Don't think this goes unnoticed by either our "friends" or our enemies.  Both sides are waiting for this nation to implode and both have the same purpose in mind.  To pick up the pieces and remake us into their image.
I pray that this doesn't happen.  We can be that beacon again, it is within our power as a people to think outside the box and recreate the greatest nation on earth.