Yesterday, I was lamenting about the fact that "you can't go home" and what it meant or means to me. You are going to think that I have an incredible grasp of the obvious, but here goes. Nothing stays the same. Nothing. I was made aware of the previously stated obvious in its many different forms while we traveled (Hell, I'm not even sure the previous sentence made any sense, but work with me here). Now, the large framework, that being the shapes of the states (although there is still a much debated dispute over a portion of North Georgia's state line being incorrect) has stayed the same, the mountain ranges from my youth I recognize still, the old roads still exist if you are of a mind to search them out, and even the old town squares look somewhat the same. But here's the point. People and their attitudes have changed. It was so evident in our travels. It was impossible to ignore the folks vacationing and not overhear their conversations. For the sixty and up crowd, most riding motorcycles, sporting their henna ink scratch on tattoos, their pristine biker costumes and riding their trikes and Harley look alike bikes, the themes were all the same. Health care, Obamacare and retirement...or the inability to retire.
I'm 53 and most of these folks aren't that much older than me. Ten years, tops, meaning when I was in the second grade they were graduating high school. In other words, we are close in age. So many conversations revolved around basically how to rip off the government to get by. I mean straight up deception just to survive. Now last night on the local news I heard that the amount of folks on some sort of government food assistance is staggering. The report said that over 50%, and that is half of every American you see every day, is dependent on a government welfare program to eat. That also includes the motor cycle riders I was eavesdropping on during our trip. I hate to harp on this, but so many of these people were from what I like to call waaaay North Georgia, Yankee transplants who have left home and moved south to a somewhat warmer climate. Now these were clean, well fed motor cycle riders meaning they had disposable income, least ways enough to be riding through the mountains and staying in motels. Add in eating out every meal and that places you above the poverty line. Way above it.
I'll finish by saying that these people, all in their mid sixties, are probably wanting to maintain a higher standard of living rather than upgrade from living in card board boxes. But what they were proposing was down right thievery. Hiding income and assets, divorcing their long term spouses so they could get better benefits and more social security, but continue to live together. It might very well be legal, but it damn sure don't make it right. To top it off, I overheard one woman (who agreed with the nefarious proposed activities) suggest where they might attend church while they were in town. I might sound a bit harsh here, but that dog just won't hunt. These Yankees voted our current president in office and are now realizing what a liberal spend thrift can do with an unlimited credit line and enough politicians to back him up. It was shameful to hear.
It's officially time for change. Not the bullshit "Hope and Change" kinda political promises we all were promised. Real change. I mean kick every last one of their asses to the curb change. I know it will never happen in my lifetime, but it needs to. I'm a conservative, but I'm not represented in Washington, DC. Deal making and compromise abound, pork barrel is the law of the land. Old folks are becoming liars and theives to eat. Not just to eat beans, but to eat steak and shrimp every night and ride their motorcycles on vacations. Dishonesty is the rule of the day. It's a generation reflecting the government it elected. It's the hippie generation with medical issues and lifestyles to maintain. Its an unpatriotic, anti-American, hippie generation mind set, all under the guise of a comfortable retirement. They've just kept their hair cut and covered up their tattoos.
I do know this: I still believe in the greatness if this country. It's on life support and having its life blood sucked out of it from within and without. People are mostly concerned about themselves individually and not collectively. I mean as a country collectively, not as a welfare or socialist nation. I use the term Yankee a lot, which can be interchanged with liberal, but the new "hope and change" crowd have been hoodwinked. They've been had and now it's time to pay up. And they don't like it one bit. The days of blaming George Bush are gone, the four year moratorium has expired. Time to face the music.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
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