No, I am not referring to the claim of the Democrats and Never Trump Republicans that Donald Trump is our crisis.  I am referring to something entirely other and something that is of grave concern to me as a veteran and a patriot.  I see signs and research the reports and statistics that come from our military as well as other governmental entities and am deeply concerned.  I hope and pray that we have not crossed the demarcation line of destruction and declension and are hopeless in the throes of national death.  You may not share my concerns, but they are deeply troubling for me.

Just a few days ago, I read a report by the Pentagon that revealed that of the 34 million Americans between the ages of 17-24 only 29% of them are eligible for military service.  The reasons for the 24 million who are ineligible range from obesity, education and criminal records.  That is troubling for this veteran and lover of America.  I, like others, wonder if the number of those ineligible is not higher but pray that it is not.  The reason I suggest it might be is because of ‘drug use’ among that age group.

How did we get in this condition?  What has happened in our America that has precipitated this crisis?  The reasons for ineligibility are not based on birth but choices.  In today’s snowflake enabling society with the insane political correctness that is persistent, I am not surprised but am troubled.  I told someone recently, America needs to ‘Grow Up.’  I, as many of you, was raised to take personal responsibility and to face the consequences of my choices good and bad.  That ship has sailed in much of America today and many should be wearing signs that read: “Beware Snowflake: Handle with Care!”

I’ve been watching the movement in Academia and witnessed firsthand the evolution of education which has been dumbing down America for decades.  I’ve watched the ‘participation trophy’ pathway where everyone gets a trophy regardless of success, involvement, or effort.  The ‘entitlement mentality’ is ripping us to shreds as a nation and has produced a generation or two of those who have no concept of personal responsibility.  If you don’t like something, simply scream ‘racism, unfair, or blame white privilege even if you are white.’  It is always someone else’s fault and when children are raised that way in the home, in the school, and sometimes in church, we doom them to a life of incredible failure and rob them of the success and joy they could have.

Have you seen the report that the College Board, the entity that administers the SAT college entrance exam has decided that the SAT test will assign an “adversity score” for each student?  What?  They will seek to determine social and economic backgrounds and then determine the score on the test.  Wait?  What happened to actually requiring the students to KNOW the material?  Who is to blame?  There is enough to spread around so I won’t try to lay this at the feet of any one institution or segment of society.  But, I will contend that it is an epidemic and a crisis that must be addressed if we are to survive as the Free Constitutional Republic and not get sucked into the insanity of Socialism or Political Correctness.

I believe the principles of the Bible and endorse ‘tough love’ and ‘tough parenting’ or parenting that demands their children learn personal responsibility and accountability.  Yes, we all want to give them more than we had, but is that the best approach?  Did we truly suffer from having to ‘earn it’ rather than having it handed to us on a silver platter?  Many of us learned the value of money through having to ‘earn the money’ to buy the things we wanted.  My first car was a 1959 Chevrolet that I paid $400.00 for and I loved that car because it was bought and paid for by me.  It was mine and if I broke it I fixed it, it was mine!

Which is more important my ability to perform a job, my knowledge, or my race, sex, ethnicity, or country of origin?  Who would you rather have performing surgery on you, someone who knew how to operate and knew medicine or someone who was awarded their degree and license based on race, sex, ethnicity or something else?  What do we teach kids if everyone gets a trophy for just showing up?  Doesn’t that strip away all desire and drive to achieve?  After all, if you get the same trophy for participating as the person who participated and achieved success why invest the time or energy?

It is impossible to make the playing field truly level in all areas of life.   Yes, I believe we are all created equal regarding liberty and the right to pursue our dreams, but we are not all equal in ability, determination, and drive.  I heard someone ask, “Should a person who thinks the same way at age 40 the same way they did when they were four be considered a grown-up?”  I laughed and then cried!  NO, a thousand times NO!  That is one of our problems today, millions of those chronologically adults are still adolescents and they are moving to the head of the line to govern and lead this nation.  That is alarming!

Our cessation of demanding that the young learn personal responsibility and accountability enables the Leftist, largely in the Democratic Party to manipulate our precious children and youth.  They are using our failure to transform our kids into idol-worshipping burdens and we will pay dearly for that abdication of responsibility as parents, teachers, and leaders.

Hillary Clinton once said, “It takes a village to raise a child.” No, she did not dream that up on her own, but she owned that philosophy.  Many of the Democratic hopefuls for POTUS also embrace that mentality.  In fact, Senator Kamala Harris believes that parents and teachers raise children.  I scream, NO!  Teachers are to TEACH our children, but parents are to PARENT the children.  I totally agree that every person involved in a child’s life should complement the efforts of the parent, but parenting is the responsibility of the parents!

I believe that the failure to Grow Up is very high on the list when describing the American Crisis.  I see nothing but failure if we allow the liberal leftists, largely in the Democratic Party regain total control of our government.  Our children will be molded into faithful soldiers of that agenda and once those of my generation and possibly the one following assume room temperature and depart this life, America will become a faint memory. 

God help us to Wake Up!   God bless you and God bless America!