I challenge you. I challenge all Americans - born here or not. I challenge you to rise to the level of using what my Grandad and my Dad used to remind me to use, all the time - Common Sense. It was drilled into me, like rain fell from the sky, like light lit up a room or comfort food got its name because it made you feel comfortable. Common sense. It seems to have been put on hold in American society today. I am not arguing political parties here - nor generational gaps in wisdom or learning. Goodness knows, there are a lot of academically intelligent young people - maybe more so than older folks.....I'm not sure. There are also many quiet Christian Democrats and very loud non-Christian Republicans. There are extremes from both sides of the traditional political aisle - and each side has a few valid points and a whole bunch of questionable ones. So, where does the vast majority of Americans fit into this society? It used to be, when all else failed - we turned to compromise and common sense. But, it seems as if those two long standing American qualities and characteristics have taken a long holiday. When was the last time you heard someone say, "wow, Congress is really getting a lot of things done" ? Don't place blame. That statement has been true for a number of presidential terms - and with both parties in charge.
I do not want to open up an argument and a fight between parties or ideologies, but rather, put out a call for common sense. As a 44 yr. veteran Financial Professional & Stockbroker, and also a retired high school social studies teacher of 25 years, I can tell you that the discipline of teaching social studies - US History, World History, US Govt. & Economics being the primary classes - was meant to be the means by which American boys and girls could be taught about the pride of being an American, the reasons why we were created as a melting pot that invited the world to send us their people who were "yearning to be free", and gaining knowledge and understanding so they could all grow up to be patriotic, contributing citizens. We were given great role models from our inception, but human beings being what we are, greed, avarice, immorality and plain sinfulness corrupted for many, the dream of what was created when we began as a new nation.
There is no doubt that we were founded/created as a Protestant Christian nation. And given our needs as a growing country, we welcomed Jews, Buddhists, Catholics, and later Muslims, Hindus and various other religions of people. We never claimed to be without sin, without problems or without challenges. But our history coincides with the history of the world. Much of what the world did, we did. The difference, I believe, was that there was always an element of Americans that strived to be better, to make change happen, to discuss, debate and compromise when possible. That was the basis of American "common sense". Even as we had states that kept Slaves, there was a larger segment of the US that fought against such despicable practices and that resulted in our Civil War. We could, ourselves, discuss and debate these issues for a long time. Many have already done so. But common sense is also necessary in the economic, investment and financial world. We need to use common sense and try to escape the political commentary that gets attached to economic and investment issues.
Since The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and subsequent communist political teachings were born in 1848..... followed by the adoption of the political philosophy by Bolshevik Russia in 1917 and by Communist China in 1921, the United States and Americans have been opposed and threatened, and our way of life challenged, not by a British King, as during the American Revolution, or other Kings; not really by Dictators, like Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo and others, not by anti-Christians, or other cultures, but by Communism. We have been fighting this economic philosophy that, at its roots, has no basis in common sense to succeed. It is in opposition to the reality of humans, especially since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Communism appeals to countries whose populations are largely impoverished and economically poor. This Communist philosophy supports the idea of a society in which all property is publicly (government) owned and each person works and earns, or is paid according to their abilities or needs. Humans, by nature, want to succeed and live as good, if not better, than those around them. The truth of communist countries is that the leadership of the party and those connected to the leadership are the ones that benefit the most. The freedoms of the rest of the people are tremendously limited, if not eliminated. The proof of this is how many people have tried to escape from these countries or revolted and were summarily executed. The history of these countries, when examined, shows that the only communist country that has ever made reasonable progress for its tremendous population of poor people, was China. And even then, you can see its ultimate failure because of how many millions of people were murdered and executed by its political party leadership during the 1940's-1960's, in order to maintain its control through all the years of world economic and political and social changes. And yet, still there are uprisings and protest in China – which are quickly put down by military force.
Although still a politically Communist country, China is much more economically capitalistic compared to its earlier history. China challenges us and remains an enemy, not an ally, to this day. Even events in the recent US news represents this fact. Again, we can discuss and debate this for hours - days even. I do not want to get into a social/societal discussion or debate in this blog. You are free to call me and we'll discuss the topic. Your comments are welcome. But America maintains its economic leadership in the world and people are free to do, within legal means, what they want in order to achieve economic success and raise their standard of living. And, throughout our history - those who were born and raised here, those who came here to find freedom and escape tyranny and poverty, have all had the chance to succeed, and many have. I have clients that came to this country with virtually nothing – little money and no possessions, and are today millionaires…..thanks to hard work and practicing a common sensible way of living. There are no guarantees, but there is the opportunity to succeed. To those who continue to criticize America and Americans, I ask – why are there so many millions of people trying to “break into” the US if we are so bad??? You don’t hear about people trying to sneak into China to live, or Cuba, or Venezuela or other Socialist/Communist countries ….. or the many other poor countries that do not encourage capitalism and education – while practicing common sense and ambition. Common sense provides for the mantra: Work hard and you increase your chances for success. Don’t quit !! My Grandad and my Dad taught me the that lesson when I was but a lad.
I am the Bondman. There will be more to this commentary. I invite your opinion and comments -- as always .... These are my opinions and I welcome your input – your thoughts and beliefs. Welcome to my Blog. BONDMAN, will respect your views and will publish them if they are also respectful and provided with consideration for others -- please use common sense. I remain, BONDMAN -- I thank you for reading........ Robert Bond