Ashamed of my fellow Americans

Recently, my wife and I embarked on a five day and four night cruise to the Bahamas on a popular cruise line named Carnival. The ship we sailed on was one of the smallest in the world even though many activities were available on it. I was impressed with the hospitality of even the people who mopped the floors. The food was astounding and worthy of no less than fifty dollars a plate though it was all purchased with the cruise package. The on-board casino even had their own flavor of some long standing Vegas games. Photographers were omnipresent, wanting to capture our trip in a photo-biography. We brought along my best friend and his wife in order to have a point of familiarity and some camaraderie for the trip. All events, meals, amenities, and off-board excursions combined to create a relaxed and enjoyable overall experience. Yet, something haunts me. Before I lose you, this is still very much a political article.

We rode a local form of transportation called a jitney bus across Nassau to a fine establishment who gave us white sand beach access for a small price. The trip to the hotel wasn't as impressive to me for we were joined by what seemed to be a gaggle of college-aged "spring-breakers" who, seemingly, were from affluent families. I say this not in judgement of these creatures, but as a point of contrast to the trip back to the docks. The jitney is a small bus that has seven rows of seats, a driver's seat across from the boarding door, and a passenger seat juxtapose the driver's seat. On the right side of the aisle is positioned one seat, while, on the other side of the isle sits a bench seat that holds two. Attached to this bench seat is a fold down style seat which can be implemented by folding it out into the aisle should the anchored seats fill to capacity. On the ride to the hotel, the "spring-breakers" spoke rather loudly, passed dollar bills (the fee for riding was $1) over the heads of the locals, and used common "swear words" (so to speak) without inhibition. Again, I say this only to contrast the ride back to the docks. Tired, sunburned, and ready to eat, we left the hotel and made our way to the jitney stop. What ensued was remarkable. People got on and off this bus as if this were their primary or maybe even only mode of transit. They said "good afternoon" to each other when boarding and leaving the jitney. They thanked the driver for the ride, though he happily took their legal tender as well. One gentleman stood at the door and aided passengers in getting to seats, though he didn't work for the jitney. Little to no words were exchanged during the ride, seemingly out of respect for the other passengers who seemed to be ending thier respective work days. People shuffled without complaint, eye-rolling, or irritated body language to allow new passengers to use the fold out aisle seats and find available seats until the jitney was at capacity. The sense of community moved me. I remarked about this experience several times on the trip to my fellow cruise mates. I even went so far as to share my revelation with our maitre d'hotel that night at our dining time. I now relate this to you because I must attach this experience to that which I know to be true about our society.

Liberal thought, law-making, and rhetoric contribute to a false sense of community. It teaches us to work together, yet controls all of the tools for working. It teaches us to share, yet withholds all of our resources. It teaches equality while pandering only to smaller sectors of society. Liberalism defeats community by delivering on promises that directly contradict its teachings. Our Constitution allows for ". . . life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness", but often our pursuit creates an insular being inside of us. We allow the sense of entitlement, our feelings of desperation, hopelessness, and frustration over our pursuit, or just the values of our mass media in America to take our focus from our great community and tarnish it with selfishness. I saw on that jitney ride from the white sand beaches of Nassau what America should be. The United States ought to be three hundred million people who shamelessly, selflessly, and complaintlessly stand up and offer a seat to someone else who is tired from a long day at work. I am ashamed of my fellow Americans when I see people using angry hand gestures at someone else on the road when he sees someone driving in a way he doesn't like. I am disappointed with citizens who are in too much of a hurry to allow someone to take their spot in line at the doctor's office, fast food restaurant, or grocery store. I am frustrated with our media who holds everyone to standards which they internally ignore. I am saddened by the "left wing" political beliefs being shoved into the heads of American children in government schools further narrowing our ability to see all sides and judge according to true right and wrong.

Left-wingers, special interest groups, and selfish mindless automatons of the state beware. A time comes of great reform for America. Lady Liberty will once again reclaim what is the people's and not the government's. We will all stand up one day and quit taking your white washing of our minds. We will become the great community again that we once were.