Seeing Blue, Feeling BlueWritten by The Independent Voice
I did grow up in Northeast but I have yet to experience people labeled as “elites” or morally inferior. My neighborhood was at lower half of middle class spectrum. It would be more likely to find a Chevy Nova on blocks in driveway of a house in my neighborhood than it would to find a Benz or a Beamer. I went to public schools. When I was a kid I would go to morning mass every weekday, and once on Sunday. My father didn’t work on Wall St., he worked on Main St. My mother was a stay at home mom for much of my childhood. After graduating from public school I went to community college and from there, state school. I paid for it all and I still am. We grew up in a worse area then some and a nicer area then others and I had friends who liked to hunt but not one of them felt need to regularly carry a gun. I was taught that respect for life should be complete, that life begins at conception, “Thou Shalt Not Kill” no matter if it’s war or capital punishment. I was taught morals and a value for life. I was taught to act in image of Christ, that justice is integral to society, as is food, shelter and health care. I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my ass. I didn’t go to private school or an Ivy League school like Yale or Harvard. My father wasn’t a senator in government, he was a deacon in church. My house had visiting poor Vietnamese and black people living in it, not maids and hired help. We didn’t go to Kennebunkport for Thanksgiving; we delivered food to needy. On Christmas we went to church, like we did every Sunday and we always prayed before every meal. We never got everything we wanted on Christmas day or on any other day for that matter. We were taught that if you wanted something bad enough you worked for it. The few times that we went on vacation we didn’t get on a plane and head out to our 1000 acre ranch, we got in our car and drove to a cabin within same state.
| | IS REINSTATING THE DRAFT SUCH A BAD IDEA?Written by Jean Fritz
In his bid for presidency, John Kerry pronounced a “secret plan” to reinstate selective service. The fact that New York Democrat and fellow leftist Charles Rangel had proposed this plan wasn’t mentioned, so Kerry’s allegation created hysteria within blue states. But there are several ways in which reinstating draft could benefit our country.FREEDOM IS EARNED Too many people in United States believe that freedoms granted them under Constitution are an entitlement program provided by government. A general paucity of historical education, combined with a public education agenda derogatory to Founding Fathers as well as God, contribute to this attitude. The fact is, Founding Fathers understood that codifying our freedoms within a constitution was only part of picture, but our freedoms are ultimately earned and protected through military preparedness and judicious use of force, generation after generation. The reinstatement of selective service creates opportunity for every citizen to participate in protection of freedoms they hold dear, and having thus participated, would contribute to a greater appreciation of and gratitude for those freedoms. ECONOMIC BENEFITS One reason that war has traditionally created a phenomenal decline in unemployment rate is that during a war, a large section of workforce is taken out of labor market. By reinstating draft, unemployed young people would in fact become employed, and would no longer be counted among jobless. Within that population, there are many with limited to no job experience or skill development. During peacetime, military service can help young people develop their skills and become more focused on “what they want to be when they grow up.” Military service is a more effective career development tool than is a series of low-paying, dead-end jobs.
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