COS Indiana Newsletter January

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flaws and challenges, America in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries was a land of promise, of possibility. But in the mid-20th century, in the 1960s things began to change. While the innovations of science, technology, medicine, and business kept on coming, the message that America was a land of plenty somehow morphed in our national discussion into America as a land of lack. The discontent and discord of the 60s made it easier for cultural Marxism to invade our educational institutions, sports, and corporations. Today, our culture is awash in information. The proliferation of words flowing from cable news, independent journalists, internet channels, or newspapers is overwhelming. There is definitely a bad news bias and we are in the midst of a continually expanding mess. The negative messages are hard to ignore. We are told that we are a racist society that creates victims and losers, not winners. Our children are taught that there are oppressors and victims. They are assigned to one group or the other by virtue of the color of their skin. We are surrounded by crisis, with little hope of pulling ourselves out without accepting the help of an overreaching government. Slowly our freedoms are eroding away and, too exhausted by the barrage of negativity, we don’t even notice. But worse, much worse, is that we internalize the words we hear. They become what we tell ourselves about ourselves. And those negative “can’t-do” mental images burn themselves into our national self-concept, to become our children’s legacy. The Imperative of Turn-Around Like the pioneers, we are at a point where we have no choice – fight to survive or watch a dream die. And America is not just a dream for the people who live here…it’s a dream around the world. America was not birthed by ethnicity, location, or ideology. America was birthed from an idea. It’s an experiment, and if this experiment is going to succeed, we must turn this ship around quickly. The Question is, How? Simply put, we must change the narrative. Reshape it until the words we hear in our heads, the words we tell ourselves, support the vision of opportunity and personal responsibility that the pioneers held and others died to protect. Recognize that the idea of America is truly exceptional, a country controlled by its citizens rather than by an aristocracy of political elites. By the way, this does not mean we ignore problems, or stick blindly to one approach to governance. But we will never solve any problems – as individuals or as a country – until we begin to believe that the problems have solutions and that we are capable of finding them. Next, we must change the world that surrounds our children and creates their reality. Their achievements should not be limited by the color of their skin, their religion, where they live, or their economic level. They must have the chance to believe that they can become whatever they are willing to conceive of and work toward. Here are a few suggestions for ways to help make that happen: Teach your children to value and be grateful for America. Do this intentionally. Don’t just hope that they will pick up those values because they live with you. The culture that surrounds them is too strong, too pervasive, and too seductive. Know the history of our country and the Constitution. Discuss both with your children. Read and discuss books of historical fiction as a family. Discuss the value of giving to others. America is the most generous nation on the planet. When there is a tragedy anywhere around the world, the first country on the scene is usually the United States. (The Yanks still go where they perceive a need.) We can be very proud of that. Don’t ignore the problems that we face. Instead, talk with your children about possible solutions. Get them thinking like problem solvers, not problem wallowers. Help them learn to think critically, particularly about anything they see on the television, cable, internet, or social media. Get involved in your children’s school and – if possible – in school board activities as well.
as well. Stress the fact that we are a nation of individuals, required by the value of our citizenship to be responsible for our own lives and what we make of them. Be realistic about life in countries that are ruled by dictators and Communistic political regimes. Share that information with your children. It’s not pretty, but they need to know what Marxism does to people who enter it, unaware. School your children in the concept of positive self-talk. Teach them to frame their inner messages about failure as just another (usually unavoidable) step on the way to success. Remember that each child is an individual. But individuals, when banded together, have power. Finally, recognize that if we had nothing else, we would all be incredibly blessed just by being born in America. So practice living a life of gratitude. We owe it to those who came before us, those who died for us, and those who will follow on. THE UNGRACIOUS– AND THEIR DEMONIZATION OF THE PAST By Victor Davis Hanson | Published December 30, 2021 The past two years have seen an unprecedented escalation in a decades-long war on the American past. But there are a lot of logical flaws in attacking prior generations in U.S. history. Critics assume that their own judgmental generation is morally superior to those of the past. So they use their own standards to condemn the mute dead who supposedly don’t measure up to them. Yet 21st-century critics rarely acknowledge that their own present affluence and leisure owe much to history’s prior generations whose toil helped to create their current comfort. And what may future scolds say of the modern generation that saw more than 60 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, even as fetal viability outside of the womb continued to progress to ever earlier ages?
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COS Indiana Newsletter January

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