by Occam's Razor

Created on: August 14, 2008

The American way of life no longer exists and perhaps never did, at
least not in the sense most people in the world seem to believe. I grew
up in the 60's and 70's and was taught that anyone could become
president, cops were the good guys and that courts were, like super
heroes, about truth, justice and the American way. I was taught that
immigrants could escape persecution by coming here. That the Bible was

the word of God and that He answered prayers. I was taught the great
history of how the United States became a country through revolution
and how all men are created equal.

I learned from watching "Father Knows Best" and "I Love Lucy" how other
people in America lived. I was taught many things about America in
those days and that the ultimate goal of life was to go to college,
start a career, meet a nice girl and then settle down in a house with a
white picket fence and have kids that would repeat the process. This
was known as "The American Dream".

But as I grew up I began to question all that I had learned. What I saw
and heard didn't match what I was taught. I discovered racial
segregation and discrimination, political corruption and judicial
misconduct. I found that college costs a lot of money and that most
people can't afford to go. I found that, thanks to Equal Opportunity,
being a white male was a detriment and, thanks to CPS, children are
never wrong.

I witnessed our government turn its back on Vietnam veterans while
supporting the lazy through welfare programs and I saw citizens living
on the streets while we sent billions of dollars overseas for foreign
aid. I learned that our borders where purchased with the blood of
native Americans and that our forefathers were slave owners. I learned
that most corporations don't pay taxes while many middle class and poor
citizens lost their homes or went to prison when they couldn't. Most
people aren't even aware that members of congress are not on the same
social security program as the rest of us. The list goes on and on.

The American way of life, as it were, is not at all about truth,
justice, equality and opportunity. It's about money and power. This is
not a democracy nor even a democratic republic as it once was but
rather a capitalistic democratic federation. Simply put, if you have
money you have rights. If not, well, good luck with that. Money defines
whether you are crazy or eccentric, whether your legal case goes public
or not and, should you lose, where you will spend time. Cases in
point..... Martha Stewart, O.J. Simpson and LBJ.

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