Guest Opinion: America's Short History: Are We Nearing The End?

By Nikolai R. Brelinsky
11/10/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The American dream is dying.

Throughout history, nations have been constructed and nations have fallen. America is still new. Is the time coming for America?

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ROCKY MOUNT, NC (Catholic Online) - Through the centuries, there have been many great nations. Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and others still. All of these great nations fell. Even the Holy Roman Empire ended less than 600 years ago. Can it be possible that the world we know can be headed toward the end?

When America began, our founding fathers wished to form the best country. They built the laws around morals and best way to make things work. Nothing made by men can be perfect, but these men tried their best. America has been known for many years as the greatest country.

Everyone wanted to come to America because they believed it would be a place where they could find work and freedom. Our country was originally filled with people who wanted to work for themselves and be free of grasping government. They rebelled against the King and declared that they would be independent. They defined the American dream.

Nowadays, this is what we look like: People are lazy. Too many people rely solely on welfare money which they did not earn for themselves. More and more people don't want to get jobs. Instead of rebelling against grasping powers, people want more. Each of these faults keep leading to more and more problems. The American dream is dying.

First, with more people relying on welfare to pay their debts, the economy is suffering. People who work are taxed. People who don't work get welfare money. Because they can live off of welfare, they stop working. Since there are less workers, the people who do work are taxed more. Hence, a cycle is formed and the economy continues on a downward slope.

Second, less people are even bothering to try and get jobs. Because of this, the economy falls short and has to close more jobs. Then, there are less jobs for people looking for them. However, there are certain jobs which will never run out, such as farming and constructing work. Still, though, the economy will not pick up until the people's work ethic does.

Third, with more controlling powers, there is less people can do. Many years ago, people could get jobs just by finding someone who needed help and was willing to hire them. Nowadays, a person needs to get licenses if they want a job, not even necessarily a good one. Also, with education, the control over everything increases while the efficiency drops. Businesses cannot always function to the best of their abilities because of too much control. Livestock production losing so much of its benefit because of the ridiculous laws being forced on the breeders. See the movie Food Inc. for more on that. Yet, people are still persisting to vote for more control.

All in all, people have lost sight of the American dream. Some of the visible results are obvious: people are gaining weight because they are lazy; education standards are falling because the children follow the adults laziness; the jobs market is falling because people are lazy. All of these lead to one thing: the fall of our great nation.

What more is there to say? All nations fall after time. However, why are we choosing for America to fall sooner rather than later? WHY? Lazy is not a good excuse. We are told that we are moving forward. Sadly, it looks like forward is toward the end.

All of this turmoil in our world should not bring you down, though. The only one stopping you from standing up would be you. This is how I make my stand. What will you do?

Just remember this: Never give up faith. Never lose hope. Never, never, never, never!

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us!
God bless America, the land of the free and the home of the brave!

-----

Nikolai Brelinsky lives in North Carolina. He attends Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Rocky Mount. He is a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol cadet program. Nikolai plans on possibly going to college in the future. He is a home-schooled high school student.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: America, opinion, American dream, political

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1 - 10 of 13 Comments

judy claar
6 months ago
Darn Good Article! Now, what can we do about it? Blessings...
Joseph
6 months ago
To Nikolai,
I take your point and I understand and share your concern but I don't think talking about America 'coming to an earthly end' is either rational or sensible. America will not come to an end, it will change, evolve, develop, as part of the ongoing life process. Some of those changes will be positive, some negative, our task is to try to maximize the positive and minimize the negative. I believe this can be carried out more effectively by concerned but rational, focused analysis and debate, in line with the core principles of Catholicism - Faith and Reason.
Wes Lisitza
6 months ago
@Nikolai: Don't take this the wrong way, but I have to say that you are very naive. A lot of people in this country are not lazy just because they are on welfare. Lazy is a term that is a very slippery slope; it's accusatory, as it suggests that people don't lack ambition, but they willfully refuse to act upon it.

I've worked with a lot of people in my life, for money and for charity. I've also helped a lot of poor people throughout this nation who struggle with the misconception that they're lazy. They don't have video games to play all day, or television shows to watch. There are people who struggle with mental issues that affect their ability to maintain a job, let alone have a family. I've already had 2 friends who have committed suicide, not because they were lazy, but because they couldn't find viable work in this economy to keep food on the table for their children.

1 year ago, I lost my job, and I've been looking since then, so understand that I don't particularly like being called "lazy" for beating that pavement, getting interviews, but getting no callbacks. Companies tend to post jobs repeatedly when their not looking to employ, just get a quota for their HR department. It's discourage to find that after a month or two, the same job you've applied to and interviewed for is still up and open. Likewise, I've been to a lot of job fairs where people on welfare are looking for work from places that are hiring, places that are too far from where they live when most don't even own a car anymore - those people wouldn't appreciate some homeschooled teenager calling them lazy.

And I recognize that not everybody is as well-intentioned as some - I used to work as a fraud investigator. I learned from that job that there's a small percentage of people in this world who work the system to their advantage, while the majority gets stereotyped and discriminated against. Trust me, you'll find this out when you're old enough to sign legal contracts.
Steve
6 months ago
We have fallen from the great country our forefathers envisioned. But we need to look at ourselves before we blame other. We are all jealous of others who have more and or work less. The entitlement programs are probably out of control, the regulations are probably unintentionally to restrictive, and the government attempts to regulate the economy are failing. What can we do? Very few can start a business and many of those who can start or expand a business won't because there are easier more profitable ways to make money. It is not just the people on welfare who are lazy. We All are contributing to this problem. If businesses would create jobs there would be more people to buy their products. Henry ford realized this and create a car that anyone who worked building one could afford. When we send jobs to others countries who is going to buy those products. Less people can afford them.
nikorb
6 months ago
To Joseph, specifically, but not exclusively:
Yes, we must believe in God's providence. However, Jesus did not found the United States of America as His church. He never said "I will not let America die." Throughout history, many nations have died. It doesn't matter what God they believed would save them, they declined because of their own fault. I do believe that if it is God's will, then we will be saved. But, I don't know God's will for our country. So, through my perspective, I believe America may be coming to an earthly end.
Let us be honest. America is practically a divided nation. And "A house divided will fall against itself", no?
-Nikolai
Debbie
6 months ago
It would be wonderful of those currently unemployed took a skill or interest and started a small business. Maybe this would go nowhere for some, but for others who knows? With the economy in such terrible shape finding a job, especially full time employment is difficult. Wages are very low and benefits are few, I'm not picking on employers, it is just the truth.

Americans need to start building/producing again! We do this by one small business at a time. I understand the lack of incentive to accept a job, work hard and when you get your pay check there is not enough to make ends meet. This is what drove me to venture out on my own and start a small business doing something I love to do. I am building something, producing and trying to make a better future for me and my children. Will I succeed, I don't know, there are no guarantees. I do know this however, as a country we have to stop sitting around and waiting for someone to fix the problem. We are the, "Someone."
Stephanie
6 months ago
I think we need to do a welfare reform and make it so that no welfare is given to any household unless every adult at that address is either working, volunteering, or in school, or a combination of the three that adds up to full time work. No more sitting around at home playing video games all day. I know there are people out there who are honestly trying to find work, and all these taxes are making it more difficult for businesses to hire people. Reform welfare, lower taxes, and get America working again.
Paul Ben
6 months ago
The problem with the American people as with all human beings when they have everything handy, fast and are living in a comfortable environment with all the conveniences available even for low income people, they tend to take things for granted which leads to having them rely on others to do things for them and the more convenient, the better, the more of unaffordable things is OK since the attraction of new "gadgets" is luring and abolish reasoning. America reached its "First World" status through generations of hard working people, now, for this generation, it's time to reap. A consuming society that produces nothing and where people want everything for free and doesn't rely on God, but on politicians who are lying to have more power and control, ends up in History's garbage. And America is heading that way.
abey
6 months ago
The statue of Liberty the very symbol of America beaconing the weary, poor etc is but seen in her, the cup overflowing with the blood of millions aborted, so how can she who kills her own be trusted to care for outsiders which does call her lie, but then can an idol ever tell the truth other than its own, to Guage its future.
Tom Holmes
6 months ago
Great article

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