Forty-three
years ago I left my homeland of England which had grown top heavy with brass
bands and generals and went in search of a better life. As a child I had seen
movies with stars such as John Wayne and Henry Fonda, actors whose big-screen
images represented what I aspired to be; religious, tough, no-nonsense and
just. I was drawn by those images to the shores of a land called America and as
I travelled across 44 states, I encountered many of the kinds of people
represented by the movies I had seen; God-fearing, open, hospitable and good.
Of
course they were not all perfect by any means but they endeavored to live up to
commonsense values embodied in a Constitution that differed from all others the
world over. I discovered that America's Constitution crystallized human
conscience that is the indwelling guidance concerning right and wrong that is
inscribed in the hearts of all men and women of good will the world over regardless
of race, color or creed into law.
Simply,
America's remarkable Constitution succeeded, on every level, in protecting the
good people from the bad. It gave the nation a standard to live up to and
America at that time was indisputably the greatest nation on earth. There was
no end to the happiness, joy, freedom and productivity Americans enjoyed and
there was widespread faith in the future, faith that simple people could build
a good life based on hard work and personal enterprise and that their children
could do even better.
That
was 43 years ago. Since then a terrible change has taken place in America. It
is the same land but the same spirit no longer exists in many of the people.
What happened?
Within
the space of two or three generations, sadly, that once noble spirit has been
bred out of many of our countrymen. Gradually, almost imperceptibly over the
years, a new banner was raised, symbolizing strange new freedoms represented
by bizarre new lifestyles. More and more people seemed to choose lives of
pleasure over principle, an easy, empty life over a hard but dedicated and
meaningful one. By seduction and stealth this alien spirit invaded many hearts
and minds and subtly led vast numbers away from this nation's original solid
foundations and so I began to feel like a stranger in a strange land, no
longer surrounded by men and women who shared my vision.
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