It has been said tough times never last but tough people do. The world we knew that practiced capitalism fell apart in 1929. Many liberals world-wide said basically the same thing: “We knew it would happen.” And it appeared for a few years that they might be right. It was an opportunistic time for the critics to effect change. Their time to step forward and do it. But alas for them, the American economy revived, adjusted and by the time the big war came around in 1941 things were OK again. Our country has gone through a lot of change since that war ended in 1945. We have changed in our tastes for music (again alas) the arts and lots of things and many say we have created a generation of so-called softies and a more liberal population.

Prosperity has pretty much defined our era, but we have had much political conflict. Many have seized on what they call the “dark sides” of America (racism) and they, being a generation of instant gratification, want change. And they want it now. To wit BLM. A big change politically was reflected in the election of Donald Trump as President. And sure enough, change came about. Unfortunately for some, these changes were not what they had wanted. Pretty much opposite of what the liberal set wanted. Even though the US economy reached new highs early this year, there was little satisfaction in the liberal camps which was announced in the BLM movement.

Glancing at the wants and wishes of these various groups may seem confusing. I remember asking a good old Allen friend years ago why there was so much fighting from our school patrons to get a place on the School Board. “They want to run it,” he replied. He was correct. Today the Pope made a declaration which better expressed his philosophy on economics and politics in which he basically said clearly and without any reservations that “Capitalism and private enterprise” are inherently evil and can only exist through greed and that society is better served by socialistic programs. He wants to run it too,

Well, at least the Pope is being honest and upfront on his beliefs even if he is hypocritical about how his church gets their money and spends it. To make matters more complicated we find ourselves in the midst of a great world pandemic. Some think it’s about over. I do not know. Other experts think we are in for a second wave of infections. For sure there is an uptick in the number if infection here in the Allen area. So here we go. The US government has already printed and spent “trillions” of dollars “that we have barrowed on our good looks”, but we may not be able to continue softening the financial blows to voters forever. Many workers are said to be doing quite well, staying home, and drawing unemployment. Many others are already in financial straits. Who knows what next month holds?

And this: Travel by air is down by 70%. And what if the airlines do indeed lay off a quarter million of workers this week? And what if more of our retail establishments, factories and businesses continue to shut down? How long before we can walk in and enjoy a sit-down meal at Applebee’s? What if the government does not keep printing trillions of dollars out of the blue sky for us? I wonder just how this generation of Americans will fare if we do stay broke and in want.

We will need to look back at our old values— not revolution—and rely on quality leadership— not BLM. The things that made America great in the first place and brought about our prosperity was American’s basic belief systems and trust in the teachings of God. Our faith in what we learn on, not Facebook. Nor the news channels. It should be our faith in God that guides our actions and value systems. Let us turn our faces toward something more substantial than godless materialism. Jesus taught us that the greatest thing he could teach was for us to love one another.

And one more thing. Let us practice a little common sense and put on those masks. We can beat this thing.

Wayne Bullard, DPh

cwaynebullard@sbcglobal.net