Op-Ed: Dumbing Down America

I've observed a decline in the values America once held high, values that made her stand tall, values that are now held by a few who want to see America stand tall once again in opposition to those who wish to see her falter. Sadly, these once common values have become infected with selfish agendas, greed, and exploitation. These are some of the ways the erosion has taken hold.

Illegal Immigration
Take illegal immigration, for example. The media detracts from the truth of the matter by calling such people "undocumented workers" or "would-be Americans". Why? By calling them something else, something just a few degrees south of the truth, it is hoped to fool the American public into accepting them more readily. According to G. Vance Smith, a conspiracy is to blame and has this to say:

"A regime cannot consolidate total power while there is a substantial class of citizens who do not depend on its favors for their welfare (livelihood, food, housing, medical care, travel, etc.) and who, moreover, have at their disposal substantial independent resources to mobilize resistance to tyranny."

So by allowing more and more immigrants to enter our country illegally, while simultaneously working to resist those who would strengthen its borders, advocates of such a movement weaken the incumbent group of Americans by replacing them with those who are more susceptible to agreeing with the way they think the nation ought to be run.

Furthermore, by establishing subgroups of Americans, you further dilute the original idea of what it is to be an American. African-Americans, Irish-Americans, Latin-Americans. What about just "Americans"? Sure, be proud of your heritage, but let us unite under one flag and fight for the common interest of us all.

Throw in free health care and education on American tax payers back's and you give little incentive to these criminals to leave and the will they need to fight for what is not legally theirs.

Celebrating Mediocrity and Purple Ink
Parents want their children to feel good about themselves, which is completely understandable. That's something all parents should strive for. But there has been a growing trend of such parents who know no bounds, and without even realizing it, are working to undermine the very thing they want to protect.

Popular radio talk show host, Glenn Beck, reported earlier this year that Colorado schools have banned an all-time favorite game: tag. The reason? It lowered a child's self-esteem. But what is being overlooked here is that with every step authorities take in the name of protecting a child's self-esteem, they're inflicting more problems on them because, as they grow older, they won't know how to deal with hurt feelings. When they're adults, how will they deal with those hurt feelings? How will they react when they don't get their way? The way their parents taught them, of course, by changing the rules to suit their own needs, and strive even harder to do the same and more for their own children, thus repeating and strengthening the cycle.

Turning back the clock to 2005, you can also see such behavior in something as simple as the color of ink being used to grade papers. Buzzle.com reported the growing movement to grade a student's paper in something other than red. For years, red was the color of choice for teachers. But for parents in Trumbull, Connecticut, they "objected to the use of red ink for grading papers. Red writing, they said, was 'stressful'."

Celebrating mediocrity has also become a trendy thing, which I believe is something that takes away from being special. By having a graduation ceremony for young students, complete with gowns and caps for each grade they graduate to, what do you have to look forward to when you actually graduate from high school and college?

Have you ever seen contests where every student gets a ribbon so no one gets their feelings hurt? What message does that send to our children? I submit for consideration that it says everyone is the same, and to make the effort to be special, to challenge one's own abilities is too dangerous lest they might fail.

Media hype
And finally, we have the media, who seemingly breathes a different air. By flooding our television screens with such drivel as "which of the two celebrities is going to get custody of the baby?", or "Who is the latest celebrity to be caught on film throwing a tantrum, getting drunk?" or whatever. All that's happening while more important topics should be discussed and solved, both at home and across the globe.

Gone are the days of objective reporting because they've been replaced by the opinionated talking heads of today. Instead of reporting the news, we find more and more of them trying to make the news, whether that be by, shall we say, "stretching" the truth or merely stating their own thoughts as though they were the gospel.

There is hope
This nation has indeed seen bumpy times and is sure to see some more ahead. But one thing we can count on is that one day, the heart of Americans will beat loudly as it did once before, silencing the ones whose beats are out of sync with what is right and just.