Aphorisms and Letters
The Grand Experiment—What Went Wrong?
A Layman‘s Interpretation
Copyright © 2008 Alipio Baldi
General Albert C. Wedenmeyer (Wedenmeyer Reports) remarked, ―one often hears individuals state that they want good government; but many seem primarily concerned with security, material rewards, power, prestige, recreation and entertainment rather than with their responsibilities as citizen.‖ This book, written in Streams of Consciousness, will hopefully provide some notable examples of what he meant. It is a collection of my personal thoughts and opinions ranging in scope covering religion, politics, parenting, philosophy, social issues, immigration, corporations and history. My goal is to provoke critical thinking in an individual who is persistently directed with sound bites on how to think from all fronts. Consequences can be devastating when decisions are made without relevant facts. Hopefully this book will provide some insight to the reader from a layman‘s point of view.
―Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the unthinking‖.
—John Maynard Keyes
Preface
I make no pretense at being a scholar. My formal studies, by conventional standards, are considered average. Although I never distinguished myself in the classroom, I have a great respect for learning and learned individuals as well as knowledge for its own inestimable value. What follows are not so casual opinions and observations of some of the daunting issues confronting this troubled nation that I believe is in a rapid state of (moral) decline. Whether such impressions appear plausible, I will leave to the reader‘s discretion. Should the ideas presented in these pages be received by some degree of skepticism, then I consider this humble endeavor worthy of my efforts. My main purpose in writing this ―book‖, aside from wanting to leave something behind, was to encourage people to think critically about things. We are a nation that has grown complacent in its social and political outlook and interactions with other people; progressively exhausted by material dynamics, that many of us have forgotten how to properly question or doubt, for that matter, which is oftentimes the case when a nation has grown at ―ease‖ with itself. I believe that America‘s (increasingly) lax moral attitudes are placing the nation on the brink of national suicide. What sets this nation apart from the ―inevitable‖ decline of other great nations, however, is that no other nation has ever purposely promoted its own self-destruction! At no other time in recorded history has a nation‘s internalized sense of guilt dominated its social and political thinking; never a collective desire to purge itself of self-fabricated guilt complexes whose origins are, more often than not, imaginary rather than real. We, as a people, have devolved into groveling apologists for such remarkable achievements otherwise perceived by the historically illiterate as the product of wicked or contentious designs; in a word, we are seeking redemption for being a great nation. The path of least resistance, it seems, lies in undermining the customs and traditions of time-honored institutions that (once) made many of us proud Americans. I dedicate this book of ideas to family and friends, living and deceased, whose thought provoking insights provided the material for expressing such opinions as I understand them. I wish to especially thank my wife Rose for her untiring support and patience during some rather trying moments. Whether I have offended any individual or group, such was not my intention. I too, am conditioned by what I believe. In the final analysis, I am an average man of ordinary talents who is trying to make a difference in his own way inasmuch as my (meager) abilities will allow.
Alipio Baldi
December 2007