Will Americans be better off tomorrow than they are today?

Will Americans be better off tomorrow than they are today?

By Arnie Sherr, October 26, 2009

As reports continue to alert that economic indicators are giving signs of improvement, there still remains the disparaging knowledge that unemployment shall continue to rise until after all other economic maladies have adequately recovered. In my business I am confronted almost daily by downtrodden hopefuls who, regardless of reports of economic improvement, do not embrace the concept that tomorrow will be better for them and theirs than it is today. In a recent speech to the NACS, Bill Clinton raises that very concern.  

Excerpt from the CSP Daily News, October 26, 2009 by Angel Abcede

<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Las Vegas: Former President Bill Clinton in a speech before the NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores) urged convenience stores to embrace change.

When asked what one of the biggest but unspoken problems facing the nation today would be, Clinton responded with the idea of inequality. He said that people who are willing to work hard should receive the economic benefits of their labor.

"When I was born in 1946, Arkansas' per-capita income was 56% of the national average," he said. "We did not believe the future was pre-ordained. We were on a mission. I think millions of people today don't feel that. And you can't run a good country if people believe that tomorrow is not going to be better than today." More…

What pray tell does a father feel when he must deny his kids their usual rewards; their allowance, their usual Saturday trips to Busch Gardens and the like, their tennis lessons, etc? How does Mom keep the family together when she must sacrifice their usual menu – replacing ground sirloin with ground chuck - when shopping for quantity rather than quality? What effect will these deteriorates have on their children whose love and expressive attempts to understand emerge characteristically when the Christmas tree is void of the usual number and variety of presents of love and respect as in the past?

Those who seat both houses should be America’s bi-partisan voice of hope for all Americans, let alone the multitudes of unemployed who because of circumstances attributed to the misguided acts of both corporate America and those who of government represent them. America’s unemployed are now ordained to manipulating finances in attempts to provide for those they promised to care for and still make reasonable strives to satisfy debts and obligations; and for many of, to save their homes from foreclosure.

Americaneeds reassurance and encouragement from all who seat both houses. They are who the American people elected to be chauffeurs of their economic destinies; when will they stop the interminable bickering and get back to the business of promoting the American way; preserving the fundamental values that define America including opportunity for all and the freedom to learn to embrace conscience, participate civically, benefit community and family; practice and promote societal and personal responsibility, fairness and justice, and embrace pluralism and diversity. These values are enshrined in our nation’s founding documents and embedded in the collective soul of our people. America was founded in their pursuit, the Constitution written in their defense, wars fought in their preservation, and more than two centuries of freedom and prosperity lived in their exercise. (Reflected from the core values of People for the American Way)

There are no words in our precious Constitution that make mention of companies (small or large), corporations, special interests, or reference in any form the growth and prosperity beyond that which is written with respect to human interests, equality and opportunity; equally, and for all.      

”We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”  The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America (ratified December 15, 1791)

Respectfully I ask, what happened to the pursuit of a more perfect union, domestic Tranquility, general Welfare, and the Blessings of Liberty and Prosperity? Can you and those who seat both houses and those who preceded you and those who seat both houses in good conscience, with right hand to the bible state emphatically that every day and every minute of public service has been targeted towards the fruition of the Preamble to the Constitution? 

And respectfully I ask another; can those who seat both houses and those who preceded you and those who seat both houses adequately enlighten “We the People” as to where within the Constitution it directs that the needs of “We the People” are subservient to the wants, needs, and desires of Wall Street, corporations, and companies whose mission is, as proved, almost totally exclusive of human consideration for that which is written to the Constitution as being the intent of our Founders; Equality, Tranquility, and Prosperity for “We the People.” 

Moreover, the laws of mankind dictate an order of things.

Paul-Michel Foucault (1926 – 1984) a French philosopher, sociologist, and historian who wrote in 1970 “The Order of Things” was an Archaeologist of the Human Sciences. One of his conclusions was an infamous claim that "man is only a recent invention" and that the "end of man" is at hand.”

Was he right? Were his unorthodox assessments destined to authenticity? I believe, having been witness for more than at least the past 25 of my 66 years of the deterioration of “The American Way” that perhaps Foucault’s assertion is to be suffixed with “as we once knew it to be” instead of “is at hand.”

Members of the House and Senate, we must come together as a “People”; not as a conglomeration of corporate entities and commercial agenda. What has never been returned is the gratitude due the American people for the hard work and dedication that benefited those entities that now refuse to pay homage or fair and due remuneration to and for the very masses who are directly and wholly responsible for the corporate growth and personal prosperities of those who altruistically claim ultimate “credit.” These greedy recipients of the people’s patronage and consumer loyalties have defied “the order of things.” Instead, they have chosen to devastate the very resources that invented of them the adjective “mega.”     

I am writing this because “We the People” need someone to champion this cause; to put America back in-line with the intentions of our founders. Few will argue we haven’t strayed!  

A notable majority of Americans voted and remain loyal to President Obama and I wholeheartedly believe he, more than anyone, can be that person; that by whatever spiritual criteria (like him, G-d is mine) he has been sent to champion for “We the People.”

I know of and am witness to his efforts to message and inspire all whose debate and votes, for good or for worse, mold the future of “We the People.” It is my desire to have this content read before the members of the house and senate. Had I the resources and due permissions I would make this plea myself.

To my readers: I sent this writing via facsimile to the White House and to the attention of President Obama. It is important, whatever one’s opinion - agreement or otherwise – to make it known. Send your thoughts to your local congressional representatives, senators, or like me to the President. They can’t know how “We the People” feel unless we tell them! Unless perhaps, you trust the bias polls of those who man the bully pulpit - media pundits!   

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Article the third [Amendment I] The United States Bill of Rights