Keeping the Backbone of America Strong

This election has spawned the need for a new “party” to emerge…one that speaks for a real issue and that is personal responsibility. We talk consistently about the imbalance of wealth, but few talk about the imbalance of work. Who is toiling and who is not? Who is paying in and who is taking out? This is not a democrat vs. republican issue. The Backbone of America is being threatened and no matter who is in office, we need to keep it from breaking or the entire country will collapse from lack of support.

When we are able to see that the problems are not red or blue, we will be able to see truth. We cannot handle taking care of people that want a better life, if we are taking away the better life that others have worked so hard to create for themselves. We are not strong enough or big enough to tackle the issues of the world unless we can finally stand united in our belief that everyone needs to pull their own weight. Unless a person is at such a disadvantage they cannot work or contribute, “Everyone,” as my grandfather used to say, “needs to have a broom in their hand.” Sweeping America clean of its deficit and waste can only come when we finally define who really needs what.

As any great parent will tell you, in order to run a household, all inhabitants must do their share or the imbalance breaks the back of the provider. One spouse supports outside the household while the other supports inside or they share both accordingly. Children do their part, irrespective of how small the task, and even the dog or cat serves as protector or loving companion. The second there is an imbalance though, the “stronger” becomes the weaker and can succumb to malaise, sickness or despair.

By 2025 the leading cause of death will be heart disease. The second leading cause will be depression...this coming from the World Health Organization. Autoimmune disease, which characteristics and causes have eluded every expert, is now being researched from a new perspective. “If we can’t find the physical cause,” says German researchers, “let’s try to find the emotional!”

Right now the medical community is attributing 90% of disease to stress; another condition that cannot be tackled or healed without difficulty, because it is defined and handled uniquely in each person. Although intangible in one way, it is still felt deeply in another. Consider the entrepreneur who feels it through his/her lack of control over the economy; the jobless who can’t find employment; the single parent who fears, “What is going to happen next?” How about our children who feel it secondhand but have no skills to handle it?

There is no need to blame any sector, government or private. It is a culmination of the whole; those numbers who choose to take advantage have just as much responsibility as those who choose to do nothing to fight for their own rights and beliefs. EVERY HUMAN BEING of a reasonable age needs to look at their participation in the course this country is taking. As soon as any one citizen turns their back on the direction of their own life, we all lose control of our future as a whole.

So what will the other half of America do with the negative emotions they are feeling after this election? How is the “Backbone” of America going to handle the next four years of pressure? Where is the division going to take us? If half this country likes the job Obama did, exactly what are their expectations going forward? Are we not raising the bar high enough on all of our government leaders, both red and blue? And an even scarier question: Is the rate of illness in America indicative of the number of us that have already succumbed to the pressure, believing that we are powerless to ever affect real change?

Fortunately, the answers don’t have to be left to “time will tell.” We can create our future, but finding solutions to our problems won’t be at either end of the right or wrong spectrum. When we want to resolve an issue, we shouldn’t be looking at what is there and obvious. What is taking up the space in between? How can we see each other’s side? What have we lacked as a society that we can now foster?

If we choose to believe in something, then let it be this: Throughout history we have seen that every issue can be resolved with a symbiotic solution if we come together and meet halfway. And if we adopt this policy of tolerance, then we need to take it much further this time. We have to finally look at ourselves and stop laying blame. What am I giving or taking to help or hurt America? What am I doing or not doing to provide for our future? Can I stop whining long enough to participate in my own potential? Am I an American willing to take responsibility or not?

We can change the course this country is on no matter which man or woman is in office. We first need to change that part of ourselves that won’t see, hear or feel the in between. We have to empathize without enabling. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of others just long enough to do the right thing by them, and then step back into our own so we can continue on the journey we were meant to be on. When we finally look to heal what is not working in our own lives, the job of healing our nation will be done. DM