Forgotten Values

One thing that’s important to teach your children, in my opinion, is PRIDE in yourself.  Character and really taking pride in yourself seem to be almost forgotten values anymore.  Everywhere you turn there is someone who is incompetent at their job, rude and disrespectful to others, and generally apathetic.  From cashiers who can’t count out change without a calculator to receptionists who are rude and can’t give directions to their office, to healthcare professionals who don’t know what’s going on yet still talk down to you, personal pride and character, not to mention common courtesy are in short supply.  And those are just some experiences I’ve had in the last week!

I saw a show on Dateline or 20/20 (one of those types of shows) a few years ago about cheaters in college.  Students who cheat on exams and work just to get a passing grade so they can get into graduate school.  Several of these people set up online companies to help students cheat, and they justified their actions all day long.  The Students themselves thought it was perfectly legitimate to cheat their way through school.  No wonder we have a world full of incompetent dults who lack basic skills.  If you look at what’s popular on television these days, shows like American Idol, Tela Tequila, the Pussycat Dolls, America’s Next Top Model, etc.  It’s no wonder our children don’t care about actually studying and learning anything.  All you have to do to be successfull anymore is look “hot” and charm your way to stardom.  Heck, just look at Paris Hilton, et. al. 

As a country, we are in deep trouble if we don’t turn this shallow and ridiculous pop culture attitide around.  We already are feeling the effects.  Our technical jobs are being sent overseas to countries where people actually obtain real degrees in engineering.  Our manufacturing jobs have long since been sent overseas to workers who will work for long hours at low wages.  Our construction and manual labor jobs are being taken over by immigrants who are hard working and are willing to learn a trade.  What does that leave for the rest of us to do?  We have a young generation of Americans who have no real skills and yet they don’t care.  The financial collapse of our system might get their attention, but I have my doubts.

I watched a couple of minutes of a show called “Speeders” on televsion recently.  This couple get pulled over for speeding and it turns out they are boyfriend and girlfriend.  The girl is pregnant and the man is talking about how he doesn’t really want kids, but “what are you gonna do?”  The camera man asked if they were going to get married and the guy said, “Why get married?  We already live together.  I don’t see the point.”  The girl said, “Yes, we are getting married and glared at the guy.”  That seems to be a pretty common sentement from guys these days.  Heck, why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free, right?  We have masses of people who really think this way… we are in deep trouble. 

We should be promoting the kids who excel in school, aspire to accomplish something, take pride in themselves and do their best in everything they do.  We should promote the workers who take pride in their work, the parents who raise their children, the real Americans who make a positive impact on everyone they meet.  Why spend so much time on the know-nothing idiots that will be forgotten in 5 years?  We need to stop watching their shows, stop buying the useless and timewasting products they promote and the magazines that feature them.  It’s time to get back to real values, education, goals, aspirations to make a difference. 

We need to bring pride and character back as worthy and desireable traits.  Learn a trade.  Better yourself.  Commit to something of value.  America is called “the land of the free and home of the brave”, but it’s turning into the home of the opportunists.  Our country is being fleeced by people who are just in it for themselves.  Does Wall Street care about the rest of us?  Do the political leaders really have the best interest of Americans at heart?  Or does just about everyone currently in positions of power care only about themselves?  I thought that the phrase “a government for the people and by the people” meant that we were represented as a whole.  The truth is that nearly all of the governments are self-serving.  They work for the good of the few, those in power.  The heck with everyone else.  I often see local governments going against the will (and vote) of the people.  How can we let this happen? 

We had better get rid of these people, force them out, vote them out, do whatever it takes so that we can come together as Americans.  Take pride in yourself, in how you talk, how you dress, the way you carry yourself and treat others.  Demand better from ourselves and our leaders and our so-called “role models.”  Like Twisted Sister said, “We’re not gonna take it anymore!”  If I see another television ad with Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears, etc., etc., I think I’m going to “kick-in the friggin TV screen” (like the guy said in The Money Pit).  I am so sick of the “empty skirts and empty suits” dragging this country into the mud, and getting rich off of doing it!

I think it’s incredibly sad that we have settled for a society where excellent craftsmanship and real knowledge, customer service and selflessness are not valued anymore.  We have lowered our standards to the point that many kids graduating from high school can barely read, have no knowledge of the world, no sense of history yet are acutely aware of who the current pop stars are and what’s going on in those peoples personal lives.  They can recite the lyrics of the popular songs, but have no clue as to their meaning.  They watch popular movies for entertainment, yet completely miss the message and point it’s trying to make.

The bar has been lowered too low.  It’s time to raise it up again.  If we are to compete in the new global economy, we have no choice.  Otherwise our future generations won’t have the knowledge or skills to keep this country going.  As the book “Do Hard Things, a teenage rebellion against low expectations” (by Alex and Brett Harris)proclaims, let’s start focusing our efforts on things that matter, even if they are not easy.

Thanks for sticking with me through this whole rant.