Soap Box

I applaud President Obama for his attempt to mentor troubled young men and sincerely hope his actions will initiate similar programs around the nation. The need is great and long neglected and ignored by those in a position to make a difference.

For decades now we have observed the gradual, and sometimes not so gradual, decline of social and moral standards in America.

There are those who will tell you that there's nothing wrong with society, that big government, more subsidies and less restrictions on acceptable public behavior won't fix, that America's problems are caused by less opportunity available to minorities and lack of money to fund basic and higher education and vocational programs.

They would also say that racial prejudice and business practices in America do not allow a level playing field and that it's impossible to rise above menial jobs in fast food restaurants and a lifetime of manual labor at dead end jobs with no security and no hope for advancement.

I would be less than honest if I said that no prejudice existed in America today, but generally speaking I don't believe that people are turned down for jobs or denied advancement due to the racial origins but basically because of two major contributing factors, qualification and attitude.

When a kid applies for a job with his pants halfway down his posterior, hair askew, facial piercings and a smart aleck, surly attitude his chances of landing a position of any gravity went out the door when he walked through it.

Nobody is going to put a person of that appearance and disposition in a position of dealing with their customers, it's just not going to happen and if that person even manages to land a job it's going to be doing the heavy lifting and that's just about where they will spend the rest of their working life.

They will usually only be hired because they're all that's available at the time and will be the first employee to be laid off when things tighten up.

This seemingly pervasive attitude, so encouraged by the socialist policies of the federal government, that all I need to do is be born and I'm entitled to be taken care of for the rest of my life with no particular effort on my part, up to and including a job, whether I'm qualified or not, fosters a false reality that guarantees a place in the lower echelons of fiscal society for life.

It makes no difference how much money is spent on education, as long the results are so appalling, as long as politicians cater to teacher's unions and ignore the caliber of students they're turning out.

It's been proven time and time again that the competitive environment that could be created by a school voucher program would vastly improve academic standards, discipline, safety and general well being of students, who could learn in the religious and moral environment their parents found acceptable.

But as long as self serving politicians - and I'm becoming more and more convinced all the time that's about the only kind of politician that exists - are afraid of losing the vast number of votes the teacher's unions represent it's never going to change.

Young people will either quit school when they become old enough or, not in all but in too many cases, graduate with a substandard education that will determine their qualifications in the work place for the rest of their lives.

Our loose, and worsening, immigration policies have flooded the labor force with unskilled workers who are willing to take the entry level jobs that were once plentiful and a fertile training ground for young American workers and the problem gets bigger every day.

The American conundrum of the disappearance of industry, the lack of qualified workers and the lackadaisical work ethic of too many of the new generations paint a pretty bleak picture for the economic and social future.

The seeds of big government, discouragement of any kind of morals in the public arena and the credit card mentality of the last half-century are reaching fruition and they're going to make some ugly plants.

What so you think?

Pray for our troops and the peace of Jerusalem

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels​