"we wouldn't know peace existed if we didn't see it in tv."

A friend recently began a somewhat provocative Facebook thread with the following, ‎"If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace." ~ John Lennon

"If everyone demanded that the products they buy be made in America, and stopped buying things that were made anywhere else, then we'd have jobs in America." ~ me

Later, in that same Facebook thread, a person whose bio only said that she was a female who'd attended Carnegie Mellon University said, "we wouldn't know peace existed if we didn't see it in tv."

I responded with the text below, and then the person who began the thread originally said, "Well said, Jim. This should be a Note, and it should be shared widely."  Never let it be said that I don't pay attention.

Odd, most Americans, except those with family in the military, wouldn't know war existed except for what they see on TV. The response to 9/11 was justified, but should have included all of America, not just the Soldiers, Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, Airmen and Marines. Americans have been too isolated from conflict since 1952, the last time the civilian populace was tasked to participate in any form. People who remember WWII can tell about rationing and working in industry to support the war efforts, People who remember Korea can tell about paper and scrap metal drives to support war. People who remember Vietnam had good jobs, bought new cars, new homes, and benefited from high rates of interest while 58,000 of their neighbors' sons and daughters died for the freedom of a little country in south east Asia. People who are experiencing war for the first time with Iraq and Afghanistan have learned to thank soldiers they see at airports, but have not given up one iota of their lifestyle despite seeing the horrible attacks on America in 2001. Toby Keith made millions rattling a saber he never once thought about holding. John Lennon made millions singing about peace but never offered solutions.

Our next war must be on complacency. The American population must be brought into the battle because the governments have grown so large and unwieldy that they cannot possibly survive without the participation of everyone. Bands of protesters with professionally crafted signs provided by unions or organized protest groups will do little to make change unless they also work on finding a solution. Right now they are merely noisily pointing to a problem. Here, in nearby Athens, Georgia in 2011, UGA students temporarily succeeded in blocking pedestrian traffic on a public street in front of the university, but they sat there with the accouterments of the good life, notebook computers, laptops, IPads, cellular telephones, and a late model automobile, complaining about the high cost of education.

Until the American population is charged to take care of itself, no significant changes will be seen. When unions were first established, they served a purpose, but in the last 30 years, they've done more to damage the economy than to help workers. Expecting regular increases in pay without any corresponding increase in output is what turned DeSotos into Toyotas, Zeniths into Panasonics, and Harleys into Hondas. Expecting General Motors, General Mills and General Electric to take care of its workers until they die with absolutely no responsibility on the individual has raised the value of Honda, Hyundai and Husqvarna stocks.

It is hard to blame a government you elected unless you take steps to replace that government with people who will make changes for the better. It is harder to blame government when you've taken no steps towards promoting your own well-being. Sitting on your duff complaining about things isn't the solution. If there is something you think is unfair, devise a viable change, take it to your representative in that particular level of government, present a foolproof argument for its adoption, participate in the effort for implementation and, above all, do not expect miracles. But remember, spending money you don't have on things you don't need isn't just for individuals, it is for governments at every level, from neighborhood associations all the way up to Washington, and the word "need" isn't the same as "want."

Student Loans

PLEASE NOTE THAT I FIRST WROTE THIS IN 2011 

The hullabaloo over student loans is falling on deaf ears in my household.  A student makes a commitment based on the fantasy that all will be fine as soon as he or she has sheepskin in hand, but in the four or five years that student has spent matriculating at the university of choice, the world has changed.  All of a sudden recent grads are finding the job market drastically reduced, but it didn't happen the moment they walked across the stage to receive a diploma.

There was an article in an edition of Time Magazine that told the stories of several 2011 graduates and their loans.  One graduated from Fordham University and had a $30,000 student loan to pay off.  That's nearly the price of that Lexus she thought she would buy with that salary she was going to earn with her degree.  Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008 when she was a freshman, the same year that Circuit City folded.   But she kept right on pouring money into Fordham University, assured that her degree in English would take care of her for life.  By the way, Fordham University is expensive, charging over $1300 per credit.  Nearby Baruch College charges $215 per credit, but a degree from Fordham is, well, just another degree, but with prestige.

This graduate was featured in a national magazine because the job she landed doesn't pay enough to enable her paying off her student loan.  Another student featured in the article worked a 9-5 full time job then part time 3½ hours each evening doing software telephone support.  She told Time that she was so "burned out" from the lab hours that she quit her day job.  Her degree in documentary filmmaking from NYU apparently didn't require a semester in "Introduction to Common Sense" and certainly none in "Accepting Responsibility."

In 1964, I was an A2C in the US Air Force, married, with one child and another on the way.  Uncle Sam's pay barely covered our basic needs, the steering box broke on our 13 year old car and we borrowed my wife's grandparents 7 year old car.  My job in the Air Force was as a Launch and Checkout Specialist on Titan I Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.  To make sure we had enough money, I took a second job as a dishwasher in a bowling alley restaurant.  I soon took on the task of short order cook, grilling steaks and burgers, dishing out bowls of chili, working the counter and stocking the bar.  I worked my buns off, not because I thought I'd get ahead, but because I was part of the operation.  The manager noticed and promoted me a couple of times.  I'd get up in the morning and go to the base, spend the day performing maintenance on missiles with atomic bombs for a warhead, often traveling up to 60 miles out to a missile site to make repairs, then when my day was over, changing out of my uniform and heading out to the bowling alley.  The restaurant would stay open until midnight, so it was often nearly 1 AM before I'd get home and crawl into bed.

Sure I got tired, but my wife and kids (my second child was born during these times) ate and were clothed.  I didn't go looking for Time Magazine to write about my plight, I just kept on working two jobs.  Eventually, I got promoted by the Air Force, so after putting a few dollars away, I quit that second job.

One of the students mentioned by Time passed up a free education at the University of Texas to go to the considerably more prestigious Tulane University and is now $90,000 in debt and using a degree in anthropology and history to work in a hotel at $9.50 an hour.  I'm going to suggest to that student that a second job on the wait staff in a quality restaurant might pay enough to help decrease the enormous amount of money you spent in New Orleans.

How about this?  Go down to your nearest recruiting station and sign up.  You'll have four years of modest pay, free (or at least subsidized) room and board, and an opportunity to serve your country.  If you enlist, your base salary will be around $19,000 a year ($23000 in 2023) and at the end of a four year hitch, you could be making over $28,000 ($38,000 in 2023), plus a comfortable room and three substantial meals.   Should your degree be enough to get you commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, you'll begin with a base salary of around $35,000 ($43,600 in 2023) and after four years as an officer, your salary will be around $50,000 ($77,600 now).  If you can manage not to spend your money frivolously on stylish clothing, neat automobiles, and partying, you could probably have a great chunk of that student loan paid off.  As an added benefit, the branch of service you choose will see to it that you have a marketable skill and will probably teach you responsibility and common sense.

One more thing.  If you spent your spring break partying more than a few miles from campus or home during any of your college years, you should not expect one iota of assistance from any government agency.  Ditto if you had a car during your college days.