Is It Time To Intervene?

You have to ask yourself, why is America losing its edge?

We all know someone who after years of struggling to deal with bad decisions, broken marriages, drug, alcohol and gambling addictions, has finally hit rock bottom. Someone facing serious legal charges that could result in lengthy jail time, or worse yet, a fatal automobile accident or drug overdose. 

That is when parents, relatives and friends decide it is time to confront the person with every available resource they can rally. The time has come to intervene and demand they enter a prolonged recovery program. Offer one last chance to turn their life around, before they literally lose it. 

Most of us have been there, or at least know a friend who has. We know it requires an unbreakable moral commitment because it's going to be a long and painful journey for everyone involved.

So what happens when that person is not a person, but our nation? When the United States of America is itself close to hitting rock bottom? When a nation of 330 million people is staggering headlong into an abyss that could spell the end of the worlds most successful and righteous nation?

Think I am exaggerating? Let’s look at the evidence:

• We are broke. As of right now, every man, woman and child in America owes just under $100,000.00. Economic experts predict our national debt, by 2030, will excede the Gross National Product of all of the industrialized nations on Earth, combined. Do you think our children can ever possibly pay that money back?

• We have lost our identity. The current executive branch has allowed close to 7 million unvetted, untested, unskilled, uneducated and essentially broke and homeless migrants into the country in the last three years. They are demanding enormous amounts of public services for education, health and safety. And they are getting it, thereby denying poorer Americans benefits and opportunities they should have by birthright.

• We are losing our minds. Our nation’s education system, which for decades was recognized as the greatest in the modern world, has devolved. A survey by PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) ranked the U.S. 38th in math out of 71 countries and 24th in science. Overall 2024 surveys rank the U.S. education levels at 13th in the world.

• We are losing control of our source of food. Since 1950 the number of U.S. farm operations has declined by 3.75 million and the number of acres farmed has declined by 327 million acres (66%). The concentration of ownership of major food producers (much of it foreign) puts their digital communications and control systems at higher risk of interruptions and security breaches. "Disruption and uncertainty have become the new normal for the global supply chain" according to industry leaders. 

• The American Family is in free fall. Nearly 41 percent of babies are now born out of wedlock, a fourfold increase since 1970. Working Moms are now a central organizing principle of the modern American family. The share of mothers employed full or part time has quadrupled since the 1950s.

• Our general welfare is in decline. According to the Commonwealth Fund, "the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and among the highest suicide rates." The U.S. has the highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions and an obesity rate nearly twice the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) average. We are not only unhealthy, our healthcare system ranks among the lowest in the world.

• The American middle class is shrinking rapidly. The important economic pillars of support, steady paychecks, home ownership and strong families, are all in a downward trend. Economic indicators like cost of living expenses, home ownership, college tuition, recreation and entertainment, have all skyrocketed. Savings are slowing, and credit card balances are growing.

• Workers are feeling insecure. The average American stays at their job less than 4 years, meaning there is no real relationship between employer and employee. Since the 2020 pandemic, surveys indicate Americans are nervous about their job and income security, more so than anytime since the Great Recession in 2008. According to a 2022 Pew Research poll, around six-in-ten (58%) say that life in America is worse today than it was 50 years ago.

You have to ask yourself, why is America losing it's edge? What has happened to our traditional winners attitude? Are we experiencing a social implosion?

Is it time for an intervention?