Before Our Very Eyes

This is how an empire dies, and we’re watching it in real-time. In the news: fourth-grade test scores, considered to be a “crucial indicator for educational and economic success,” have plummeted, with math scores recording the most significant drop to a level not seen since the 90s. The average lifespan dropped for a second consecutive year, an additional 0.9 years, after a steep drop of 1.8 years in 2020. The average American can now expect to live 76.1 years. California is expecting a heat wave to strike this weekend that will “likely stress the electricity grid and raise the risk of wildfires.” Authorities have responded by urging residents to avoid going outdoors, drink water, check in on your neighbors and never leave children and pets alone in cars. They have additionally requested residents to voluntarily conserve energy by keeping thermostats no lower than 78 degrees, avoid running major appliances, and do not charge electric vehicles. You know, the vehicles they are making us buy. In Jackson, Mississippi, an estimated 150000 residents are without reliable running water as the city’s crumbling water infrastructure struggles to provide clean drinking water and sufficient water pressure. What happened to us? Alas, when a country fails to educate its children, keep its population safe and healthy, is unable to provide clean running water and a reliable electricity grid, it has devolved into a third-world crisis. The usual excuses abound, with Covid leading the list, followed by climate change and, of course, racism. How long are we going to allow the democrats, the party in charge, to harangue us with these tired old mantras?  Perhaps we should consider a different set of excuses: the unfortunate appointment of idiots to positions of authority, the demise of meritocracy in favor of race-based appointments, the mismanagement of natural resources, and the demonizing of the fossil fuel industry to worship at the altar of green energy initiatives, the wanton destruction of the nuclear family with children reliant on educators more concerned with their own well-being and a curriculum that no longer emphasizes a real-world skill set and a government that completely mismanaged and politicized a pandemic. November is the tipping point where we choose success as a nation or continue our decline into third-world status.