Citadel Values II by Freer Robert E. Jr.;

Author:Freer, Robert E., Jr.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UPA
Published: 2010-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ideals for America’s Future

America is as much a state of mind and heart as it is solid geography. To endure it is that state of mind and the values upon which it is based that keeps our country free and marching forward to embrace our destiny.

Best of Times . . .

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity”55

Thus Charles Dickens begins a Tale of Two Cities, the tale of another era of upheaval and societal change. Each generation since our own revolution could say the same. Each has overcome its own unique challenges. Each has known triumph and the euphoria it brings as well as the vinegar of misery brought on by natural or manmade disaster and pestilence. Ours is no different. We have seen incredible advances in science, standard of living, and the prospects within our own lifetimes of overcoming life’s mysteries that have challenged us since the beginning of time.

As we stand on the edge of what could be a golden era in which we and all mankind could benefit, we face only our own human limitations. Man’s dual nature of good and evil continues to stand resolutely before us, unyielding as it has been for eons. This generation’s challenge is not just our relationship with hotspots like Iraq.

As indicated in my last article, we are bedeviled by a Scarlet O’Hara approach to the future. I have news for you. Tomorrow is already here. The Ship of State is much bigger than the Queen Mary. It takes a long time to turn her from her disastrous course. In our last article we looked at what needs to be done to the assault on our borders by illegal aliens that have overwhelmed our ability to absorb them into our society. This week I would like to talk about entitlements.

First a few facts; we are headed towards a permanent change in our demographics. The number of Americans 65 or older will almost double and rise from 12 percent of our population to 20 percent over the next 25 years while what is currently referred to as the “working age population” will only grow by 10 percent during the same time.

According to The Congressional Budget Office, if you assume that that the growth of health care costs does not abate, Medicare and Medicaid will grow by nearly five times as a share of the economy by 2050. They will absorb as much of our economy themselves by 2040 as our entire budget does today. Those figures are for our health care related entitlements only and don’t include social security which, while not as bleak, is pretty bad. Current predictions are that outgo will exceed income around 2017, and the system will be unable, unassisted by general tax revenues to pay full benefits in 2041.

Even under the sunniest of assumptions, government’s share of national

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