Search This Blog

Monday, October 27, 2014

Will America ever have another "Reagan"?

    My son once asked me if I thought we would ever see a strong president like Ronald Reagan again.   After thinking about it for some time I said , "It's possible but not highly likely".   The reason I say this is that Presidents are not born that way... they are raised that way.   Reagan was a product of his environment and his education.   He was born in 1911 and saw the economic boom of the 1920's as well as the great depression.   He saw how good at could be and how bad it can get.  Reagan lived at a time when religion was still in high regard and citizenship was still taught in our schools and boys were taught what it meant to be a MAN.  For a Reagan to appear again he would need to survive a gauntlet of assaults.

Gauntlet level #1:  A socialist education system
   When Ronald Reagan was in school, schools still taught a love of country and a hard work ethic.  Children were taught to respect authority and adults and going to church was common place and even encouraged in schools.   Today's education system is more bent on  supporting a socialist ideology of "fairness" and making kids feel good about themselves.   Hard work has been replaced with "trying your best" and B's are the new C's.   For a new Reagan to make it past this level would require him to either attend a private school or be home-schooled.  Given that 90% of all children in the US go to public school that gives a 10% chance of getting past this first level.

Gauntlet level #2:  Hollywood's attack on men
     Watch old movies and compare them to today's movies.   Men were portrayed as strong, no nonsense types who were not afraid to punch a person who insulted them or their family.  Fathers were portrayed as honest, faithful and wise, but today they are all too often portrayed as stupid, womanizing and liars.  Just watch your average commercial where its hard to differentiate the men from the women.   Hollywood often lifts up the "Beta-Male" in their shows and commercials and that is the model our children are given.  Reagan's world was still an Alpha-Male dominated society and Reagan emulated those men in his presidency.  I still believe our boys hunger for that kind of strength but it will not be supplied to them in TV or Movies they watch.   But with our ever changing media Hollywood might not be able control this much longer as the next generating will be getting their input from a large variety of suppliers (mostly on-line streaming) and so there is hope this might change in the near future.

Gauntlet level #3:  Attack on marriage
    Like the saying goes: "Behind every successful man is a strong woman urging him on".  So also, Ronald Reagan would not be Ronald Reagan without Nancy Reagan beside him.   So much of our movies and television shows today portray marriage as a "game" with shows like "The Bachelor" , "The Bachelorette" and "Say Yes to the Dress"   and several other "reality" shows which reduce marriage to nothing more than a Prom-Night-On-Steriods.  Our kids are shown this unrealistic view of dating and what to look for in a man.   As mentioned in the previous section, most of these so-called "men" who are nothing more than "women who shave" and the "women" are nothing more than "low-cost-hookers" who have no self-respect.   Reagan lived at a time when marriage was about having children and raising a family and women were taught to look for qualities in a man that would benefit the raising of a family  (good job, hard working, respectful, honest, protective, intelligent).  Men like Ronald Reagan are made in the marriage process and given that the marriage rate is dropping in our country it will be harder in the future to get past this level.

Gauntlet level #4:  Attack on religion
    Ronald Reagan was a strongly avowed Christian from his youth.  He believed strongly in God and in Jesus Christ.  He was not afraid to make his beliefs known either.  Was he a saint?  No.  But his faith in God and his view that God rewards those who seek justice and truth allowed him to speak truth to acts of evil and call a spade a spade.  Faith gave him the audacity to tell Russia to "tear down this wall!" when no one around him would.   Our politically correct view of religion today were all religions are correct and fine does not provide the fertile spiritual soil to raise up a Reagan today.  When Reagan grew up, religion was honored in movies (for the most part) and good and evil were as different as black and white (rather than shades of grey).   Religious people today are often attacked when they speak up or run for office.  They are dismissed as either "too simple", "too narrow minded", "out dated", "out of touch" or even "racist".   In our world today religion is seen as drawback rather than as a help to many.    It's okay to mention God in a "general way" but don't ever say you draw strength from reading his word on a regular basis.   

Q: What will it take to make another Reagan?

A: Another great depression
   
    I know that is not an answer you will like to hear, but its the truth.  Like Reagan, we need to re-learn that we need to be self-sufficient. Only through a long economic depression will our children learn what really matters in a man.   Cuteness, sexiness,  sensitivity and how he looks in a speed-o will go out the window.  Men will have to grow up and fight to gain the woman they love.  Marriage will become about SURVIVAL and not about having someone to snuggle up to on rainy days.  Men will have to go back to manual labor to earn their keep and those with JOBS will be longed for by woman over girly-men or only sell insurance.   Men will learn to save their money again and not be fooled into thinking that our economy is "un-sinkable" and therefore throw their money away on every stupid technological toy that comes along just for the sake of having it.  And finally, men will learn to trust in God again and not themselves.

    Then a new Reagan will come along to lead us to a better future.
  





















No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.