Thanksgiving And Deep Meaning To Veterans

by Ed Mattson

Well, we got this far. It is 2011. Given the last two decades as a country and all of the political BS that has emanated from inside the Beltway along with the political correctness that defies common sense, we are still the United States of America, and that should be one reason to be on our knees giving thanks.

I think we are at a historical point that we should no longer mark each year by “New Year’s Day”. That was okay back in the days when the country focused on common interests such as the forming of a nation, the struggle to settle the Wild West, the victory of freedom over tyranny in not one, but two World Wars, and our re-emergence from both Pearl Harbor and the 911. But I contend as America turns toward a secular society, and as we forget the awesome responsibility American citizenship carries with it, our calendar year should be marked by the Thanksgiving Holiday and not “celebrated” on New Year’s Eve as a start of another year.

We used to be a nation of people that believed in self-reliance, individual freedoms, and personal responsibility. We had “the family unit” to whom we could turn to in time of need; we had a mom and dad that provided everything we needed to grow-up and work toward a civil society. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but America’s greatness, and what sets us aside from every other country on earth, is that it was the formula for success and became the model by which other countries could copy. People migrated here-we became a land of immigrants, where, if you worked hard, saved your money, you could achieve your own idea of success beyond your wildest imagination.

People have accused me of “buying into a simplistic notion about America”. I get those e-mails all the time in reply to some of my more patriotic articles. Those letters don’t come from immigrants but from those who have been born here… Born here but just can’t see the greatness of our Constitution which was written recognizing that our rights and freedoms were granted by God; to limit the power of government, and unlike other countries whose legal systems “grant specific and limited rights” to its citizenry, our Founding Fathers got it right.

I believe in the American Reality, not a Dream, and not in some phony notion that everyone is entitled to a home, food, healthcare, a car, and free education, but the equal opportunity to go as high and far in life that you choose. If for no other reason on Thanksgiving this is why everyone living inside our borders should be thankful. Those immigrants who came here from other countries seem to understand it, but many of those born here don’t have a clue.

I can hear the stirring of many of my fellow citizens that believe America is not like this at all. They are turning on their computers to fire back about all the wrongs that exist in our country. Why…we have poverty, not everyone has healthcare, not everyone is educated, people actually live on the street, and they’re just aren’t enough jobs available to go around. Well, those figures cannot be denied, and despite more than 12 trillion dollars being spent by the government over the last few decades to be everything to everybody, guess what… things haven’t gotten any better, and in fact, have gotten worse. Whose fault is that?

This is where personal responsibility comes into play. Those who have less in life must bear a lot of responsibility for their own fate. I know that sounds harsh and unsympathetic, but take a minute and think about it before you start sending me to hate mail. If one was to drop out of school (some schools have a dropout rate in access of 25%); choose to run afoul of the law; do drugs, alcohol, and get pregnant at the age of fifteen and have to go on government support, these are life choices absent of personal responsibility. Such choices do not necessarily always turn out bad, because self-reliance (pulling oneself up by the boot-straps), is an American trait and can still provide success here in America not available anywhere else on earth. You and I did not force people in those predicaments to make those decisions.

In today’s polarizing environment we let others teach us that those who are successful have only gotten there by ill-gotten means. This is straight out of the Karl Marx playbook. Whether you are a fan or a foe of President Obama, the fact is clear, redistributionist’s are following rule number two from Karl Marx, taken from the Communist Manifest (an excellent read for those who need a wake-up call). Mr. Obama, a community activist and de facto revolutionary, cheers on those who demonize success, without which there would be no investment and no one to tax.

Marx’s rule number 2 reads as follows: “A heavy progressive or graduated income tax”. What does that mean and how does that play into the American culture? The higher your income, the higher the tax bracket you are placed in for purposes of calculating your tax bill. This began to appear in America when the income tax was created (Marx was famous for saying, “From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need”). It is completely evil and goes against everything American, yet it has a solid foothold inside the beltway and haunts us every day of our life. In 1913 the tax code amounted to about 400 pages; today nearly 70,000 pages containing over 3.4 million words. Through the tax code, the government can control your every move.

For the religious 93% of the population, the Bible teaches us the principle of the Flat Tax requires that everyone is to pay or tithe 1/10 of their produce to the Lord. It was not written that the poor only pay 5% and the wealthy are to pay 25%. God said everyone rich or poor, pays the same percentage. Why do those in power and those bent on class warfare want to tax the wealthy more? Because it advances their program for fomenting class envy and their redistributionist-Marxist theory… Divide and conquer, that is the strategy of those hell-bent on wrecking America with ever-higher taxes and increasingly bigger government.

But, let’s take a minute to look at those the LEFT has grown to envy and hate…the very people who provide the jobs and investments that make it possible for us to have the lifestyle we cannot live without (I-Pads, cell phones, television, and so forth). Those who have less never want to talk about the fact that those who are successful are successful because 94% earned it (only 6% of the wealthy inherited it)! In actuality, those who have achieved success, have done so in a remarkably similar fashion:

A. About two-thirds are working and self-employed. Interestingly -self-employed people make up less than 20 percent of the workers in America but account for two-thirds of the millionaires.
B. Three out of four who are self-employed consider themselves to be entrepreneurs.
C. Most of the others are self-employed professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants.
D. Many are in businesses that could be classified as dull or normal at best.
E. Believe it or not, most come from similar backgrounds and provide normal goods and services (they are not all Bill Gates) They are welding contractors, auctioneers, rice farmers, owners of mobile-home parks, pest controllers, coin and stamp dealers, and paving contractors. Most hire other people (provide jobs).
F. They all live well below their means.
G. They wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars-only a minority drive the current-model-year automobile. The offer no false pretense of who they are.
H. As a group, they are well educated. Only about one in five are not college graduates… Many hold advanced degrees. Eighteen percent have master’s degrees, 8 percent law degrees, 6 percent medical degrees, and 6 percent Ph.D.s.
I. About two-thirds worked long hours initially but settled into between forty-five and fifty-five hours per week.

Today we have “The Occupy Crowds” camping out on Wall Street and other downtown centers wanting to tear down American capitalism. They have spent countless hours creating problems for those trying to go to work, feed their families, and make a profit, again making it difficult for the job providers. While many violate the law by interfering with a business’s freedom to earn a living with sit-ins, vandalism, and mayhem, others sit around all day texting their friends, dressed in their upscale garb, sipping on their Starbuck’s coffee, sleeping in tents they purchased from those terrible, profit-hungry capitalist like Bass Pro Shop, and telling America they don’t think they should repay their school loans.

Sure, some people beat the system, but the law does finally catch up with many of those like Bernie Madoff, Michael Milken, Martha Stewart, Kenneth Lay, Dennis Kozlowski. To label the other 99.99% hardworking who have earned their wealth as being undeserved, I would suggest a dose of reality, like maybe packing up your bag and try living somewhere else for a while.

We the Veterans, throughout the history of this great nation, have fought and died for the rights we hold so dear, even those picketing the very system which made it all possible. We did so, not because of some promise to share in the wealth of conquered nations, not for glory, and certainly not for financial gain, but because a higher call was made, and a select few have been brave enough to answer the call. Today most Veterans would be happy to be able to live in peace never having to send our kids to fight in a war over tyranny, injustice, ethnic cleansing, land or oil, and fade happily into the sunset like the ending of a well-made western movie. But maybe that too is a pipe dream.

Have we not earned our benefits? Have not most given some and some given all? Are we Veterans not entitled to the benefits we were promised and the long-term care needed to re-integrate back into the society of the nation we defended? We know we have we earned the respect of our brothers in arms, but somehow many of the citizens seeking their piece of the American pie think nothing about throwing some Veterans under the bus. We will leave no one brother behind on the battlefield and no brother behind at home. To those who have been well cared for after military service, we can all give our thanks; for the rest, we will keep fighting.

So, back to my opening paragraphs and to those who believe they have little for which to be thankful and can only look to the new year ahead of each December 31. My firm belief is that there are many challenges facing our country at this time in history and if we can keep Washington from driving our bus over the financial cliff, each Thanksgiving we should all be thankful we are still here and that only in America still be successful. I am also thankful that there is still a preponderance of citizens that see what is happening around us and instead of throwing in the towel, they will rise up and demand change at the ballot box to preserve our way of life.

Then you, America and God Bless this great country.

Ed Mattson

Following his service in the Marine Corps Ed Mattson built a diverse career in business in both sales/marketing and management. He is a medical research specialist and published author. His latest book is Down on Main Street: Searching for American Exceptionalism

Ed is currently Development Director of the National Guard Bureau of International Affairs-State Partnership Program, Fundraising Coordinator for the Warrior2Citizen Project, and Managing Partner of Center-Point Consultants in North Carolina.

Mr. Mattson is a noted speaker and has addressed more than 3000 audiences in 42 states and 5 foreign countries. He has been awarded the Order of the Sword by American Cancer Society, is a Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow and appeared on more than 15 radio and television talk-shows.