Highway to Hell

I just made a momentous drive across a third of this country.  1268 miles, give or take a few pit stops to eat and other bodily needs, 1268 miles of mostly open country with only the asphalt filled with civilization.  1268 miles in one day!  Kinda dumb, difficult but necessary I guess, or so I thought at the time.

As we approach the 4^th of July I wanted to demonstrate in words the wonders of what we have.  Not just in the ability to drive 1268 miles without anyone questioning my intentions, nor asking for my documents but the ability simply get up and go, even if it wasn’t the smartest thing to do in a 17 hour period of time.  Please don’t do the math, I would hate to think that your impression of me was anything more than law abiding…and in most cases it was and is.

Many are saying that this country, the United States is not an exceptional country and there are others countries that offer more freedoms, more opportunities, more life and more liberty, name one!

We do have issues, we do have problems to overcome but in the grand scope of what makes a civilized country, the United States of America has surpassed all in creating and sustaining a level of civility and opportunity that is to date unattainable by all others on this planet.  I can’t speak for other worlds but I would venture a guess that we would do pretty well against them also.

During my drive, I saw great cities, miles and miles of homes, stores and industry in abundance but mostly I saw space, open beautiful space.  There is space to expand, space to till, space to build and space to stretch out.  There is approximately 2.3 billion acres of land in the US.  As a graphic, divide that by the  350 million and you get 6.5 acres per person.  Have you ever tried to weed 6.5 acres of land, or even keep it trimmed or fenced?  That’s a lot of land per person and yes I know it includes all the mountains and all the valleys and deserts but the reality is simple, we have a lot of land to go around.  Overcrowding is not the issue.

The issue is what do we do with what we have?  How do manage and how do we allocate the almost endless resources at our disposal?  There are some countries that have similar resources but have even less managerial abilities than we do and it’s easy to see the results of poverty, cronyism and corruption. Can any one spell Mexico? 

Please don’t get the wrong idea about the above statement I love Mexico and I love the culture, ask me some time about my connections with that great country, but you have to admit that their abilities in allocation of resources is not that great.  Like us they could do a lot better, it’s just we’re doing better then they are.  That however is starting to change as the political structure of our country is changing and the simple allocations are becoming complicated as money mongers ravage our land, legislate our lives and overtax our motivations. 

For 1268 miles I witnessed the greatness of what this country has to offer and for 1268 miles I pondered the future of what will be and worried about what is coming, who is leading us and why.  Is the American Dream dying, is the ideal of freedom only a whisper of hope and not the standard of the world?  Can we continue on the road we’re on without heading into a fascist or socialist wall?     The balance that has sustained our country is teetering and vacillating.  The republicans and the democrats are less concerned about the freedoms of the individual than they are about the opportunities to lead.  The conservatives and the liberals are at odds with no quarter given and no love lost.  I admit I’m one of them, thinking I know what’s best…I do, but that is another issue and another post.

For 1268 miles I drove into the past and into the future knowing that this country may not stay the course of our founders and knowing that the fight for freedom is real.  The fight for liberty is real and vicious with blood being spilt on both sides of a war that will determine the course of not only this country but of this world.  

For those 1268 miles I listened to the voices of liberals and conservatives with only the insight gleaned is that we will all have to choose a side.  Like the civil war of the 1860’s our country is at that crossroads, the divided highway of selfish overseers or selfless servants, the chasm of truth and integrity or deception and dishonesty.  We can all see the tides rise and the signs of discord.  We can all agree that things are changing.  The only question left is how will you travel, who will you travel with and how many miles are you willing to drive to get what you think is right?

For me and my family, we will chose to travel toward liberty, honesty and a belief in God and are willing to drive a lot more than 1268 miles to get there.