BY RUSSELL TURNER
TIME TO SET PRIORITIES
When any of us find ourselves in financial hard times we have no choice but to get serious and make a distinction between our needs and our wants. Little things like keeping the lights on and keeping some food on the table become more important and we stop taking those things for granted. While eating out in fine restaurants can be enjoyable, if the money isn’t there a home cooked meal with the basic essentials is a more prudent choice. In my opinion far too many Americans have never learned the ability to economize. For several generations we Americans have enjoyed a standard of living that few people in the world could experience. We have become a nation that demands instant gratification. Just because we have become accustomed to the good life does not insure that it will always be that way. The same principal applies to our standing as a military world power.
We Americans have allowed the federal government to become more involved in our lives than the founding fathers ever intended. The one undisputed duty that our federal government does have is maintaining a military to defend our nation. I have noticed that during the entire budget battles there are groups that would like to gut our military at the expense of social programs. To cut the budget over the next 10 years the planned military cuts will be 487 billion dollars. There is an old saying that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Granted, today our nation has the most powerful military in the world, but we also need to realize that some nations are like hungry wolves always trying to find a weakness in our system. Instead of making the foolish mistake of thinking our military hardware will somehow last forever, we need to realize that it takes time to gear up and replace the equipment as it wears out.
Wars always seem to come around much faster than most people would like to believe. One of president Regan’s most famous slogans was, “peace through strength”. When we get into future conflicts we need to have our swords sharpened before we go onto the battle field. As more nations strive to build weapons of mass destruction and with the demand for declining natural resources such as crude oil it is a certainty that disputes will arise. While some of the social programs may be important, the defense and security of our nation must be of the highest priority. When we send our service men and women into battle, we as a country owe it to them to provide the best tools possible.
TIME TO SET PRIORITIES
When any of us find ourselves in financial hard times we have no choice but to get serious and make a distinction between our needs and our wants. Little things like keeping the lights on and keeping some food on the table become more important and we stop taking those things for granted. While eating out in fine restaurants can be enjoyable, if the money isn’t there a home cooked meal with the basic essentials is a more prudent choice. In my opinion far too many Americans have never learned the ability to economize. For several generations we Americans have enjoyed a standard of living that few people in the world could experience. We have become a nation that demands instant gratification. Just because we have become accustomed to the good life does not insure that it will always be that way. The same principal applies to our standing as a military world power.
We Americans have allowed the federal government to become more involved in our lives than the founding fathers ever intended. The one undisputed duty that our federal government does have is maintaining a military to defend our nation. I have noticed that during the entire budget battles there are groups that would like to gut our military at the expense of social programs. To cut the budget over the next 10 years the planned military cuts will be 487 billion dollars. There is an old saying that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Granted, today our nation has the most powerful military in the world, but we also need to realize that some nations are like hungry wolves always trying to find a weakness in our system. Instead of making the foolish mistake of thinking our military hardware will somehow last forever, we need to realize that it takes time to gear up and replace the equipment as it wears out.
Wars always seem to come around much faster than most people would like to believe. One of president Regan’s most famous slogans was, “peace through strength”. When we get into future conflicts we need to have our swords sharpened before we go onto the battle field. As more nations strive to build weapons of mass destruction and with the demand for declining natural resources such as crude oil it is a certainty that disputes will arise. While some of the social programs may be important, the defense and security of our nation must be of the highest priority. When we send our service men and women into battle, we as a country owe it to them to provide the best tools possible.
Comments
Post a Comment