Kennedy's legacy remembered as the dream still unfulfilled

[caption id="attachment_21020" align="alignleft" width="239"] President John F. Kennedy[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---How much we remember, how much we forget, about the Kennedy years. For those good old days were good in many ways but were difficult for others, before the heralding of civil rights, the poverty programs, environmental legislation and women's rights and issues that made a difference in the upcoming years, that were the dreams of the fallen President.

President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Almost everyone who was alive during that time recalls what he or she was doing at the time. Few of us, however, remember, or even think about, what we did or didn't have. The time of promise that folks remember and associated with Kennedy seemed to hold less promise for those still struggling with getting jobs with equal pay and opportunity and finding a ladder of success that would allow achievement like others.

Civil rights legislation passed in 1964. Womens rights became the hue and cry of those years, along with the rights of African Americans with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. President Lyndon Johnson was able to put into law the dreams of his predecessor, while Kennedy remained the symbol of the new freedoms. He set the tone for the accomplishments of others, and it is that tone that made the difference. But his death also brought about a change in the perception of government and faith in the future. For with the President's assassination came the questions about who, why, how he was killed and what would it mean for the direction of the country.

As the social programs came to fruition, the tone began to shift to one of shrillness, of “I want it now” and what can my country do for me as opposed to the phrase, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” The age of service and of opportunity has transformed into the Age of Entitlements instead.

The watershed moment of the Kennedy assassination meant a shift in values, but that shift came several years after the death of Kennedy. People remembered his dreams and ambitions, and so government programs developed to take care of the poor, the oppressed, and those unable to care for themselves. But as the memory of the assassination remained, the memory of the Kennedy dream has faded, replaced by the dissensions of those who follow less the dream than the Ayn Rand formula instead, of personal independence, lack of faith in anything other than oneself and the need to look out for Number 1 regardless. So as generations come and go, those children of the 60's have become the retirees of today, or the groups who looked at those Kennedy years as transitions with programs that were terminal, as the nation would prosper soon. Those who didn't were left behind in the transitions to those different views, less optimistic and more punitive, more fearful today of socialism in ways that speak more of the 1950's and the era of Joseph McCarthy then the dreams of John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy's dreams remain unrealized in the way envisioned in those years of his Presidency. The message of the day for those who remember him and grieve his loss, that we remember the dreamer and seek to honor him with our words and deeds.

In memorial is this original song, “O Captain, My Captain, “with the lyrics once written for President Abraham Lincoln, who was also assassinated and whose death also denied his dreams of equality and reversed many of them in the years to come. It is a lesson for us all, that what makes a great man are those dreams; and those who want to follow these men must not ever give them up.

Debt crisis insight from the 'Art of Selfishness'

[caption id="attachment_7095" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="John Galt Sign"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff  -  The organization devoted to Ayn Rand’s philosophy addresses the current budget crisis as caused by  those who seek handouts and who should be ashamed of their contribution to the collapse of industrial America by taking from productive members of the culture,

The diatribe against those takers of personal freedom begins with the view taken in Atlas Shrugged, which was the Ayn Rand tome that became the Bible of the Art of Selfishness, which was the orientation and philosophy of the author and her devotees.

The press release reminds us of the prophetic nature of Atlas Shrugged,  that “ portrays the collapse of industrial America as a war between producers and expropriators—just what we see in America today.

"To solve the debt crisis, productive Americans must declare to every elected official that they have a right to their own lives and the fruits of their labor; that government has no right to redistribute their wealth; and that other Americans should be ashamed of themselves for trying to steal it," says Edward Hudgins of The Atlas Society www.atlassociety.org .  "Productive individuals would reject government handouts and thus governments would not run up debts that will destroy the productive."

After pointing out the philosophy according to Rand with respect to producers and those seeking handouts, the Rand view is described as one that encourages producers to seek happiness and prosperity by the creation of goods and services.  These same producers seek justice and protection but otherwise want to be left alone to earn a living.  Those who wish to expropriate from them by government means are working against what is best for society, and now those productive people have awakened to what is called a “moral obscenity” inflicted upon them.

In other words, no bailout, no debt ceiling, no compromise.  Producers are the capitalists who create the value  and “paternalistic politicians” are involved in taking from them through bailouts and free healthcare and stimulus money.  What are these handouts?  Student loans, expanded health care and Social Security, the Ayn Rand group explains.

Rand belief is based on the notion that “your highest moral purpose is the achievement of your own happiness”  Altruism is a word and idea she decries, as the true purpose is not to save others but to maintain one’s own well being and that if everyone sought this same direction, then there would be no need for saving anyone.

As the two political parties struggle over the mounting debt crisis and decide whether or not to raise the debt ceiling, it is important to recognize that many of those leaders were educated in their early years during a popular wave of Ayn Rand materials.  Those who favor the Ayn Rand direction in politics promote capitalism, production and individualism.  They see Social Security, welfare and other programs designed to help the elderly and handicapped as unnecessary in a productive society where people seek to create material wealth.  It is that art of selfishness that is echoed in the halls of the Congress by those who believe that wealth will “trickle down” in some unique way so that everyone benefits from those who prosper.

A similar doctrine to Ayn Rand is this:  “We believe most Americans do not want out-of-control spending in Washington, bailouts, government controls of private businesses, socializing of Americans' health care and other non-essential government-run services,” the signature statement from the Tea Party organization.