Random Questions & Thoughts For 2021

Each year, I like to look back over the past 12 months and highlight questions or thoughts that occur to me after the fact.  I usually comment on events that happened during the year or question why so many odd ideas gained traction in our national discourse, ideas such as social justice, cancel culture, white privilege, systemic racism, and critical race theory. Many of these ideas contravene common sense and are really alien to most of us.  Americans, in the main, tend to focus on making a living, raising a family, and saving for retirement.  Politics and ideological thinking have become blood sports that are not to our liking.

Monday-Morning Quarterbacking

You might call my list of questions a form of  Monday morning quarterbacking or back seat driving.  Nevertheless, I believe the questions are relevant and essential if only to prompt lessons for our future or to whack everyone on the side of the head to shake out the cobwebs.

For this year, I included nine months from 2020 because I did not address 2020 at the end of last year.  From any perspective, the pandemic, which has been with us since March 2020, has demonstrated that many of our “emperors” are not wearing any clothes whatsoever.  And, for the most part, they are bereft of clear thinking, logic, and reason.  These same emperors are seemingly stuck in a special kind of stupid, and I am not sure why.  It also occurs to me that stupidity is running rampant through America, much more so than in the past.

A Short List of Questions (Not In Any Order Of Priority)  

Why in America, with the most sophisticated media in the world, were we not able to report the truth and the facts about the coronavirus, its contagiousness, and its fatality rate?  Why was so much misinformation communicated at all levels?

Why in America, with a supposedly highly-qualified and experienced public health establishment, did we not have treatment best practices and action plans at the ready to respond to any type of pandemic threat, regardless of its virulence profile? 

Why were doctors and nurses on the frontline (who were treating this coronavirus effectively) marginalized and denigrated?  Why did the mainstream media not inform the public about the Great Barrington Declaration, which stated that a nationwide lockdown would cause more harm and adverse results than the actual coronavirus?  Important Note: Over 50,000 doctors and medical professionals have now signed the Great Barrington Declaration,

Why has common sense left the auditorium, and why is the vacuum left behind filled with so much absolute nonsense, whether it is cultural, financial, social, or economic?  Ideas come readily to mind, as noted above, like systemic racism, cancel culture, social justice, critical race theory, and, even in the world of finance, terms like quantitative easing, transitory inflation, or negative interest rates.

Why did the War in Afghanistan last 20 years?  Was everyone asleep at the wheel?  Where were the so-called wise men in the Defense Department and State Department, not to mention the President, Vice President, and our many public servants in the House and Senate?  Were they all suffering from groupthink, or were they infected with an untreatable sleeping sickness?

Why are there so many men and women (of all ages) in America who have abrogated responsibility for their lives and look to the government to take care of them?

Why is it that we allow an organization like Planned Parenthood to take a leadership role in women’s issues when they do not have the best interests of women at heart?

Why isn’t Pro-Death, rather than Pro-Choice, the opposite of Pro-Life?  Logically, it should be.  Pro-Choice is one of those wonderful euphemisms that disguise the true intent of a policy or program.

Why do so many ill-informed and inept individuals rise to the top in American government? I include in this group the city mayors, the state governors, and the 535 men and women in the House and Senate. Of course, there are exceptions to my judgment, but not many.

Why did so many governors politicize their decision-making during this pandemic? Why did so many of the governors not demonstrate a basic understanding of best practices in leadership, decision-making, and informed and reasoned policy formulation?

Why did the so-called “cancel culture” arise in America, and why did Americans allow this to happen in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave?

Why is free speech going the way of the Dodo bird?  Free speech is another foundational element of a free and just society.

Why don’t our public servants in the Senate and the House take the necessary steps to reduce the National Debt and downsize the scope of government?  The Federal Government has become unmanageable, and the National Debt is taking America on a downward spiral.

Why is there a disconnect between We the People and our so-called representatives? I would submit that a significant percentage of voters would not sanction most of the legislation passed by the House and the Senate in the last 20 or 30 years, including the continuing War in Afghanistan and the start of the Iraq War.

Why is it in personal relationships we are counseled by psychiatrists and therapists to forgive and forget, but in politics, we neither forgive nor forget?  In politics, we quickly and easily evolve into a hardened “we versus they” scenario or a zero-sum game of conflict.

Why do we judge America’s past through the lens of today’s ideologies and political activism?  We are destroying our past because it is flawed and not perfect.  Who is pushing such an agenda and why are we allowing it?

Why is it that whatever the Federal Government undertakes as public policy is so often egregiously wrong on so many levels?  I include here monetary policy, foreign policy, and educational policy.

Why have we allowed the Federal Government to destroy the U.S. Dollar and make it a fiat currency with an ever-increasing degradation of purchasing power?  Sound money is foundational for a just and free society.

When are we going to decouple the Federal Government from the money system and the school system?  Surely the last 100 years have demonstrated that the Federal Government is not good at either, plus a whole lot more.

I could continue with many more questions, but you get my drift. Now, the question before the court is a simple one: When are we going to start holding our public servants accountable and I mean really accountable, not just a slap on the wrist?  I am getting organized and ready.  Are you?

Links

External:  https://gbdeclaration.org

Internal:  https://whitebeardwisdom.com/are-parts-of-america-being-governed-by-frauds-and-fools/

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Andrew J Guinosso

Professional Writer and Published Author of "The Success Playbook for Everyone." Retired Business Executive, Entrepreneur, and Restauranteur