The Real Replacement, Missing French Fries, Founding Fathers
by Doyle Ranstrom on Jun 6, 2022
Years ago I was at a financial "conference" at resort on the Pacific coast of Mexico. A few were financial planners like myself, most were financial advisors. And yes there is a difference, a very big difference.
Anyway we were on a relatively small boat on whale watching tour when one of the advisors asked the captain what was the current elevation. The captain, genuinely surprised, said "sea level". I could just see the captain, who was a native of Mexico, thinking how does this guy breathe regularly not to mention make a good living.
Well there is the story about the guy voted by his high school class as the least likely to succeed who showed up at the class reunion 20 years later the wealthiest of all of them, combined. They asked how he did it. He said he invented the widget and found he could make a widget for one dollar and sell them for four dollars. He then said anytime you can make three percent on your money, you can do very well financially.
We all know people who are missing a few french fries in their happy meal. And they have been part of our country since our beginning. But they have never inspired our country to do great things.
Our founding fathers were very intelligent thoughtful educated individuals. Some had formal educations, some self-educated, but educated just the same. They read writings from the great Greek Philosophers. They knew about the Magna Carta and the changes in England since its inception in 1215. They knew about the Iroquois League of Nations and its "Great Law of Peace", the foundation of the League of Nations democracy. In short, they established the US as an intelligent country which treasured education, knowledge, history and reasoned thought. They set the bar for the US for years to come.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the Great Replacement. The Great Replacement is the view held by white suprematists, white nationalists, parts of the media and some elected leaders that white people, specifically non-hispanic white people, are being replaced by various ethnic groups.
In one sense this true. According to the 2020 census, the U.S. is currently 57.8% white, 18.7% Hispanic, 12.4% Black, 6% Asian and multi-racial. A recent study projected that in 2045 will be the first year the white population will be less than all the others. By 2060 it is projected that the whites will be about 44% of the total population.
I do wonder if there is a replacement taking place, but do not think it is the declining white population. I think it is the declining of an intelligent population. We have always had a percentage of population who did not have all their marbles. They seem to have formed a voting block, and are electing people to Congress who have even less marbles than the do.
Need proof, the past few years members of the Congress have said the following:
- In a Committee Hearing, a Congressman asked if rising sea levels was due to silt from rivers being deposited into the sea along with cliffs falling into the sea. The answer was no. For the record, a study found it would take the equivalent of the top five inches of land from the entire surface area of the United States to fall into the sea every year to to cause the oceans to rise at the current rate of .12 to .14 inches annually.
- A Congresswoman said the LGBTQ+ education will make straight people extinct within two hundred years. Keep in mind that a recent poll found that 87% of the population identify as being heterosexual. It is true that the number of individuals identifying as LGBT is increasing by generation, but still a small percentage compared to those who identify as heterosexual. And is the increase due to a change in actual numbers or an increase in tolerance and willingness of younger age groups to identify?
- After the most recent episodes of gun violence, a Congressman said it was due to abortion. The actual quote is very sad. So this, how we can say this kindly, partially developed grapefruit Congressman believes women's right to choose is the reason for gun violence and not a bunch of almost all white men with easy access to automatic weapons.
All the above are examples of members of Congress whose row boat is missing at least one oar. But what about the people who are electing them.
There have been multiple examples of individuals comparing a mask mandate to Nazi German. Let's the get this straight, a mask which can protect you and others is compared to one of the greatest tragedies in human history where six million jews were put to death in concentration camps during WWII.
Other examples of individuals who are two cards short of a full house include people continue to believe the Presidential election was rigged even thought there is no evidence this happened and overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Some believe the January 6th Insurrection was actually a peaceful protest of liked minded people who came together to enjoy special brownies. For the record, it was an attack on our democracy.
In 2009 Susan Jacoby published "The Age of American Unreason". It is about the increase of anti-rationale thought in the US along with the decrease of an informed citizenry. It was scary to read then. Even more scary to think about now.
Increasing diversity in our country is not something to fear, it will make us stronger. The dumbing down of America should make all of us afraid. If we do not reverse this trend, we will go from a global leader to an after-thought.