The Me, Myself, and I Generation

February 28, 2014 at 19:18 (Variety of Subjects)
Tags: Boomers, GenX, Greed, History, Ipads, Movies, Music. Xboxes, Musicals, Navy, Power, Progressives, The Voice, Vit Nam, Yankee Doodle Dandy

By the time I get to the end of my blog post, the title will become self-explanatory.  My teenage years were probably my most memorable time in my life prior to my stint in the Navy.  Those were the years of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Richie Valens, Buddy Holly, and Sam Cooke.  Prior to that era, when I was 4 and 5 years old, we only had a black and white TV with 3 basic channels and an outside antenna.

When I turned 8, I had an erector set with an open handled screwdriver.  I somehow learned to put that screwdriver behind the TV antenna terminals and I would get a New York channel that was great considering I was 1½ hours from the New York State Line.  That channel opened a door to Soupy Sales and the Amazing Randi, but most of all it broadcast movie musicals that I had never seen on the other channels.

Whether it was Bing Crosby’s White Christmas and Holiday Inn, or Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing, some of my favorite ones were with Gene Kelly in ‘Dancing in the Rain’ and Crosby’s ‘Going my way’.  The best one that I remember, and still watch it to this day, is ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy’ with James Cagney playing the remarkable George M. Cohan.

You may be wondering what does this have to do with the title.  I was also a musician and I learned to love music from the 30’s and up to this day, which also includes, Classical,  Jazz, Pop, some Country and yes, even some Rap.  I suppose that is why I am drawn to “The Voice” each week.  The songs in ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy’ were America’s first step into the 20^th century touting the utmost in the Spirit of Freedom.  I am a Disabled Navy Veteran of the Viet Nam Era.  It was that musical memory that prodded me to enlist.

It may not have meant too much to the groups in those days because everything was hippies, communes, flower children, peaceniks, and activists spitting on our returning GI’s because what those groups wanted [peace] was never a possibility even as far back as the beginning of our world.  War is Greed.  Greed needs Power.  But freedom…must be preserved for us, even if we cannot do it for the rest of the world.

My time in service was from 1970 to 1974.  It was a time of The Doors, Donovan, James Taylor, Don Mclean, and his ‘American Pie’.  You cannot leave out Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimi Hendricks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Woodstock, and Arlo Guthrie’s ‘Alice’s Restaurant’.  As an immigrant, living in the US I felt thankful and obligated to serve for a country that gave me the opportunity for a good life (I became a citizen in 1975, a year after my Navy term was over).

My suggestion is for all of you to try to watch the movie, ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy’ and maybe shed a tear as the end.  You won’t forget it.

Today our youth, teens, and adults in their 20’s have no clue to what’s going on around them.  I’m not even sure if those in their 30’s and 40‘s have a clue either.  The Progressives are teaching socialistic garbage in lieu of the three R’s.  The socialist view is a detriment to our growing future society.  College professors are the worst offenders.  I know this as fact-based information because I asked my grown kids and they can’t give me the answers either.  It’s just work, cell phones, Ipads, and Xboxes, etc.

Not one of them knows anything about the government except, “Oh, I like his/her face, or I think he’s better than the other guy”.  People vote the physical impression and not the facts.  There is no concern for their future representative government.  The majority of Americans are now crying in their beer glasses with our present Federal Government Administration’s push for power over the citizenship.  History and reasoning is lacking and again, and no one cares to “buy” the program of who is who in our government today.  It is such a waste of human behavior concerning our liberties and history when those individuals are literally walking in a coma as each day passes.

Yes this generation is a far cry from the Boomers, and all the previous generations.  The Gen-X Generation and the following generations will be long in chaos if we do not do something soon.  I don’t want to leave this earth before I can see what the United States was, should be, and must be for the sake of our founding fathers (perhaps I should say ‘your’ founding fathers, as I am a naturalized citizen).

There is your answer…it is the Me, Myself, and I Generation.  They only care what happens today and have no idea what is in store for them in the near future, if they remain ignorant of the history and of our present government administration.  May your ignorance be bliss and good luck kids, seriously!