Maybe the world did end.

President Ronald Reagan said:

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”

The truth of these words is becoming more and more apparent. I think he was off a little bit though, it appears to be taking three generations to destroy. We should all find any member of the "Greatest Generation" and ask their forgiveness for what we have done with their gifts. They sacrificed and struggled and handed us a legacy of freedom and prosperity that no people had ever seen in the history of the world. And in my lifetime we've managed to not only roll back the freedom they fought for, but change our national character in such a way that I can't see us now being able to do what they did. 

Can you see our politicians approving a D-day type invasion? Can you imagine the 20-year-old hipster making your latte at the coffee shop charging a beach? The less-than one percent of Americans who currently serve wouldn't be enough to carry that load, as strong as they are. 

No, over our three generations, the Baby Boomers, Gen X and the Millennials, our national character has changed, and not for the better.  

The Boomers started off wonderfully. This generation of Americans were born into a world of mass communication and relative prosperity. (This was when the concept of "adolescence" was created. Previous generations had no time for teenage rebellion, if they wanted to eat.) They did not have to struggle simply to survive, they had the ability to look around and see the injustice around them and demand changes. 

The Boomers deserve praise for the Civil Rights movement and more equality between the sexes. And for paying attention to the problems of poverty and drug abuse. Not every program was successful, but they were trying. I think our current problems begin with the Boomers though. I think they learned early on that the Government (big G) could change the laws and solve problems and they got stuck in that mind-set, that any problem we have can be fixed with a Government program or a change to a law.

The Boomers latched on to the idea that life can be made fair. Why should we allow anyone to suffer? We who are so rich, should be able to take care of those in need. This is a noble thought, and the root of all evil too. Life can't be made fair, as long as people have free will and the ability to make their own choices. Ah, well, there's the problem then...

I'm not going to go into why life can't be made fair. If you don't see it, you are a Utopian and can't be helped by me on my little blog. Go and study some philosophy, read up on human nature, and most especially, world history. 

Back to our generational problem then. The Boomers decided that Government is the answer. (Whatever the problem may be.) What we have to eliminate are the poor choices made by the ignorant masses. Cars killing people? Mandate seat belts. Drugs a problem? War on drugs. Welfare. Food stamps. OSHA. ATF. On and on until the Government is so entwined in our lives that you literally can't dig a hole in your yard in most places without involving the Government. 

This isn't to say Government has no role. Reasonable regulation and a limited safety net for those who can't take care of themselves, plus the traditional enforcement of property rights and national defense are proper roles for the government. But "reasonable" and "limited" went out the window a long time ago. 

We have a Department of Education that grows and grows, but the results for the kids get worse as the spending gets higher. 

Here's where the next generation comes in. You'd think my generation would look at the results and put the brakes on. But no. We grew up in near total peace and wanting for almost nothing. The result was a generation of slackers. We didn't pay attention because we didn't have to. Really up to this point everything was going pretty well anyway. There were enough Greatest Generation types around to put the brakes on for us. My generation just opted out. We didn't protest anything at school, we didn't get involved in any causes. 

What changed? The Greatest Generation is mostly gone from politics. The Boomers are running the show now. That reality check is gone. And the Millennials are just too young, inexperienced and are too indoctrinated by a willing media and Hollywood to know what they are throwing away.

I suggest everyone pause for a moment and mark this time in your memory. One day I believe my grandchildren or great-grandchildren will ask me what it was like to be free, and why we threw it away. This is the time I think we will look to as the real beginning of the end. When we voted for lives dominated by Government and when we began voting away our fundamental rights. 

My answer to them will be that we came to believe that we could eliminate suffering, misfortune, poverty, addiction, bullying, theft, murder and evil with the right set of laws. That we could mandate good choices and eliminate inequality if the Government was just given enough power. 

That our national character changed. That we started as a nation of individuals with the ability to make choices and knowing that we have to live with the consequences of those choices. That we became sheep willing to limit ourselves to a Government approved menu of choices in the hope that the possibility of failure or suffering will have been eliminated. 

That we decided Americans can no longer be trusted with the same rights and freedoms that our founders guaranteed us in the Constitution. 

This is the year we choose our new path. Maybe the world did end in 2012, not with destruction but with cries from the people be be "protected".