As any doctor can tell you, the most crucial step toward healing is having the right diagnosis. If the disease is precisely identified, a good resolution is far more likely. Conversely, a bad diagnosis usually means a bad outcome, no matter how skilled the physician.At a recent reunion with family and friends, we started reminiscing about our experiences of our lives in Cuba, and the changes that are presently occurring in this, our selected country. In Cuba, we had a very young and upcoming society, with a growing middle class, but a government that struggled with the democratic structures, and was unable to fully execute our very progressive Constitution of 1940. When coupled with a history of corruption in many politicians, a common occurrence in our Hispanic countries, the existing economic and intellectual class became disenchanted with the government, regardless of who the leaders were. Mistrust, corruption and naiveté, made our country ripe for strong rulers, that in the end brought Fidel Castro, a despot who destroyed what was a unique and wonderful life, one that will never be duplicated. At present, we are living many signs in this our adopted country that are similar if not equal, to what we saw and suffered in Cuba. A strong executive who likes to rule by administrative orders thus bypassing the legislative branch, a Supreme Court more and more politicized, and a legislative branch that is paralyzed by politicians who are more interested in keeping their jobs than representing the voters with consistent principles, combined with a growing force of a “political correctness” movement that is a form of censorship that bypasses our first amendment, bring to us an uncanny reminder of what we went through more than five decades ago.
This country’s forefathers took great pains in establishing a republic with a simple, but clear Constitution, and separation of powers between three equal branches that would cancel each other in order to avoid any form of dictatorship or minority rule. As guardians of the system stood “we the people” and a free press that utilizing elections and vigilance would keep any attempt of the above happening. What they could not foresee was that an unholy alliance between big corporations and government would use regulations, inordinate political influence, and corruption, to disrupt the established balance resulting in people’s distrusting our representatives of both parties. True capitalism based on free markets and the flourishing of small businesses has been transformed into a “crony” distribution of wealth where the rich get richer, the poor increase in numbers, and the middle class is eroded. A good example of how far our system has regressed; the two present front runners to be our next president, are a pathological liar, and borderline criminal, and a megalomaniac showman, that are similar in the sense that they are more interested in satisfying their self interests than following a pathway, liberal or conservative, in order to help the country.
So looking at the symptoms, what is the diagnosis? We the people have changed. Slowly, but surely our basic values have been eroded. A society based on a strong family unit, basic Judeo-Christian morals, religious beliefs, and an emphasis on strong individuals willing to sacrifice and assume their responsibilities, has mostly disappeared into the past. Not only a traditional family has been eroded, but we are at a point where there is an attempt to erase the biological fact of the existence of two different sexes. Our children are raised in a culture where communication is done through technology, and they are taught to have a sense of immediate gratification and entitlement, instead of hard work. All religions, but mostly Christianity, are under attack. Where we had a belief of having the right to do, we now think we have the right to have. Where we were exposed and celebrated goodness instead of evil, the joy of giving and not receiving, ambition but not greed, we are now showing abnormal behavior as normal, impulses being justified instead of self control, and material rewards instead of spiritual. In summary, whether by happenstance as history describes the end of flourishing societies in the past, or a planned methodology for our destruction, reality is that we have become a totally different country than the one that became a world model and leader. 2016 is a critical year. We have presidential and legislative elections. We have to elect the persons that will start the slow turning point to what we were in the past. We, as our forefathers, encourage opposition but only based on ideological differences, with a consistent message, and with similar goals of benefiting all the people, not themselves or minority interests. The era of fostering divisions based on race, religion, gender, or ethnicity has to stop. Let us the people demand a culture of clear values where evil and goodness will be clearly identified, religious beliefs encouraged, and children be taught, starting at the home, the importance of individual freedom, responsibility, and the suppression of negative impulses and behavior by free will.
