Nancy Levant
January 28, 2006

For all of us who are 50-years-old or older, the world we lived in as children is completely gone. Nothing that exists resembles our lives as youths anymore.

The greatest memories of my childhood revolved around my ability to wander. I walked, as a child, for miles and miles and miles, every day. I walked to woods, to creeks and streams, to fields, to rivers, to my nieces and nephews house in the next town over, to my sister?s house who also lived in a different town, to friends? houses, to a stable, to find my father when he was on the golf course, to the swimming pool and holes, and to school.

I was never afraid. I was never molested or threatened in any way. I was never afraid of the dark, and my parents were happy that their girl was strong, tanned, healthy, and suited to the outside world. I spent the bulk of my childhood being harmoniously a part of the great outdoors. The trees, bugs, and me ? in perfect harmony.

As I grew a bit, people began to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Every time asked, I said, ? I want to be a mother.? No one laughed. No one said I was too stupid to go to college. No one thought I was lacking in ambition, for in those times, being a mother had great value in the hearts of both men and women, but also in the community and nation, at large. Motherhood was known to be a job, a difficult one, and a full-time one. It was also held in high regard.

And when I was young, people had many, many more practical knowledge skills. All fathers and brothers could fix cars, lawn mowers, tractors, boat engines, toasters, leaking faucets and spigots. They could fix broken septic systems and toilets, electrical problems, and cracked cement. They could fix furnaces of every kind, and they could build just about anything from houses and barns to tree houses to furniture to patios. They could install windows and doors. They could fix tires, bicycles, motorbikes, and scooters. They could plant crops, design and plant vegetable gardens. They could hunt and fish and provide food, and they did. Most felt responsible for their families and provided for them.

Women knew how to cook. They knew how to set tables. They knew how to can. They knew how to make clothes, to crochet, knit, quilt, make curtains, lace, rugs, and how to re-cover furniture. They knew what was wrong with their children without having to run to pediatricians for rashes and runny noses. They knew how to treat injuries and contusions without having to run to emergency rooms or clinics. They knew how and what kind of medicines to give to children, and they kept medicines on hand. They could diagnose and treat all ordinary childhood illnesses.

Women knew how to save for rainy days, and they did. They knew how to keep pantries, and what was needed for storage. They knew not to waste money ? ever, and they didn?t. And most women didn?t find or lift their self-esteem with tanning booths, bleached teeth, make-up, day spas, workout routines, designer clothing, chronic diets, and all the other media-implanted behaviors that damage females.

And school children never saw armed guards and metal detectors in their school buildings. They never wore RFID tags or were spied upon while doing arithmetic. And school personnel did not decide upon a child?s sanity and document their findings in government files.

Teachers taught what children needed to learn instead of conservation and ethics re-education from the United Nations.

When times were tough, families buckled down and stopped spending money. They did not accumulate debt because they knew better. They knew that debt meant vulnerability. When times were good, they saved and were thrilled to death to be able to save because saving money meant that you had some money. Having money meant that you were doing well and had savings.

Many people lived in cities and towns because there was very little crime. It was safe to live in the cities. Most people didn?t take drugs or even drink very much, because drinking alcohol was for special occasions, as a rule. And many, many people simply didn?t drink alcohol at all, and they were not looked upon as socially bankrupt.

Crop farmers, dairymen, cattlemen, pig farmers, goat and poultry farmers and seed farming were all held in the highest regard by most people, because most were at least related to a farming family and knew how important farms were to the country.

Building and expansion was performed on an as-needed basis. Urban and suburban expansion was taken to the people as plans so that they had a voice and a say in urban development.

And the parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and the wilderness and water areas were loved and cared for by the American people. Don?t you ever believe otherwise.

Today?s world feels much like an alien landscape to many of us living today. So many people, who are younger, don?t understand how much has been lost ? how much individual liberty and freedom has been lost. For instance, human safety, security, and self-confidence have been enormously eroded. This is particularly true for women.

The freedom of self-definition has all but gone by the wayside. Today, media tells us how to look, how to eat, what to wear, where to shop, what to buy, what we need, what we want, on and on and on. It?s endless, endless mind control. Please consider this: 50 years ago, no one, minus parents, told anyone, any of the above.

People today are virtually skill-less. The best way to demonstrate the dangerous vulnerability of people with no life skills is to imagine a nuclear event or any other event that would take out all power for one month. No car, no running water or stored water, no heat, probably no cash, probably 1 to 3 days of non-perishable foods on hand, no stored medicines or first aid supplies, no extra diapers, wipers, or formula, no potassium iodide, on and on. Add to this, no ability to find or chop wood, for you have no trees in your new neighborhoods and you do not own an axe or a hatchet, and besides, the forested lands are off-limits to people.

You have no stove or fireplace. You know not how to fix even one appliance in your home. You have no heat source, no cooking source, and almost all of your food is processed boxed food, frozen, or microwave food. And you have no water at all and no cash on hand.

The point I hope to make is that American people have lost and are continuing to lose, at a genuinely terrifying pace, their basic rights under the Constitution, their liberties as American people, and their personal, individual freedoms.

They?ve lost confidence, definition, life skills, grit, determination, bravery, ability, and gumption. It?s a hard thing to see, or even comprehend, if you are in your 20?s, 30?s, or even 40?s. But listen to me - you don?t know what you?ve got until it?s gone. If even half as much is gone from you when you are in your 50s, as has eroded in my lifetime, then America is going to be gone.

Oh, this article, it's remarks on being somewhat self-sufficient remind me of one time, way back when, me and my dad were fixing the lawnmower and we had to drain the petrol from it. He had an ulcer in his mouth, so he did not want to siphon it with a hose himself and he and I sat down and made a 'safe' siphon out of an old bottle. We thought it was the best idea ever! And we were literally going to proudly march down to the patent office until, while bragging about it to some friends, they informed us that such a thing had already been invented. Oh well.

Interesting article, and it pushed my nostalgia buttons. Hurrah.

Oh, this article, it's remarks on being somewhat self-sufficient remind me of one time, way back when, me and my dad were fixing the lawnmower and we had to drain the petrol from it. He had an ulcer in his mouth, so he did not want to siphon it with a hose himself and he and I sat down and made a 'safe' siphon out of an old bottle. We thought it was the best idea ever! And we were literally going to proudly march down to the patent office until, while bragging about it to some friends, they informed us that such a thing had already been invented. Oh well.

Interesting article, and it pushed my nostalgia buttons. Hurrah.

I am only 22, however growing up in Kansas home of farmers, I know somewhat of the things you speak. I've lived without power for about a week once, and it was boring but we got by. I know how to cook, hunt (unfortunately only with a gun), and can do basic maintenance on a number fo items around my home. But I understand where you are coming from. Nobody wants to work anymore, strive anymore, or earn anymore. Everyone thinks it will be handed to you on a silver platter and that you deserve all the stuff in the world. I know that is a load of BS. You have to work for everything you are going to get.

There are a few lessons my father taught me, One is never do debt. He went down that road and it was painful. He told me once, "Get a credit card and I'll break your legs."

Second, "If you don't have the money to live well, You better at least eat well!" And that is some of the best advice I ever got.

Last, "I paid for my schooling and you can pay for yours." I paid for my college education, and its not that hard to do.

I look at America and I see it all sliding downhill. No one wants responsibility, no one wants to work, no one is willing to stand up and say this is not what it is supposed to be like. If we defend the old values we are labeled racist, or sexist, or bigoted. If I think everyone should speak English, I am racist, if I think everyone should be treated equally with no special preferences, then I am sexist and racist, trying to keep people down.

This government needs to be broken apart with a big sledgehammer. But, I know that will never happen unless you can get that 40% non-voting public to stand up and vote for a new party that actually reflects these values.

At a healthy 30yrs young, I cannot compete with Mrs. levant's memories, but I do know I've seen the world go downhill endlessly in those years.

The thing that I noticed the most (besides tho obvious ones - technological progress etc.) is lack of respect. You know that basic respect - for just about anything.

I know what you mean. I am a scant 22 and I saw it when I was growing up. Children younger than me mouthing off and insulting anyone, because they knew that nobody would punish them for it. No respect for other people's property, for mere morality...

I think it just all stems from the fact that nobody will actually bring displinary action anymore. Everything could be construed as harrassment or abuse.

Mirwalk, yes - this is exactly what I had in mind!

I'm not that old myself (even tho' I probably sound like an old grumpy grandpa right now), and of course we did some wild/mischievous etc. stuff when we were young, but you know, there was some line you simply didn't cross. I can't tell you what it was, but I call it 'basic respect' (I know this is vague, but I really can not define it - I think you described it pretty well above). There were some boundaries, yanno. Nowadays, however, kids just don't seem to have it.