1980 and 2012

America, circa 2012

"The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice."--Proverbs 12:15

Certainly, there are a lot of similarities between 1980 and 2012. In 1980, America was cursed with "stagflation", a malady brought on by the dreadful presidency of Jimmy Carter. Stagflation meant virtually zero economic growth; high inflation, high unemployment, high taxes, high gas prices and high interest rates. About the only thing that was low at the end of Carter's miserable and only term was America's self-esteem that was deep in the toilet.

Thankfully, Americans decided that they had enough of the flaming liberal Democrat, faux Southern Baptist and they replaced Carter in 1981 with Ronald Reagan who presided over one of the greatest economic recoveries in U.S. history during his two terms in the White House. You'd think that enough Americans still exist who remember those bleak days when Carter was a literal one-man wrecking ball whose policies ruined America's economy while turning the United States into a laughingstock across the world.

Unfortunately, either those Americans have forgotten what life was like under Carter or they have become masochists who enjoy pain and misery. Under current President Barack Obama, America has once again returned to the miserable days not seen since Carter with high unemployment, high taxes, high gas prices, high inflation and anemic economic growth. The difference in 2012 is that under the bumbling and inept Obama, the United States has racked up an astronomical $16 trillion in debt that threatens the very future of the nation. Economists are warning that unless the U.S. gets rid of that gargantuan debt--and soon--America's bond markets could collapse and plunge the nation into an economic depression equal to or even worse than what began with the stock market crash of 1929.

And that's frightening. What's even more frightening is the utter stupidity of many of today's Americans who remain totally clueless to the serious threat their nation faces. Here's an example: A blockhead named Rose Kling, who's a bartender in the Wisconsin town of Black River Falls, says that she'll vote to reelect Obama on November 6 because she thinks that Obama "is more of a normal kind of guy" than Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney who she views as "silver spoon people." (Chicago Tribune: 9/24/2012) Of course, Obama, the "normal kind of guy" (feel free to interpret that) has presided over the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression. And yet, Kling, who either wasn't around when Carter stunk up the White House or who simply doesn't care to remember how bad it was then, prefers four more years of Barack Obama.

Certainly, in 1980 there were no I-pods, I-pads, I-phones, laptop computers, Kindles, Nooks, Tablets or internet to entertain and distract the masses. Perhaps that's the problem; that Americans have become so distracted by their electronic toys that they can't see that their nation is disintegrating right before their eyes. Americans had far fewer distractions in 1980 and maybe that's why they were able to recognize just what a phony and a wretch Jimmy Carter was. And that's why they declined to award him a second term on November 4, 1980 when they elected Ronald Reagan as the 40th President of the United States.

Sadly, 2012 isn't 1980 and there are too many Americans such as Rose Kling who are dumb enough to grant Barack Obama a second term, even though he has been an abysmal failure and will probably be ranked as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. When personality means more to people than ability, then they have chosen to preside over the destruction of their nation. In Proverbs 26:11 we read: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." If America chooses to reelect Barack Obama on November 6, then that proverb will certainly be fulfilled.