Take a look at the photo leading this piece. That's my grandfather, around 1938. He and my grandmother raised six kids on a small Iowa farm during the Great Depression, one of the worst, longest-lasting economic downturns in American history. He raised his family through troubled times. The Depression was, of course, followed by World War 2, during which they saw both of their sons go off to war, along with a son-in-law and the young man who would become a son-in-law — my Dad.
They raised their family through troubled times. But America came through those times, and my parents (born 1923 and 1928) both maintained that they were lucky enough to live in America's greatest years. But while the re-election of President-elect Trump yields some promise, America is still facing some troubled times: an unrecoverable debt crisis, millions of foreign invaders on our soil, a demographic crisis in which Americans just aren't having kids. And that bothers me — but after this week, I'm bothered a little less. Here's why.
My wife and I have four daughters. Two of them are only able to afford to own their homes because they live in a small town in eastern Iowa, where real estate is cheap. Their small town is safe, secure, and well-protected, with a lot of big, tough rural dudes in the area, all of whom are good shots. But they still struggle to pay for groceries, and it's a major drain just to put a tank of gasoline in their cars. The other two live in the suburb of a major city, and can only afford a rented townhome in a good, clean neighborhood by doubling up; our youngest lives with her sister and brother-in-law, splitting household expenses three ways instead of two.
We have six grandchildren.
One granddaughter is interviewing with medical schools and will have her MD, if things go according to plan, around the time Donald Trump will be leaving office after his second term. I don't want her to be dragged into working in a socialized medicine system. Another granddaughter is working towards a pre-law program. I would like to see her finish law school without six figures of debt — and without being indoctrinated into loony-left ideologies.
We have a grandson who will reach military service age, again, about the time Donald Trump leaves office after his second term. So far, I have been advising him to avoid military service. I, a third-generation soldier — mostly part-time, not a career guy, but I did my bit — advised him to avoid service. Hopefully, in four years, the military will be back to more like what it was in the late Cold War years of my service, but I would prefer my grandson to not be sent off to fight in some far-away place where there is little or no compelling U.S. interest involved.
Another granddaughter is nine, and just beginning to get a glimmer of what she wants her future to be. She wants to play basketball — she admires her cousin, the grandson mentioined above, who is apparently a promising enough basketball player that his coaches are already talking college scholarships. I don't want her competing against boys cosplaying as girls — and I sure as hell don't want boys in her locker room when she's in middle school and high school, much less college.
Our younger grandsons are four and five. One is fascinated with dinosaurs, the other with trucks and sharks. They are too little to have any plans yet for their lives, but both are aggressively and adamantly boys, having earned the nicknames Bubba and Moose. And I can tell you, having two grandsons called Bubba and Moose certainly don't do my own redneck cred any harm. But think for a moment; those two boys will likely live to see the advent of the 22nd century.
Will America even still exist in that distant year of 2101? What will it look like? How will my grandchildren be living? What will the world look like?
If you've read my Stormy Petrel posts, you'll know I'm not always the most optimistic guy in the world. But after last Tuesday, I have a little more hope for America, at least in the short term. The electorate seems to have rejected the far-left, "woke" horse squeeze. We seem to be moving back to a country with secure borders, a country that works for peace, a healthy country, an economically sound country, a secure country, a country with a sane, impartial judiciary, a country that controls its borders and has safe streets.
See Related: Will Donald Trump Shape the Supreme Court for a Generation?
Granted, as I've written before, the political world seems to swing from left to right, and that pendulum never stops swinging; this is why there are some fights that will never, ever end — not next year, not in four years, not in one hundred years.
See Related: Trump Won - but Is the Nation Moving Right for Keeps?
So what will I do to ensure my hostages to fortune have a happy, healthy, secure nation to live in? I'll keep doing what I'm doing — working to inform the populace, to promote my own right-leaning minarchist views. I'll talk to and counsel my children and grandchildren to serve as an example for them. That's all any of us can do. That's what we should do. And in that far away year of 2101, if I do my part right, one of my grandsons may well be sitting with a grandson of his own on his knee and telling him, "You know, my Grandpa used to tell me..."
That's what we all need to do. Yes, the pendulum will keep swinging. Yes, the fight for liberty and property will always continue. But we've won a round — and it's a big win.
Let's make the most of it.
