Writers Must Write

                                                                    TheWiseOldFart

Writers Must Write

My heart was broken. The election of Donald Trump for the second time was not only a huge mistake, but a dark day for our nation’s future.

Hours after the results were reported, the writer in me put the pieces together. I realized that something I learned more than a dozen years ago, when I began writing for a newspaper. At least 90 percent of all Americans are uninformed and therefore ignorant. Most of our nation’s people are lazy and, like Trump, “learn everything they need to know on television.” Which means they know nothing.

This is why I ceased writing my blog, “TheWiseOldFart.”

However, this became a problem for me. I am a writer, and writers must write. Whether it is my blog or my novels, I have a feeling deep inside that demands that I put my thoughts into words on paper or a word processor. Therefore, as one writer said: “I must write or die.” At least on the inside.

So, here goes.

AMERICANS ARE THE LEAST INFORMED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

In every other nation in the world, the election cycle lasts no longer than three months. In America, it is nearly a two-year process. No other nation has an Electoral College, which allows states to choose our presidents. The results are billions of dollars wasted, and a creation of anger and eventually indifference. Every political ad is misleading in some form, and so annoying that millions of Americans either mute the television or if recorded, fast forwarding until the ads end. This year’s estimated expenditure by both parties will exceed 12 billion dollars.

Sadly, it is an undeniable fact that Americans are the laziest people in the world. Most Americans want instant gratification or instant relief. Learning the truth requires individual effort, and is unacceptable for most voters.

I will not bore you with the many baseless reasons Trump will be allowed to defile our White House once again. I will explain the most repeated reason offered by voters, inflation.

Most Americans clearly have no understanding about what causes inflation. This is why millions of ignorant men and women blamed President Biden for rising costs, when, in reality, none of this was related to his economic policies.

The truth is, Biden, like his democratic predecessors, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, saved America’s economy from the failures of Republicans. In 1981 Ronald Reagan implemented a policy of “supply side economics,” better known as “trickle-down economics.” He told the America people that “the rich would create jobs and the result would be a great economic situation for everyone.” Of course, this was a big mistake. When Reagan left office in 1989, unemployment was rising, and the national debt reached one-trillion dollars.

George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Trump used the same policy, and the quality of life decreased for the majority, as the national debt reached 30 trillion by the end of Trump’s term of office. In a short four year period, Trump’s failures added 8 trillion dollars to the national debt.

Only two situations cause inflation: a shortage of raw materials or an insufficient number of workers in any industry.

What all Americans experienced was “Greedflation.” Corporations raised prices because no one would make them accountable and offer consumers the truth. The mainstream media failed the people again.

I was a young, recently married man in the 1970’s when big oil, and the companies which manufactured coffee and sugar claimed a shortage had occurred. Lines at gas stations and rationing began. On grocery shelves coffee and sugar were scarce. All of this was intentional. It was an illegitimate excuse to increase prices with fewer consumer complaints.

Don’t be like Trump: learn to read because the truth lives here.

Op-ed by James Turnage