Author's last letter is lament for what America used to be

For the past several years, I have vented my anger and frustration over the leftist trajectory our nation is taking by writing a series of letters to the editor of several local papers (218 letters to date).

I realize my writing has no effect on the outcome, but it has served to unload, to some extent, my anger and anxiety over the path our nation is on.

I have, I believe, a good vantage point to expound on this trend, because I lived at a time during the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s when the people of our nation enjoyed freedom and advantages perhaps unparalleled in the history of the world. It was a time before the institutions of our nation began to be infiltrated by socialistic ideology: before our youth began to be indoctrinated by socialist propaganda.

Those years were relatively free of the restraints and mandates that government has since imposed. Political correctness had not yet dominated discourse. Crime resulted in punishment rather than plea bargains and suspended sentences. Living on the dole from the government had yet to become a way of life.

Our society was not yet inundated with lawyers. Politicians followed the will of the people rather than the financial and corporate elites who financed their election campaigns. The middle class was vibrant and on an upward trajectory so that each generation could expect to do as well or better than their parents.

This all began to change about five decades ago as the policy of our government began to be determined by Wall Street rather than Main Street. Because the elites own and control the news media, the people dependent on network news for their information, are not aware that they are being deceived and betrayed.

Our government, during this period, not only did little to protect our country; it actually conspired with multinational corporations to ship our manufacturing sector overseas through trade deals and tax avoidance schemes. Trillions were spent during this period under the guise of foreign aid, but there was little disclosure, so the people have little account of where the money went.

The only thing we can be sure of is that in the last five decades we’ve gone from the greatest creditor nation in the world to the greatest debtor nation. Our national debt now exceeds $18 trillion, but we have little to show for this outlay. Our infrastructure is falling apart and our middle class is in actual decline.

The American people, in only 200 years, created the greatest and most powerful nation the world has ever known. This was due to the hard work and collective talents of people from all over the world who immigrated here and participated in a unique idea: that a government of, by and for the people was the best that could be devised to “create a more perfect union, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and to our posterity.”

This idea held until about 100 years ago when our republic began to be assailed by foreign interests. Our country was so strong, it’s momentum carried it through two worlds wars, and carried most of the world on her shoulders as well, but our people have not been vigilant and have allowed foreign entanglements and special interests to drag us down.

We used to be a united people with a strong middle class, but now have become a most divisive people with a hollowed-out middle class in decline and in danger of elimination altogether. Corporate and financial elites not only own and determine the policies of Congress; they also control our presidents and the judiciary.

From the greatest republic in history, our nation has evolved into what is essentially an oligarchy. We seem destined to follow the same fate of all forms of democracy in history: a rapid rise to greatness, a brief interval of power and glory and then a rapid decline.

The dire state of our nation in concert with advancing age has overwhelmed my desire to continue the fight and therefore this will be my final letter to the editor. To those that supported and encouraged me in my writing, as well as the newspapers that published my letters, my sincere thanks.

Payne is a resident of Libby.