It was the last decade of pride, peace, and prosperity…the decade before 9/11 changed life as we knew it and turned everything on its ear! The ’90s was a time when the threat of being attacked on our own soil was only in movies like “Red Dawn”.
The ’90s had many, many “lasts”…they were the last ten years of great and original movies, TV and music- before Hollywood and television production companies and producers ran out of ideas and reality shows and remakes dominated screens everywhere and the music wasn’t yet painful to listen to. Also, commercial breaks had not yet grown to be ten minutes long.
During the ’90s, one could freely express American pride and stepping on Old Glory was not only frowned upon but unheard of. People took pride in our great military and never ever thought of protesting the funerals of our fallen heroes. No one was afraid to uphold right over wrong.
The ’90s was a decade when most people from different races got along together as one and spread love to one another…when jobs were plentiful and differences were not only accepted but respected. It was a time when no one took offense so easily to the slightest difference of thought or opinion and the news media reported incidences which were legitimately “newsworthy” and had not yet become one big high school slam book.
I’m not only saying this because it was the decade of my glorious and roaring 20’s but it seems once 9/11 occurred, our way of life has taken a nosedive.
Where did it all go? The pride? The confidence? The fearlessness? The prosperity? The respect for ourselves and our fellow man?
How did freedom of expression, differences in thought and opinion and common sense become such cardinal sins?
How did morals, values, integrity, and decency all become such an antithesis?
How did individuality become demonized?
How did people become such crybabies?
How did self-entitlement become such a pandemic?
How did the pendulum swing so far to the opposite direction in only twenty years?
To this, I can only conclude that we, as Americans, have lost our nerve. We’ve gotten so afraid of offending that a few of our leaders have complacently handed over our cajones and are willing to let other countries and groups use us up and take us for granted! We allow certain groups to dictate whether we can fly our own flag. We, as a country, have lost our backbone!
Will we ever have the stones to stand up and take it all back? It is my hope that we can catch the runaway horse and lock it back in the barn where it belongs! It is also my hope that in the future, we can have yet another great and prosperous decade!