The Wussification Of America

"Too many people are thinking of security instead of opportunity. They seem more afraid of life than death." ~James F. Byrnes

Driving home for lunch a few days ago, in a hurry, I found myself driving behind an SUV that was evidently being driven by someone who thought their vehicle was made of glass. The driver came to almost a complete stop before crossing a railroad track, and then rolled across at approximately 1/2 mile an hour.

OK. I admit that in my frustration, I may have overreacted somewhat, because shouting, "Oh, my God! You're driving a tank!" went unheard and thus, unheeded.

But, born of such frustration, I had a small epiphany that expanded to a bigger epiphany, and that is what I am writing about now. Here's how my somewhat quirky thought processes go:

Because this was far from the first time I had noticed how overly cautious drivers of large, nearly indestructible vehicles are, I have proffered a theory (unscientifically, of course) that people who buy SUV's are either adventurous or wimps.

Some people buy them for the purpose of taking them off-road, grinding through tons of mud, uphill and down, swimming shallow creeks, four-wheeling across bone-jarring gullies and rocky landscapes, and bouncing up and down and around like the "Scrambler" ride at the amusement park.

But, alas, Most buy them because they fear being injured in a collision. They buy four wheel drive vehicles so they can maneuver easier in rain and snow, then drive in rain or snow as if they are driving on eggs and afraid they might break one.

It seems to me the latter far outnumbers the former. Most people buy SUV's because they are wimps.

And that epiphany led to a greater epiphany:

Our nation is becoming wussified.

It isn't only the purchasing of nearly indestructible vehicles that leads me to this conclusion. The evidence is in nearly every facet of American life.

A few examples:

The increasing obsession with eating healthy.

Our parents and grandparents never heard of such strange creatures as anti-oxidants, carbohydrates and cholesterol, yet most of our ancestors lived happy, healthy lives, many well into their eighties and ninety's.

My two great-grandmothers each lived to 92 years old. My paternal grandfather and grandmother lived to 84 and 92 respectively. My maternal grandmother lived into her 80's with Parkinson's syndrome. The only grandparent I had who died relatively young was my maternal grandfather, who only died young because he was struck by a bus.

My father passed away at 72. His doctor had him on a "healthy diet". My mother is still healthy and will soon celebrate her 90th birthday. She eats whatever she wants.

Did they live long because they didn't have the added stress from worrying constantly about their BFI or heart rate? Or maybe, just possibly, there is really nothing so unhealthy in our food that we need to radically change our diets.

Exercising.

Jim Fixx, the author of "The Complete Book of Running", a book extolling the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably increased the average human being's life expectancy, suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack shortly after one of his regular morning jogs. He was 52.

Dr. James Rodale, a leading expert in health and healthy foods, taped an interview on the Dick Cavett show, during which he said, "I'm gonna live to be a 100", and promptly hit the floor to do 100 push-ups.

Minutes later, Dr. Rodale was dead, a victim of a heart attack, still sitting right there on Mr. Cavett's couch.

I have my own theory about exercise vs. health:

I believe there is only a finite number of beats in the human heart. Once the last beat is reached, you die. No amount of healthy eating or exercise can change that number. It is your number. When your number's up, your number's up.

Exercise increases the heart beat rate. The heart beats faster, thereby making the heart beat number increase more rapidly. Which results in a quicker death.

These examples deal with a fear of death. There are other examples dealing with sensitivity.

Our people have become so afraid of offending each other, that the best thing for us to do is never speak to anybody. About anything. You never know when you might be offending someone.

We can't pray at public events because of the off-chance we might offend some atheist.

We can't use the word, "Queer" because we might offend some homo.

We can no longer keep score at t-ball games because, God forbid, some 6 year-old players might feel bad if they lose.

Some school teachers can't mark test papers in red ink for fear of hurting some lazy student's feelings.

We can't give out awards to high achievers because by so doing we might inadvertently injure some low achiever's psyche. We must, instead, give all the participants an award regardless of the level of achievement.

We can't suspect young middle eastern appearing men might be terrorists for fear of offending Muslims, most of whom are either terrorists or at least, support Islamic jihadists.

Men must be sensitive, while, paradoxically, women must be strong and self sufficient. Stating the obvious fact that men are physically stronger than women and as such, can actually perform some tasks better than women is offensive to women. (and girly men)

Stating the obvious fact that some people have darker skins than others is tantamount to being a racist, and offensive to people with dark skins.

Normal ordinary thinking people know it's better to throw trash away in the proper receptacle than to carelessly toss it on the ground. Nature just looks more pristine that way.

But, only in massive doses can it do significant damage to the overall environment. (A fact seemingly lost on Liberals at their omnipresent rallies. Did you ever see pictures of the mess they leave in their wake?)

Mindless, unthinking, sheep minded people have created an entire global movement to convince people that littering and improper disposal of trash will destroy the earth in a matter of days, if not seconds if we don't start being more sensitive to our environment. (as long as we don't apply the same standards to them)

Somebody, a few years ago, walked out into their yard one unusually hot Spring or Autumn day and concluded that the earth must be warming up, and from that poorly thought out hypothesis, came the still unproven theory of Global Warming.

Now, AlGore and other equally clueless Liberals, are warning us that we will destroy the earth in the aforementioned same number of days or seconds, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

Liberals are sounding the alarm every day about some new crisis that will ultimately destroy our planet, and the destruction is always imminent.

There are many, many other examples. Super-sensitivity abounds.

I could write a book on the subject, but suffice it to say...

America has become wussified.

Cross posted at Casting Pearls Before Swine