This column was to be about happy Independence Day memories until I was drawn to the television by the death of President Reagan and the solemn ceremonies at Pointe du Hoc commemorating D-Day.

I watched those veterans of that historic battle make their way to seats of honor, some aided by canes, some pushed in wheelchairs, those steady on their feet holding the arms of those who weren’t. As young boys they had supported one another as they fought the enemy, and here they were still supporting one another. Tears clouded my eyes.

Like them, I have more yesterdays than I have tomorrows, but I am of sound mind and clear eyes and what I see happening in our country saddens and frightens me. I wondered if they, too, feel as I do about the path our country has taken over the past 60 years.

I’m reminded of a quotation from Edward Gibbon’s “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”: “It is scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries will discover in the public felicity, the latent causes of decay and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated.”

Many technological advances have made our lives easier, yet, as the saying goes, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the standards by which we once lived are on the decline.

Of course rules of conduct and laws were broken in the past, but there were definitive guidelines and if we went beyond them there were serious consequences. Today, there are no guidelines and no consequences — it’s anything goes, just as long as it makes you feel good.

Innocence and propriety have been abandoned. Books, television shows and movies cover (or uncover) every human activity imaginable, no matter how lewd it might be. Ads featuring the most personal of items are flaunted before us in the media. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is private or sacred anymore.

Morality is becoming obsolete. Sex is exploited throughout our society. Young people, some accompanied by parents, scream with delight as others gyrate across a stage in costumes leaving little to the imagination, every move a sexual innuendo.

We’ve become blasé to the murders, riots, robberies, rapes and other acts of violence that are reported every day. We read about them, shake our heads, shrug our shoulders and ask, “Why is this happening?” Yet, let the police make one wrong move while quelling a riot or apprehending a resistant suspect and they come under investigation. Their names make the headlines and they are made to look like the evil in our midst.

Priorities have gotten skewed somewhere along the way. We read of families suffering due to low wages, high rent, groceries, gas and medical services and on and on. Yet, casinos in every town and hamlet across the country are raking in millions of dollars a day, left there by the thousands of people who flock to them. Many leave children behind for someone else to care for. And still more casinos are on the planning boards.

Responsibility for one’s actions is scoffed at. Everything that happens today is someone else’s fault. Frivolous lawsuits fill our courtrooms and make a mockery of our justice system and we pay the bill.

“Let government do it” is the motto of the day. Forgotten is the fact that each time our “elected” officials do it, it’s done with our money. That means higher taxes and more government control over our lives. The end result is individual freedoms are gradually and silently being eroded.

The names of true statesmen are in history books. Our leaders today have replaced, “Is it good for the country?” with, “Will it bring in votes?” Yet no one seems to notice or care anymore, just as long as someone else is taking care of “our” problems.

Any signs of religion, faith or spirituality — the very tenets that have held us together as a nation united through the very worst of times — are targets of attack, and the attackers are gaining.

We are a nation divided in conflict even as our young men, once again, fight an enemy. While terrorists from without are bent on destroying our country, we seem bent on destroying it from within.

These are but a few of the things that I see, and whether or not you agree with them is up to you. However, if those who do agree don’t let their voices be heard, we all will be the losers tomorrow, and those veterans of the past and those young men of today fighting to keep our homeland safe and free will have fought and died in vain.

I pray there will be brighter and happier Fourths of July for future generations to look back on and for someone else to write about. Only time will tell.


Sacramento resident Joey Franklin, retired from more than three decades of full-time work in the newspaper business, now writes a monthly column for Spectrum.