Al’s Article

By Al D’Angelo

“What shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world an loses his soul”? We are losing our collective souls. In the name of justice, we allow career criminals to prey on the law-abiding population. What kind of example are we setting for our children when shoplifting goes unpunished, and how does a parent who is fighting to pay rent and put food on the table explain to her children stealing is wrong when they see their friends taking what they want without any consequences? How long will it be before they follow suit and start on a path of lawlessness? What do you say to a parent whose child was killed by a stray bullet and how do we explain to a store owner who has been robbed and beaten several times that it is illegal to carry an unlicensed handgun when they see in the media that people arrested with loaded handguns are allowed to walk free. What do you say to lawmakers who calls for stricter gun control measures when they refuse to enforce the laws already on the books? How do you explain to the homeless that millions of illegal immigrants get better treatment than American citizens? How do we explain to parents that our educational system spends over $25,000 per child, per year for their education and they still can’t pass a proficiency exam? Why is there a fight about specialized schools instead of instilling a work ethic in children so they are able to pass the entrance exam? How do we explain to a young woman athlete who has trained her whole life to excel in her sport that she must now compete against men who identify as women? Most people in this country are more focused on their family and their careers rather than whether Mickey Mouse is gender neutral, or Aunt Jemima’s picture should be taken off a box of pancake mix. We spend more time trying to erase the past than focusing on building for the future. How do we justify, according to the Department of Corrections analysis, the full cost of incarceration which has grown to a cost of $556,000 per person per year, and yet the recidivism rate is over 60% and the causes of criminal behavior (lack of education and poverty) goes unchecked. Why do we spend more time on a person’s ethnicity than their accomplishments? Once we bring race or gender into the equation, we lessen that person’s achievements. When do we adhere to the proposition that all men are created equal? We will never reach that goal if we use race or gender to depict a person’s success. What happened to Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream that a person should not be judged by the color of his skin but by the content of their character?  Does it make any sense to complain that there are not enough Asian players in baseball or basketball or Midgets in hockey or football; how about the racing industry, discriminating against tall and overweight individuals. I have not seen one sight impaired pilot or hearing-impaired radio announcer. The absurdities are endless. I pray that the New Year brings sanity and common sense back to our country. If not I’m afraid America will lose its soul.

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