During the 20^th Century, most people had never heard of a moral compass. A compass was a piece of metal with an arrow showing you which direction you were headed. Still a pretty handy item if you’re navigating in unknown territory. And then, a couple of decades ago, we started hearing the term “moral compass.” It first came into popular use in the year 2011. The Chief of Staff of the British Army observed that many UK citizens no longer had a sense of moral compass, while in the past, it would have been instilled in them by their parents. He said it would be up to the military to teach recruits the difference between right and wrong. When I hear that the majority of Americans are perfectly willing to vote for either Trump or Biden, you have to wonder. Have Americans lost their moral compass?

Have Americans lost their moral compass? It would appear so if they elect Trump or Biden. — Have Americans Lost Their Moral Compass? They don’t seem to care about the integrity of elected officials.

What is a moral compass? The dictionary defines it as : a set of beliefs or values that help guide ethical decisions, judgments, and behavior : an internal sense of right and wrong.

This doesn’t seem too complicated. Even little kids have a moral compass. They know not to hit or spit on one another if they’re mad. Teenagers with a moral compass don’t sell drugs or beat up on a guy they disagree with. It goes on through life. Even at my age, I know that if someone steals a package from my porch, that person lacks a moral compass.

We used to expect elected officials to show that they had a moral compass. Voters may not have liked Eisenhower, Truman, Ford or Carter, but they respected their integrity.

All that’s changed now. Few seem to care if the person they vote for has committed a crime or sexually harassed a member of the opposite sex. Lying and cheating seem to get a rubber stamp. If we look at recent polls, it would appear that voters in both parties are only interested in whether or not the person they elect can fulfill their personal wants and needs. No one seems to care about the common good, or uniting the country.

According to recent polls in Iowa, a majority of Republicans strongly support a presidential candidate who has been criminally indicted four times and been involved in numerous sexual harassment suits. The Democrats don’t care in the least that their man’s son had 40 different banks accounts in order to launder illegal payments to the current president’s family from foreign governments.

Both Biden and Trump have clearly demonstrated a lack of moral compass. If either one of these men are returned to the white house in the 2024 election, what does it mean? Have most Americans lost their moral compass? Or do they even know what one is?

There probably aren’t many people In the USA who remember the days before air conditioning. However, the recent storms that caused power outages were an uncomfortable reminder of those days when there wasn’t any. What in the world did people do during heat waves ? How did they ever make it through the notorious summer of 1936, for example. I was a baby then, and the depression had sent sent us scurrying back to Grandpa’s Indiana farm from New York City. Some people went naked in the 40’s without AC.

NAKED IN THE 40'S WITHOUT During a heat wave, some didn't wear clothes.

NAKED IN THE 40’S WITHOUT AC. Having a heat wave called for shedding one’s clothes.

A lot of people walked around in their undies if they were in a place where they wouldn’t be arrested for indecent exposure. In the early 1940’s 30% of people lived on farms. Some farmers stripped naked when coming in from the fields on a sweltering day. The wife might show a little more modesty by stripping down to her underpants. Most city people didn’t go quite that far. They closed their shades and turned on their fans. But the women wore halter tops that showed as much as a pin up girl on a WWII poster. And men who went bare chested while mowing the lawn weren’t considered indecent.

Kids had an easier time keeping cool. They could run outside in their bathing suits and turn on the hose. And if it began to thunder, they didn’t worry about getting struck by lightening. They played in the rain, and it wasn’t considered negligence on the part of the parent. I would imagine there were some bad accidents that took place, but I didn’t know a single kid who got struck by lightening. Even more fun was floating homemade “boats” of twigs and leaves in the rainwater flowing down the gutters on the side of the street.

The ice man came every few days , and we kids rode the back of his truck to sneak slivers of ice. Electric refrigerators were a luxury so the average homeowner had an ice box. Most everyone had large window fans , maybe blowing over a bowl of ice. Almost every house had a front porch. You could sit outside and enjoy the cool evening breezes as the sun went down. Close neighbors would talk and visit, while others parked their bicycles to stop by for a chat.

If you lived anywhere near a creek, lake, or ocean, you headed to the beach hoping for enough privacy to skinny dip. Many people spent the night sleeping on the sand. Not sure if they had bug spray then, so mosquito bites must have been a problem.

So now , If your power goes out, just remember all of your ancestors from the beginning of time who didn’t have air conditioning. If they could make it through, so can you.

We having a heat wave

Month: August 2023

HAVE AMERICANS LOST THEIR MORAL COMPASS?

NAKED IN THE 40’S WITHOUT AC