When I was a kid, our real education came from going to the movies on Saturday afternoons. There was always a cowboy show. That's how we learned to tell the good guys from the bad guys - they wore the white hats. In real life, it's not that easy anymore. There are now lots of bad guys who have learned to wear a white hat so as to disguise their true intentions. To make matters worse, there are people who are now calling good, bad and bad, good. They are trying to change what I always thought I knew.
Something was either bad or good based on what society agreed upon and what the rule of law taught us. In this changing nation, what had been bad behavior now is being considered good. Conversely, what has always been considered good and successful behavior, they are calling bad. Here are my thoughts.
Living in this country and its free economic system, offers every citizen an opportunity to attain the "American Dream". That means that every person, through his own efforts, can become as wealthy as he chooses to be. With continued success, he could grow into a large corporation that, in turn, would provide workers with the same choice. That dream and that opportunity has always been looked upon as a very good thing. How could it now be a bad thing?
American companies are being accused of having too much wealth, that they are greedy and are oppressing their workers. Being free to earn as much as we choose, has always been the benefit of living in a free country. But, these voices are telling us that being big or successful should now be seen as bad. Good has become bad and the "dream" is no longer valued.
There is always a different way of looking at things. Here's the other point of view about big American companies that is not often revealed by their critics. Huge and positive contributions are made to our society by those companies. They provide work, salaries, pensions and health care to their workers. Their workers earn money with which to raise families and enjoy life. If you have a job, pension plan or retirement funds, then you depend on the continued success of these companies.
Large corporations do many more things with their wealth. They sponsor TV programs, race cars and concerts. They make contributions to many charities, foundations and other worthy causes. They make products that we all use every day and that we need and love. And, one more thing - when we are forced to go to war, they can be counted on to turn their product lines off and start making the guns, tanks and planes that we need to keep our country safe and secure.
The efforts of these companies has made us a most productive and powerful nation. Their productivity has allowed us to be generous. American generosity is second to no other nation. Any disaster anywhere in the world will find American goods pouring in to help people. Billions are spent every month on nations who need help. We even send money to
our enemies in the hopes that they will help their people. Our willingness to spend money, and to even fight for others, makes us the "good guys". We've done many good things for the world.
But the world is a tough place - and its filled with lots of "bad guys". There are people who hate us
because we have so much, even with our generous efforts to help people in other nations. We continue to help even when it's unappreciated or stolen by bad leaders. We try anyway, even in nations where our help is of little use because there are
no roads or transportation available to deliver and to distribute food to the people.
Sometimes, being good works really well. After WWII we kept Berlin's people from
starving when Russia cut off their food supplies. The Russians hated us
for helping the German people. We did it anyway.
The one thing you can count on, whether it's in a cowboy movie or in the real world - Being the good guy isn't always easy, but doing good things is always right. Americans wear white hats.
