How Soft is America?

It was interesting to watch the reaction to the NFL football game between Buffalo and Cincinnati that was stopped when one of the players suffered a cardiac incident and was taken to a hospital. The game was postponed and could end up being canceled altogether. A few voices were raised to suggest that the game should have continued after a short break. Immediately, condemnation rained down upon anyone suggesting that the game should go on. This seems to be a symptom of the softness that has crept into our national psyche. 

After the incident, sports commentators were in a rush to outdo each other in calling for a cessation of all ball games out of sympathy with the injured player. It may not be popular to say but whatever happened to “the show must go on?”

When we have an airline crash do we cancel all flights for the next week out of sympathy with those that have lost loved ones? No. We realize that life must go on and a successful economy depends upon businesses continuing to operate in the midst of devastation.

Many lives were lost in the wake of Hurricane Ian but the next day every business that could open, did open. That is the spirit that made this country the envy of the world.

Today, our school systems are run by graduates of universities controlled by leftist dogma. These school systems resort to shutting down at  the first hint of difficulty. We experienced this during the Covid pandemic. School unions, which theoretically, and I mean theoretically, are supposed to care about the well being of students, cast the concerns of students aside in order to protect the teachers from the remote possibility of serious medical problems from contracting Covid at school. Universities told students, who had a near zero percent chance of serious problems from catching Covid, to leave campus and attempt to learn remotely. These same teachers and professors wanted the hospital personnel to show up for work every day.

This “cut and run” mentality that shows itself at the first hint of  trouble will have a devastating impact on future generations. Imagine the Gen Y and Gen X people at Normandy Beach on DDay. They would never have left the landing craft.

We have young parents who refuse to let the grandparents see their young babies because of a lack of proper vaccinations. The children of these generations will flounder in life because they do not know how to react to hard times. When something goes wrong they assume the fetal position and hope someone else will take care of them. Wealthy parents do everything to make life easy for their children. They fail to realize that by making it easy for their children they are robbing them of the ability to grow tougher by enduring hard times. When young people experience hard times and failure, they often become mentally stronger and thus are better able to handle the various challenges that life throws at them.

Hopefully, the NFL will eventually allow the “show to go on” and we will pray for the recovery of the injured player and still enjoy watching the games.