By Paul E. Vallely, MG US Army (ret)
Actions have consequences. The radical left’s actions over the past 60 years have resulted in tragic
consequences for all Americans. The coarsening of the culture by leftist policies and actions is undeniable.
American society is burdened by numerous social problems as a direct result of polices, court decisions, and
actions of the left including hedonism, substance abuse, a vanishing work ethic, rampant abortion, gun violence,
mass shootings, mob violence, anarchy, open borders and human trafficking, pornography, censorship, road
rage, sideline rage, demise of the traditional family, the politics of personal destruction, and record levels of
teen suicides.
Hedonism, Substance Abuse, and the Vanishing Work Ethic
Policies of the left combined with helicopter parenting are turning young people in America into fragile
snowflakes unable to cope with the realities of life in the real world. In the name of “inclusion,” the left has
instilled false expectations in young people. Their so-called inclusive practices such as everybody wins,
everybody makes the team, and everybody gets a trophy have led young people to expect the world to treat
them in this inclusive way. It does not.
Helicopter parents hover over their children doing for them what the children should do themselves,
“protecting” them from the consequences of their unruly behavior and giving them everything they need except
the two things they need most: responsibility and accountability. When young people raised in this way finally
must face the real world without the coerced inclusiveness of the left and the pampering of their parents, many
are—not surprisingly—unable to cope. Therefore, so many turn to alcohol and drugs. They are seeking solace
from a bottle of liquor or a jar of pills.
America became the greatest nation on earth in large part because of the American people. The American
dream used to be upward mobility through hard work, wise decisions, and perseverance. Americans wanted
nothing more than the opportunity to build better lives for themselves and their families, and they were willing
to work long and hard to achieve this goal. Americans also felt a strong obligation to serve our country and
contribute to improving the quality of life in their communities.
Unfortunately, hedonism is undermining the traditional American dream. A hedonist is an individual focused on
whatever feels good in the moment with no regard for the long-term consequences. The motto of a hedonist
is, “If it feels good do it.” This self-indulgent attitude toward life is why America’s drug problem has reached
epidemic proportions. It is also why American employers found it so difficult to hire sufficient employees
beginning in 2021. Leftist politicians in the White House and Congress kept paying people monetary stipends
which allowed them to stay home instead of working. Not surprisingly, those with a hedonistic outlook on work
and life stayed home.
The new American dream is to get as much as one can while doing as little as possible and to be taken care of
by a nanny government. In a hedonistic society the goal is personal pleasure. Sensual self-indulgence has
replaced the American work ethic as a central driving force in the lives of a lot of Americans. The work ethic
that helped make the United States the most productive nation in the world is vanishing. Many Americans today
would rather win the lottery and never have to work again than build a better life for themselves through
personal initiative and hard work.
Hedonists have the same attitude toward work they have toward life. If it is not fun, do not do it. They have
been raised on the fiction that work must be fun, or they are in the wrong job. This, of course, is nonsense.
While it is good to like one’s job, even the best job in the world is not always fun. If work were always fun, we
would call it play and people would do it for free. Work is not always fun; that is why we are paid to do it. This
hedonistic attitude toward work is making it difficult for employers to hire and retain the personnel they need
to run their businesses. Employee shortages, in turn, are resulting in shortages of essential goods and services,
inflated prices, and business closures; facts that hurt all Americans.
Rampant Abortion and the Devaluation of Human Life
No public policy is more vociferously guarded by the left than legal abortions. The left has successfully used the
courts to exempt abortion from the Biblical proscription against murder found in Exodus 20:13. Leftist
ideologues have rewritten the Sixth Commandment to read: You shall not murder unless you are pregnant with
a baby who might pose an inconvenience to you. What was once a crime in America is now a right that is
celebrated, encouraged, and protected by the left.
To get around the inconvenient and undeniable truth that abortion amounts to killing innocent babies, the left
engages in one of itsfavorite but most deplorable practices: semantic subterfuge. Semantic subterfuge involves
adopting a palatable name for an unpalatable concept. Therefore, the left refers to abortion as “choice.” As a
result, 900,000 babies are killed every year in the U.S. in the name of “choice”, a fact that diminishes the value
of all human life.
It also robs America of future scientists, Nobel Prize winners, physicians, pastors, military leaders, and other
people who could have contributed immeasurably to the betterment of society. Who knows what those 900,000
babies might have become? Devaluing human life has, in turn, led to other social problems including gun
violence, mass shootings, road rage, and sideline rage.
