[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         FINDING AMERICA'S MORAL BEARINGS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

                                 ______


                         HON. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 25, 1994

  Mr. SHAYS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit this article as an 
extension of remarks. The article was written by Jim Larkin, a 
constituent of mine, and appeared on the Greenwich Time's opinion page.
  Mr. Larkin's article, entitled, ``Finding America's Moral Bearings 
Before It's Too Late'', is as timely as it is poignant. He writes of 
the country's decaying moral fiber in areas such as business and 
politics. He reminisces about a time when American businesses thought 
about the long-run and the welfare of their employees instead of 
quarterly earnings--a time when Americans actually trusted the leaders 
they elected rather than wondering which lobbyist influenced their 
vote.
  It is my hope that my colleagues will read this article and find it 
as thought provoking as I did.
  Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

                    [Greenwich Time, Sept. 26, 1993]

         Finding America's Moral Bearings Before It's Too Late

                             By Jim Larkin

       Am I the only one who feels like ringing the bell of alarm 
     when I observe such things as the continual, wholesale murder 
     of Moslem civilians in Bosnia, while our country's leaders 
     hold sophistic discussions, wring their hands and then go out 
     and eat a good dinner? Is Elie Wiesel the only public figure 
     who remembers the lessons of the Holocaust? Have we as a 
     nation reached the point where we can rationalize anything? 
     Can anyone who has either experienced enough years or enough 
     pain truly believe the spin that's being put upon the chaotic 
     events in our nation's life?
       They say that animals in the forest can sense an impending 
     fire even when it is 50 miles away. They are restless and 
     move about with no clear direction. Finally they start 
     running.
       I've been on the planet going on seven decades. I arrived 
     in what they called ``the roaring 20s,'' was raised during 
     the Great Depression, served in World War II, got married in 
     the 1950s, fathered four children, and will soon have my 
     fifteenth grandchild. And I'm worried. No, I won't sugar-coat 
     it, I'm terrified.
       For openers, most Americans seem to be numbed and have no 
     clear sense of what's right and wrong. They wait for the 
     nightly news to interpret the days events and parade the 
     ``experts'' who ``know'' the answers.
       What used to be interesting conversation has been replaced 
     by cliches copied from one form of media or the other. Ask 
     yourself, when was the last time you heard or even uttered a 
     truly original thought.
       Don't ask me where the trolley left the tracks. Like many 
     of you, I was too busy trying to earn a living to notice the 
     exact month or year. On the other hand, it probably was a 
     process, like everything else. If enough inept, illegal or 
     immoral things happen, then even a gift from the heavens like 
     America will eventually grind to a halt.
       Just so you don't think this premise is based on nothing, 
     here are some examples whereof I speak:
       On economics, many of our nation's premier business 
     organizations appear to have lost their sense of mission. To 
     this observer they seem to be compulsively striving to do 
     just one thing; make sure their quarterly earnings meet 
     original projections and please the financial community. 
     Never mind where the corporation will be in 10 years' time or 
     what unique contribution they will be making to improve our 
     lives in the future. The management is focused on the current 
     quarter. The future will be somebody else's problem.
       The main casualties of this effort are people. There is a 
     whole new series of words that companies use when they 
     announce the departure of their former workers. We all know 
     them originally in more honest times it was being fired or 
     laid-off, then later it became ``de-hiring'' or ``out-
     placement.'' After a while, ``down-sizing'' became popular, 
     and finally when the need for justification became 
     overwhelming, ``right-sizing''.
       In a world of avoiding the truth, language is usually the 
     first victim. And what about those that are left behind 
     worrying about the arrival of their pink slip? Will they ever 
     trust management again?
       That leads us to No. 2: politics. Recent polls show that 
     only about 20 percent of the American people have trust in 
     our national political leadership. This figure is down from 
     somewhere in the 60 percent range 30 short years ago. Can a 
     nation endure where the level of confidence in our leadership 
     is this low?
       What has caused this? Few if any of our politicians are 
     considered real ``statesmen'' and put the country's interest 
     over their own. They enjoy the power they have, but avoid the 
     responsibility that goes with it. They allow themselves to be 
     targets of seduction for the myriad of lobbyists seeking 
     their favor. For example, every foreign nation of importance 
     spends millions of dollars annually to make sure they get 
     what they want from Washington. Much of the legwork for them 
     is done by former senators, congressmen, Cabinet officers, 
     military and naval personnel, etc.
       If those inside the Washington Beltway aren't shocked by 
     this behavior, the rest of the country is. Sometimes I think 
     the main difference between ``them'' and ``us'', is that we 
     can still be shocked.
       Now to morality, the biggest pile in the stable. Sadly, our 
     age has no Emerson. And if we did, he probably couldn't get 
     the attention of the media. The message would sound 
     ``strange.'' We have no one to hold our feet to the fire, to 
     encourage us to our best, teach us to confront life with all 
     its temptations, difficulties and disappointments, and still 
     have the credibility to say, ``No matter, my brothers and 
     sisters, we must choose the right.''
       We are told that in our times moral things are too complex 
     to make definitive judgments about, or morality is a 
     subjective thing on which ``reasonable'' people may disagree. 
     What happened to the moral certainties, the touchstones of 30 
     years ago and before? Were they all the products of dumb 
     people with inferior minds? Or is morality something that is 
     changed by each generation?
       Examples of immorality in our beloved land are so numerous. 
     This fall, one of the television networks is bringing to 
     prime time a graphic display of violence and sexual 
     intercourse, with its attending predictable dialogue. The 
     producer's explanation is that ``it's about time the real 
     world is let into America's living rooms.'' The ``right'' to 
     do this, he claims, we granted in the Constitution more than 
     200 years ago.
       Now, I wasn't there in Philadelphia in the 1780s, but the 
     books I read in college about that seminal event made no 
     mention of a spirited defense for pornography by any of the 
     Founding Fathers.
       The second example is just a statistic. Since Roe vs. Wade, 
     the nation has seen more than 30 million legal abortions. 
     Without trying to deal with the ``Choice'' vs. ``Life'' 
     issue, are any of you curious about what those babies might 
     have brought to our nation? Many of them would now be in high 
     school, or college, or in their first job. Do you feel any 
     sense of loss that they are not among us? When I was in my 
     junior year of high school, we were discussing the fall of 
     Rome, and the class was curious about how and why this could 
     happen to the powerful Roman Empire. I can remember asking, 
     ``Couldn't the Roman people see it coming? see the danger 
     they were in?'' The teacher's answer was simple, ``The Romans 
     were an arrogant, morally corrupt people. It probably never 
     occurred to them what could happen.''
       I hope future generations won't say the same things about 
     those of us who are here today.

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