Once upon a time the United States was a land of abundance and prosperity that was truly blessed from sea to shining sea. Tens of millions of Americans enjoyed living the American Dream in a land filled with happy, healthy and prosperous people. But these days it seems as though there are new stories of tragedy and despair almost daily. Whether it is the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or the horrific flooding in Tennessee, or the tornadoes ripping through the Midwest, or the gut-wrenching economic despair in cities like Detroit, it just seems like a whole lot of horrible things are happening to America all at once. So why is all of this hitting the U.S. right now? Why does it seem like there is just about nowhere in the United States right now that is untouched by a major crisis?
Just consider a few of the items that have been making headline news recently….
The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill
Oil continues to gush into into Gulf of Mexico at a staggering pace. At this point, at least 4.2 million gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf Coast region is bracing for an environmental nightmare of unprecedented magnitude.
The truth is that even if this oil spill is completely stopped tomorrow, the oil that has already been spilled is going to cripple the seafood and tourism industries in the Gulf for years. The great natural beauty of the region is going to be seriously marred, and hundreds of species are going to have their habitats absolutely devastated.
It is hard to describe what this oil spill is going to mean for those living along the Gulf of Mexico, but the following couple of quotes do a pretty good job of summarizing where things stand at this point….
Richard Charter of the Defenders of Wildlife:
“It is so big and expanding so fast that it’s pretty much beyond human response that can be effective. … You’re looking at a long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multidecade impact.”
Louis Miller of the Mississippi Sierra Club:
“This is going to destroy the Mississippi and the Gulf Coast as we know it.”
The Flooding In Tennessee
Massive storms recently dumped nearly 20 inches of rain on many areas of the southeast United States, killing at least 27 people and putting many areas of Nashville, Tennessee deep under water.
In fact, it is being projected that the damage to the city of Nashville alone is close to a billion dollars.
The Tornadoes That Have Been Ripping Up The Midwest And The Southeast
At least five people were killed on Monday as a number of very dangerous tornadoes ripped across the state of Oklahoma.
But that is nothing compared to the unprecedented outbreak of tornadoes in the southeast recently. Officials there said that 61 tornadoes erupted when a massive storm marched across an area stretching all the way from Mississippi to South Carolina. Winds inside some of those tornadoes were clocked as high as 160 mph, and one of the tornadoes had a base one and a half miles wide.
Can you imagine a tornado that is a mile and a half wide heading your way?
Those tornadoes killed at least 12 people, and it is estimated that the damage that they caused could reach into the billions of dollars.
The Disappearance Of The Honeybees
Honeybees are dying off all over the United States, and without them we are going to be in a world of trouble. For the fourth year in a row, over a third of all bee colonies in the United States failed to survive the winter.
If you are not highly alarmed when you read that last sentence you need to be.
According to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the U.S. government’s Agricultural Research Service, the number of managed honeybee colonies in the U.S. fell by 33.8% last winter.
So why are honeybees so important?
Well, because a third of all that we eat depends upon honeybee pollination.
Most flowering plants require insects for pollination. The most effective insect for pollination is the honeybee.
So if the number of honeybees continues to dramatically decline, we are going to be faced with a wrenching food crisis.
Are you prepared for that?
Immigration Riots
The recent anti-illegal immigration law passed by the state of Arizona has ratcheted up tensions on both sides of the immigration debate. There have already been some harrowing physical confrontations and authorities fear that full-blown riots could break out across the southwest United States.
But the folks down in Arizona felt compelled to do something. Due to unchecked illegal immigration, drug-related crime and gang violence had gotten completely out of control. In fact, the city of Phoenix, Arizona has become the car theft capital of the world as millions of illegal aliens who can’t get work have found that stealing cars can be very profitable indeed.
But those who are in the Hispanic community believe that this new law is racist and will be used to unfairly target law-abiding Hispanic Americans. They believe that they have been disrespected and there has been a tremendous backlash against the new Arizona law. In fact, protesters have vandalized sidewalks and buildings in Phoenix with messages such as “burn this racist city”.
To get an idea how tense things are getting in the southwest, just watch the two shocking videos posted below….
As you watch this next one, just ask yourself what the future is going to be like in the southwest U.S. if this is the kind of rhetoric being constantly spewed?….
The Increase In Violent Crime
But it just isn’t in the southwest that crime is on the rise. Violent crime is rising dramatically across the United States.
Lawmakers in Illinois have become so alarmed by the violence in Chicago that they are considering asking the National Guard to be sent in. The truth is that there are over 2.2 million people in prison in the United States, and yet violent crime continues to escalate. In New York City, the number of homicides in the first quarter of 2010 had increased by approximately 22 percent compared with 2009.
The reality is that America is a nation that is ravaged by crime. There are approximately 12 million crimes committed in the United States every single year. That is by far the worst in the world.
The Death Of Detroit And Other Midwest Cities
Crime is especially bad in dying cities such as Detroit, Michigan. It is incredibly sad, but after years of economic decline, Detroit literally looks like a war zone and violent crime is thriving. So far this year in Detroit, car thefts are up 83%, robberies are up 50%, burglaries are up 20% and property destruction is up 42%.
But Detroit is not alone. This pattern is repeating itself in dying cities across the Midwest where unemployment is rampant.
This is what we get when we allow all of our manufacturing jobs to be shipped off to China and India.
The California Economic Nightmare
But it just isn’t the middle of the country that is suffering economically. In fact, many claim that it is California that is actually the epicenter of America’s economic collapse.
There are now 8 counties in the state of California that have unemployment rates of over 20 percent. As the real estate industry has crashed throughout California, businesses have been closing in droves. In the area around Sacramento, California there is one closed business for every six that are still open.
This horrific economic decline has played havoc with state coffers. The state government of California is flat broke, and they will have to continue to beg for more loans for years to come. Californians already have to pay some of the highest taxes in the nation, and yet it is not nearly enough to cover what the state government of California is spending.
Food Stamps: The New Bread Lines
As the economic decline spreads across the United States, an increasing number of people are finding themselves forced to rely on the government in order to survive. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that 39.68 million people, or 1 in 8 Americans, were enrolled in the food stamp program during February, an increase of 260,000 from January.
Almost 40 million people on food stamps?
This was unimaginable years ago, but today America has become a socialized welfare state.
Once upon a time, the old timers would warn us that someday we would all be standing in “bread lines”. But today, food stamps are the new bread lines. Tens of millions of Americans are totally dependent on the U.S. government for their daily bread.
That is not a health economy (or a healthy society for that matter) by any definition.
So why is this happening?
Well, certainly there are a lot of reasons, but it certainly does not help that we have allowed the government to push God totally out of public life.
This is how bizarre it has gotten – seniors have actually been ordered to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth’s Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah, Georgia because officials say it would violate the separation between church and state.
As a society we have told God that we want nothing to do with Him. We have pushed and pushed and pushed Him into the shadows, and yet we are so surprised to learn that record numbers of our young people are rejecting the Christian faith.
When are we going to learn?
When are we going to start turning back to the principles that once made America great?
We have tried to make the government the “all-powerful” one that takes care of us and provides everything that we need. Sadly, America is beginning to see the results of such foolishness.