Greg Awtry

I am old. There, I said it. It’s taken 73 years to realize I am much closer to the end than the beginning. All my life I have been too busy to even think about being part of history instead of part of the future. So, I ask myself why am I so concerned about what our country ‘s future could and should be instead of spending what is most likely my last decade enjoying what time I have left.

Doris Day, a Hollywood star of the past, recorded a song, “Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future’s not ours to see. What will be, will be”. I respectively disagree Doris.

Last week I began to ponder that “future” question and found the answer in my youngest Grandchild, seven-year-old Oscar, or Ozzie as I call him. He is busy too. What seven-year-old isn’t? But little Oz would rather scoop snow than play video games. Just the other day after dinner at his house, I saw him grab a step stool and begin to wash dishes. When he visits my house, he leads me to the garage shop so I can watch him practice his nail hammering. All this makes me wonder what he will do as an adult. What’s his future look like?

Isn’t the fundamental responsibility for the current generation to leave a world better off than the one that was left to us? The world left to us by the “Greatest Generation”, you know, the one that survived the Great Depression, fought and won two world wars, and created the greatest economy on earth, was much better than before.

They had every reason to fail, but their sacrifices, coupled with courage and patriotism cannot be forgotten in the yellowing pages of history. Instead, it should be celebrated while serving as a road map to our future.

The future is, and I hope always will be more important to me than the past, thanks to Little Ozzie. I owe him that.

What is our future? I am not talking about what politicians want us to believe, which only looks as far out as the next election cycle. I am talking about what our future will look like 73 years from now. We get so caught up in the issues of today, like health care costs, high insurance rates, unaffordable homes, all the while insisting government makes things better.

Now this is the same government that can’t even keep the lights on, can’t balance a checkbook, and can’t submit a budget on time. And we are asking them to define our future?

I am reminded of John F. Kennedy’s famous line, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” I believe he was right. The government is not in charge of our future. The only thing our country owes us is security and the preservation of our liberty and freedom to pursue our own futures. So, what can we do to make sure we leave our country better than we found it

I will toss in my two cents of advice, which I know many of you think is overpriced too! So here goes.

First, we simply must find a way to get past this toxic division that has infected our society like a fatal disease. We must come to the conclusion that we truly are in this together. We must not allow the politicians and media to continue to divide us by political party, race, gender, origin, religion, age or wealth. That only serves those who can benefit by keeping us in separate tribes.

Second, we must establish long term goals with long term action plans to get there. Every successful business does this, so if we are going to ask anything of our government, this is it. I mean, we as a country borrow $4 million dollars a minute from our grandchildren, day and night, 24/7, with no end in sight, and they have no plan. What kind of future is that?

Folks, I can’t see a future for Ozzie, and your little Ozzies, the type of future they deserve, if we continue down the path we are on. But I can see a future of great prosperity, peace and opportunity if we find a way in our hearts and minds, in our actions and words, and in our love of country to realize America’s future doesn’t belong to government. It belongs to us.

We owe a bright future to the next generations, just as the Greatest Generation did for us.

What is your vision of America 73 years from now as we approach the year 2100? Let me know at gregawtry@awtry.com.