The Superior Express -

This article was written by a college student by the name of Alyssa Ahlgren, who’s in grad school for her MBA. It’s a short article but definitely worth a read.

 “My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity Around Us!

 I’m sitting in a small coffee shop near Lake Nokomis (Mpls) trying to think of what to write about. I scroll through my newsfeed on my phone looking at the latest headlines of Democratic candidates calling for policies to “fix” the so-called injustices of capitalism.

 I put my phone down and continue to look around. I see people talking freely, working on their MacBooks, ordering food they get in an instant, seeing cars go by outside, and it dawned on me. We live in the most privileged time in the most prosperous nation and we’ve become completely blind to it. Vehicles, food, technology, freedom to associate with whom we choose. These things are so ingrained in our American way of life we don’t give them a second thought. 

  We are so well off here in the United States that our poverty line begins 31 times above the global average. Thirty. One. Times. Virtually no one in the United States is considered poor by global standards. Yet, in a time where we can order a product off Amazon with one click and have it at our doorstep the next day, we are unappreciative, unsatisfied, and ungrateful.

  Our unappreciation is evident as the popularity of socialist policies among my generation continues to grow. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said to Newsweek talking about the millennial generation, “An entire generation, which is now becoming one of the largest electorates in America, came of age and never saw American prosperity.”

Never saw American prosperity! Let that sink in. When I first read that statement, I thought to myself, that was quite literally the most entitled and factually illiterate thing I’ve ever heard in my 26 years on this earth. Many young people agree with her, which is entirely misguided. My generation is being indoctrinated by a mainstream narrative to actually believe we have never seen prosperity I know this first hand, I went to college, let’s just say I didn’t have the popular opinion, but I digress.

  Why then, with all of the overwhelming evidence around us, evidence that I can even see sitting at a coffee shop, do we not view this as prosperity? We have people who are dying to get into our country. People around the world are destitute and truly impoverished. Yet, we have a young generation convinced they’ve never seen prosperity, and as a result, elect politicians dead set on taking steps towards abolishing capitalism.

  Why? The answer is this, my generation has only seen prosperity. We have no contrast. We didn’t live in The Great Depression or live through two world wars, the Korean War, The Vietnam War or see the rise and fall of socialism and communism. We don’t know what it’s like to live without the internet, without cars, without smartphones. We don’t have a lack of prosperity problem. We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it’s spreading like a plague.”

A O

History . . .

As I’ve noted before, “History” is really interesting. I came across a little article in the American Legion monthly magazine recently.

I’m sure many of you have heard of the “Buffalo Soldiers.”

In case you haven’t, to be short. They were an Infantry Regiment of the Army’s 25th Division, formed after the Civil War in 1865 or ‘66. They were all African American men who served in the Civil War and later served in the Indian Wars of the West.

What I learned from the magazine was that in the late 1800s the Army was looking for ways to improve and modernize their ability to fight. As the world changed, the Army was considering the positive attributes of both “bicycles” and the “internal combustion engine.” Both might be used to replace the horse.

Well, the use of the bicycles was given a two year experiment and the Buffalo Soldiers were the men who helped test out the bicycles. A number of tests were conducted over the two years, including a 1,900 mile ride from Fort Missoula, Montana to St. Louis, Missouri by 23 selected riders.

The unit was known as: “the Buffalo Soldier Bicycle Corps.”

As you’ve guessed by now, the internal combustion engine won the favor of those making decisions in those days. However, I’m glad I read the magazine and this article. I learned something new.

The knowledge will probably never benefit me in any material or economic way, but I feel better about learning this bit of information and confirms my belief that “Reading” is the easiest way to expand an education.

. . . . Now, if I can only remember what I read.

A O

Does anyone read the “Unicameral Update?”

It is a weekly publication relating what is going on during the legislative sessions in Lincoln.

I admit I don’t read it cover to cover, but I generally glance over it to see what I might find interesting.

Last week’s edition noted the governor’s priority list for this year are: Property tax relief; prisons; and water policy.

The article was short and didn’t give details, but what I found out was that among all the money the legislature is going to decide how to spend was Nebraska’s share of the federal coronavirus relief funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.

My gosh . . . Nebraska (with its low number of citizens) received $1.04 billion in what is called “aid.” Think of what states like New York and California (with their mega population base) must have received. I have no idea of how the money was divided, but it gives an idea of how “Liberals” want to control the country. Tax the people and spend the money.

Many of you thought ‘inflation’ was going down this year. Well . . . most states have not yet begun to spend all that special aid on top of all the other federal money spent in so many ways.

A O