Breaking the Wall

Sasha I am reading a book called "The Train to Petrovek" It is about a U.S. spy that was sent to Russia to capture a guy by the name of Kokosha? He and 4 others were involved in stealing money from the US government while building the US embassy. He had quite the experience there and nearly got killed doing so. He is from Utah and grew up in Bear River, Ut. He talks a lot about Russia, and how tough life there can be. He even talked about a young boy Named Sasha that helped him get into a McDonalds there, because the line was so long. I thought of you but I am sure that it wasn't you. It is a great book and I am really enjoying reading about Russia. If you want to borrow it I would love to lend it to you. He is also LDS and actually met the first missionaries while in Russia.

Tyler - I assume you meant "The Train To Potevka". I have read the book. Sasha in the book is not me, but I do know the author quite well. He was a councilor in my branch presidency and worked at a business center in a hotel as a cover up. Everybody, of course, knew him as a US businessman. Thinking back, I do recall that his occasional "attempts" at Russian sounded a whole lot better than what you would expect from an average American businessman.

Yes, Sasha I agree somewhat with what you are saying. However with the overall attack on middle class America in the form of higher taxes, dollar devaluation, stagnant wages, and job exportation to other countries, raising a family isn't what it used to be! Example; My father was the sole wage earner for most years while I was growing up. That just isn't possible anymore in most cases. My wife and I both work long hours to support our small family and we barely get by nowdays. I constantly worry whether or not we will have enough to retire on.

Steve:

I completely agree. The economy has changed. With better technology you should expect it to become easier to feed a family. But that is only true if the improvements in technology are not being negated by a reduction in common sense.

So with the above perspective, the "ideological genocide" over a period of a century is a whole lot more dangerous than any natural or man-made violent calamity we have seen so far. If our government was smart, it would focus on supporting the family ahead of any other priority.

Another way to look at it. Compare the level of technology to your position on the freeway (mile marker), how hard people work to your velocity, and the strength of the family structure to your acceleration. You could be in a good position and moving forward at a good speed, but if your acceleration is negative, sooner or later you will start going backwards, and your rate of digression will be hopelessly increasing.