America’s Rising Stress Level

BUT WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

by Ron Ewart, ©2010

(Aug. 13, 2010) — THE CLINICAL DEFINITION OF STRESS: “Stress is a term in psychology and biology, first coined in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become a commonplace of popular parlance. It refers to the consequence of the failure of an organism – human or animal – to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. Stress symptoms commonly include a state of alarm and adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and exhaustion, as well as irritability, muscular tension, inability to concentrate and a variety of physiological reactions such as headache and elevated heart rate. (from Wikipedia) Hmmmmm!

A MORE COLLOQUIAL DEFINITION OF STRESS! “Stress is the confusion created when one’s mind overrides the body’s basic desire to choke the living daylights out of some idiot, who desperately deserves it.” (From a Wet Willies “gag” card, with a few revisions to clean it up.) Now that’s more like it!

A flight attendant on a Jet Blue flight from Pittsburgh to New York loses it because of an unruly passenger, cusses out the rest of the passengers over the public address system after landing, then escapes with a beer down the emergency shoot which he deployed and scurries to his car, later to be arrested at his apartment for a variety of charges. Stress led to frustration, which led to anger, which led to abnormal behavior. As a mirror to the mood of the country, the flight attendant has now become a folk hero. But then Robin Hood was a folk hero and he was nothing but a thief, even if he did only steal from the rich. DB Cooper ripped off an airplane of a bunch of bucks and parachuted into the Cascade wilderness in the middle of the night. He too became a folk hero, although he probably paid with his life for this idiotic stunt. Doesn’t take much to become a folk hero these days, does it?

It gets better. A property owner, frustrated with the draconian zoning regulations placed upon his land by the local planning agency, outfits his large bulldozer with half-inch steel plates and cuts peep holes in the plates to see out. He drives his bulldozer to town on his lowboy, unloads it and then proceeds to turn the planning office into a bunch of broken sticks with the bulldozer. He is eventually dispatched (killed) by the police. Stress led to frustration, which led to anger, which led to abnormal behavior. He too became a folk hero for many rural landowners who are besieged by rules, regulations, restrictions and ordinances that render their land virtually useless, while city folk get off virtually scot-free.

Another property owner who uses his property for his business, is given much grief by the planning and zoning department about the material and equipment he stores on his land. They tell him he has to remove it, which will put him out of business. He spirits a shotgun into the next council meeting, shouting “Kill the Mayor” and proceeds to kill a couple of council members before the police killed him. Once again, stress led to frustration, which led to anger, which led to abnormal behavior.

We recently spoke with a property owner who built a garage on his large rural property. It took over 6 months and $3,000 in permit fees, expert witnesses and consultants before he finally finished the garage. To build a garage, mind you! Needless to say, he is very angry. He’s now installing our powerful, legally intimidating No Trespassing signs that tell government agents to KEEP OUT in no uncertain terms! He’s had it! Many Americans have had it up to their eyebrows, as their stress level grows.

We could go on and on about many more of these stories of stress, frustration and anger, that eventually lead to abnormal behavior and violence, but we’re sure the reader gets the picture. How’s the stress in your life?

Let us be clear. We do not condone abnormal or violent behavior but the fact is, if you want to do anything in America, the permits, the cost and the time, drive people almost nuts. Crowded airplanes, trains, buses and roads raise the stress level even more. In addition, all across America the frustration level is rising as a result of a government who continues to squeeze Americans with law after law, rule after rule, restriction after restriction, regulation after regulation and ordinance after ordinance, mostly without constitutional authority. That stress is rising among the American people is no great surprise and was easily predictable. What is even more predictable is where this collective stress will lead, as individuals and as a country. It could very easily lead to civil war or outright revolution, but somehow we don’t think the government gets it.

Several months ago, we created a YouTube video entitled “The Coming Civil War.” The hits to the video are over 20,000 so far and the comments are disturbing to say the least. Many Americans want to get out the guns and go to war right now. Their stress level is high, their frustration borders on delusion and their anger grows by the day. This isn’t rocket science. If the pressure continues, it can only lead to increasing violence.

If Americans don’t want to see the lid blown off and their stable little lives come apart at the seams, they had better take back their government and they had better do it soon. The point of no return is rapidly approaching and after the point of no return, it will take a revolution to restore our Republic.

“But how?” you say.  How do we take back the government? You start at the local level of government and public schools and you attend the council meetings and the school board meetings en masse and you present to them a list of reasonable, common-sense demands. If they don’t meet the demands, you use the political power of the many to vote them out of office. Get together first before the meetings and settle on the demands before you present them to the government and the school board.

Relieve your stress by taking action. Get noisy. Quit being nice. What has nice got you so far? The other side isn’t nice. Look at what they accuse you of? You hate children and you are against them. You want to take social security away from seniors. You are racist. You hate blacks and Latinos. You are scare mongers. You hate the environment and don’t want to protect it. None of it is true. You are discriminated against because you are a conservative that believes in the founding principles of this once-great country. It can be a great country again, but you are going to have to get off your dead behinds and put your thoughts of freedom into action. And don’t give up until you have a win. Then go after another win and another and another. Be persistent. Be persuasive. Sometimes, when necessary, be obnoxious.

And it can’t be just a few of you that get involved in local government or the school board. It has to be many. It should be a hundred or more. Find out who the players are on the other side. Dig into them and their motives and agenda. Expose their agenda and make it public. Most people are fair minded. When blatant unfairness is exposed, they react negatively against it.

And remember, if much of this “stuff” we are being confronted with today, occurred 100 years ago, some politicians would have been taken out into the woods, stripped naked and tarred and feathered. That’s how some of our ancestors reacted to political skullduggery. We are not suggesting that we tar and feather anyone. We are just saying that our tolerance level for the crap being handed to us by our leaders, is way too high. That tolerance needs to come down a notch or two and we need to become far less tolerant of politicians that constantly violate their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help them God!

Politicians of all stripes are pussy cats in reality. They love working in the shadows. They hate public scrutiny and they despise being called on the carpet for their misdeeds. When confronted with their shortcomings, they suddenly get religion and they beg your forgiveness. Don’t forgive them, get rid of them. They are leaches, blinded by the power they hold. They only understand a greater power. For God’s sakes Americans, if you care about freedom, liberty and American exceptionalism and American sovereignty, show them that greater power and clean out the swamps once and for all. Either you do it, or they OWN you. Right now, they OWN you. The question is, how long do you intend to remain a slave?

Start this November by kicking out as many politicians as possible, on either side of the aisle. We need new blood in our leaders, leaders that possess the qualities of honor and common sense. Put the pressure on the new guys and gals and tell them if they don’t adhere to the principles of our constitution, you will “kick” them out of office too. Demand the best and you might just get it. One more thing. Quit being nice. It has gotten you nowhere.