"Hyphen-Nation!"

Did anybody ever call you names when you were a little kid? I guess this is the first aggression we see when we are growing up. Inside the house, especially one full of kids, sisters and brothers "get into it" on a pretty regular basis; but outside the home, from other kids, it is different. I guess we expect it from our brothers and sisters, as we all seek attention and approval from our parents; you know "look at me Mom". When we are out with our friends, who we picked, or who picked us to be friends, name calling and mean treatment seems to hurt more. If you are too fat, or to thin, too short, or have a "big nose", you are an open target when you're a kid. In the early years, children seem to get past small arguments fairly quickly; a little ice cream or a soda can do wonders to mend a friendship. As we get into adolescent years, we aren't quite so forgiving; cliques in high school often separate teens for the rest of their lives, well into adulthood people refer to old classmates as "nerds" or "jocks", rather than people. Unfortunately for me, I am unable to attend an impromptu reunion this month; I feel badly about this as I have connected with several people from my youth on FACEBOOK. I've heard from some of my friends (who will remain nameless) that some people are choosey about who they will sit with. I find this amusing to think that after 45 years we still separate ourselves from one another.

Today, in America, we are seeing our nation divided into pieces that are pitted against each other in order to gain an electoral edge. Suddenly, it is bad to be successful in America, suddenly it is bad to want individual responsibility for a person's actions, suddenly it is a bad thing to follow existing laws. We are talked to as hyphenated Americans; Black-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Americans, Conservative-Americans or Liberal-Americans. Each hyphen separates us from one another, like a wedge used to pry apart our society. There are those who thrive upon division and dissension; make no mistake, these individuals exist on every side of politics, and they are "slimy snakes" who appeal to the worst in all of us. Currently these "snakes" are using our economic tribulation to divide America into opposing camps. We cannot fall into this trap; all of America is in trouble. Even if you are a billionaire, an inflated dollar will make that billion into a thousand pretty quickly; ask the Germans after WWI, a million marks for a loaf of bread! This isn't only a problem of the poor, or the working class; this is an AMERICAN problem, and Americans will have to face it together. If we fail to address this as an entire population, and continue to "name-call" and "point fingers", our nation will go in one direction, DOWN!

Let us stop being a "Hyphen-Nation", and be the UNITED States. Our unity has been our strength; don't let division become our weakness. As the bible says, "A house divided against itself cannot stand", wisdom and common sense we should follow!