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One of the many highlights of my day is watching "Little House on the Prairie" on COZI TV. Anybody who's seen it will understand why I question the turn of events that have occurred to cause today's generations to act like they do. Yes, times were hard back then, especially for Charles Ingalls and Mr. Edwards. Yet, if you substituted most men of today into that role, they wouldn't survive nor would their families. Yes, the women back then were a different caliber, too. No matter their lot in life, the hardships, or the hours of bone hurting work, they persevered. How? They had to perform because nobody would do it for them. It was the very basis of the expression "root hog root, or you're going to die". How many men could build their own houses and barns today? How many could clear enough land of rocks and stumps, then break ground and plow it with a single plow behind a mule? How many women could do all the cooking, sewing, do laundry by hand, and still be awake after cleaning up the supper dishes? Then, there was the feeding of chickens, egg retrieval, animal feeding, stable cleaning, just to mention a few. Daunting, assuredly. I compare their grit back then to the acceptances of today, and I'm astounded. Those men fought tooth and nail to protect their freedom and preserve their rights to choose the best for themselves and their family. NOBODY dared interfere back then. NOBODY. Mess around with someone's kid or wife back then got you a well deserved beating at the least. Today, they video a rape on a subway. Seriously. It doesn't take much to realize you've lost your freedom if you permit that type of behaviour because you're scared of the legal ramifications of helping her. I'd rather go to prison or be shot than have to live with that kind of cowardice. Yet, it's acceptable behaviour today. Instead of heating water on the stove if a water heater breaks now, they're calling a plumber immediately. In most houses today, if the dishwasher breaks, the family eats out until it gets fixed or replaced. Laundry by hand? Stop it, you're killing me. Guys, don't laugh. Have you got more than a couple of tools? When's the last time you built something? When's the last time you hammered a nail in without bending it? Changed your own oil, rotated your tires, tuned up the car? With the advent of so many labor saving devices today, any ONE of which would've been a MIRACLE back then, what's being accomplished with all the time saved? Indoor plumbing, air conditioning, electricity, now the electronic revolution, yet we seem only to be able to whine and complain if we have to lift a finger. By comparison, we've demonstrated that we've chosen the route of the Romans instead of the pioneers. We've collectively allowed a bunch of feckless milquetoast politicians to usurp our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness bereft of our permission. Yes, we're oppressed, and the tyranny is tightening. Yet, we continue to acquiesce. There's still a LOT of us out here working to keep our freedoms and the right to choose our destiny, but we DO need some help. We NEED a hold harmless law from kicking riders off the wagons we're pulling, not to mention the right to "discipline" those who're pulling in the opposite direction ! Most roads are both ways. You pull your wagon in the direction you want, but allow me to pull mine in the direction I want. Get your hands off my wagon ! Your rear ends, too ! Rulers? We don't need/want them. Federal oversight on everything? Please. Rapists in broad daylight on a subway? NEVER ! EVER !