Combative minds can be virtuous with a mixture of wisdom and knowledge, while negative minds fuel the energies of a declining society.  On the eve of the most controversial presidential election in my lifetime, I’ve never been more concerned for the future of our nation, as it resembles the quiet before the storm. There’s no doubt I’m not alone in this assessment, being forced to take sides under the derivatives of fear, hate, distrust, plus anger.

      In July 2016, I self-published “Guidance Against The Odds.” A timeline auto-biography with two objectives. The first was to validate how it’s possible for me to overcome and evolve regardless of the mind fields planted before me. The second was to demonstrate to my grandchildren that anything is possible as long as you believe in yourself, communicate honestly and be willing to listen, all of which were never meant to coincide with an election year.  Not being a writer, the impulse came as a result of realizing the type of influence I was not having on my grandchildren.  Just going along, finding myself complaining,  not doing anything for a change, was not setting a good example.    Childhood is the beginning, with the first decade being the most precious, as there’s only one chance of getting it right.  Recently viewing a trailer of the movie “Moonlighting” directed by Barry Jenkins, reinforced the facts of “Cause and Effect.”  While discrimination (racism/sexism) is the biggest underlining problem, we don’t see or seem to realize what complicates the mindset of our youth in other areas of life.  Regardless of who wins the presidency, millions of attitudes within our youth have been tattooed, illuminating mentalities that will have a dire effect on the nation in the future.  For those who don’t believe, history has a way of repeating itself and comes back strong.  An example: Dick Gregory, an American civil rights activist, social critic, writer, entrepreneur, conspiracy theorist, and comedian, ran for president in 1968.  He won the state of Pennsylvania by 9 million votes as a write-in, but it was declared a computer error.  In May of that same year, J. Edgar Hoover sent a memo dated May 15th ordering the Chicago Bureau to neutralize Dick Gregory.  Ten years later, on March 10th, of 1978,  the Chicago Tribune printed the story.  Fact or fiction, a seed of conspiracy was planted.  Almost sixty years later, and yes, it’s emails rather than a memo, but again the FBI is involved.

      A powerful nation, but the intellectual ability of its people to rationalize and use its intuitiveness as predictors for warranted or unwarranted optimism has left the planet.  Resulting in an atmosphere where creditable information cannot exist.  A bridge for the rebuilding of trust by the American public can only be attained by today’s youngest adult generation, the Millennials, through spiritual partnering.  Or else, in years to come, the offspring of this generation will showcase the irregularities of the 2016 presidential primaries/debates, and the downward cycle will continue.   As a member of the Silent Generation, my voice is small, and my book “Guidance Against the Odds” to some people may come off as convoluted, but truth can never be validated by ignorance.  For a country built on immigration, slavery, and peonage, we all must have a voice, and we all must listen, or we all will fail.  “If there’s no enemy within, the enemy outside cannot hurt you.”