When I wrote "Woke Hiring by Airlines is a Scary Business" for American Thinker on Feb. 8. I thought about the concept of merit in the U.S. and now want to expand further on the concept of woke quotas for any area of our society.

Almost since its inception as a nation, the United States of America has become synonymous with excellence in many areas. Our unique Constitution guarantees its citizens rights and privileges almost unknown elsewhere on the planet.

Among these are the freedom to practice any religion we choose. The right to express our personal beliefs, even if they are out of the mainstream. The right to bear arms for personal protection, and possibly most important, the right to peacefully assemble to redress our grievances with the government. Even today, you would be hard-pressed to name another country that grants its citizens such freedoms.

Not surprisingly, Americans have become known for the quality and quantity of products they grow or manufacture. The phrase “Made in the U.S.A.” almost guaranteed excellence. Our industries became second to none.  Whether it was shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing, automobile and truck production, pharmaceuticals, or electronics, this country produced the most innovative and diverse selections available anywhere.

Because of that fact, when the world was thrown into chaos by the actions of a trio of maniacal dictatorships at the beginning of World War Two, this country could and did become “The Arsenal of Democracy.”  It quickly converted our factories from manufacturers of domestic products into producers of war materiel, such as aircraft, tanks, and cannons, on a scale heretofore unknown. Had Americans been unable to perform that Herculean task, the world would be a much different place today.

After winning that world war, much of Europe and the Far East were in ruins. Instead of punishing the aggressors, as the allies had done after the Armistice of 1918 ending World War One, which sowed the seeds of the greater conflict to come, the United States took a different tact. Called “The Marshall Plan” our nation embarked on a mission to rebuild the war-shattered economies of not only our allies but also our adversaries, thus preventing (so far) a Third World War.

Unfortunately, we then became, in effect, “The World’s Policeman,” and were drawn into many other conflicts, in Korea, Viet Nam, and most recently, the Middle East and Afghanistan. Even a country as rich as ours couldn’t maintain the level of expenditures required to accomplish these goals. Beginning with the war in Viet Nam in 1965, a segment of our population began to express disenchantment with our system of government.

Lulled by more than a decade of peace and prosperity, we had begun to look inward. The “Civil Rights” movement finally achieved justice for African-Americans in the southern states, who had suffered under the “Jim Crow” laws of racial discrimination almost since the end of the Civil War in 1865. In addition, our colleges and universities had begun to be dominated by very leftist professors, who spoke out vociferously against the growing conflicts in Southeast Asia, particularly in South Viet Nam.

Among their students were many individuals who became war protestors and were taught to hate, not love, what this country stood for. That cancerous concept has metastasized and spread, and unfortunately has come to dominate the policies of one of our two major political parties, the Democrats.

While all this was going on, many of those same students, particularly from the prestigious “ivy league” schools, rose to become leaders of our various corporations, and officials in our government. Looking down on national pride as being somehow xenophobic, they supported the moving of our essential industries offshore, where products could be manufactured more cheaply.

When Bill Clinton supported the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which was eventually enacted in 1994, third party presidential candidate Ross Perot at the time stated that it would be like a giant vacuum cleaner, sucking American manufacturing jobs into Mexico, and to a lesser extent into Canada. Though scoffed at then as an alarmist, Perot’s assessment proved to be entirely correct.

Worse yet were the agreements which allowed formerly American corporations, which now considered themselves to be “trans-national,” to close manufacturing plants in this country and move them overseas, primarily to China and Southeast Asian countries. Again, this was started under the Clinton administration but continued under George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

How serious this has become was dramatically demonstrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Vital pharmaceuticals, like antibiotics and steroids, are no longer manufactured in this country. The same for surgical face masks, gowns, and gloves, among many other items. We had to depend on China, the source of the pandemic, and an obvious potential adversary, to supply our needs. This is obviously an unacceptable situation, but it is only the tip of a very large problem lurking below the surface. Because of the policies of a series of administrations from both major political parties, we have allowed ourselves to become dependent on offshore sources for vital materials, the lack of which threatens our very survival as a nation. We have allowed, no, virtually requested, that potential adversaries place their boots on the throat of our country.

A dictionary definition of the term “woke” reads:

“Alert to injustice and discrimination in society, especially racism.”

Most “Human Resources” departments of corporations, whose minions are notoriously “woke” in their attitudes, have been given hiring and firing authority over a very large segment of employers in this country, both governmental and private. By developing quota systems that seek to correct supposed inequities, they are having a very serious negative effect on our workforce.

Age, race, sex or even sexual preference should have no place in determining who should be hired for a certain position, or indeed selected as a candidate for military service or educational opportunities. However, any honest assessment indicates that is exactly what is happening at present.

If we are not very careful, the inscription written on the historical tombstone of this nation will read:

“The United States of America. Born with the concept of Liberty and Justice for all. Died from the effects of Woke inspired Political Correctness.”

Captain D.A. Francis is a retired TWA commercial airline pilot. He can be reached at 2022captal@gmail.com and www.captain-al-speaking.com

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License