A Damning Verdict; We Are a Nation of Wimps
20 May 2017
I recently wrote that our ancestors endured great hardship when they landed in America. They hacked down forests and tried to survive in the new land. Now, they would roll over in their graves if they knew North Americans had become a nation of wimps. Readers of my column confirmed my damning verdict.
J.W. from B.C responded, “Thanks for your refreshing honesty, calling a spade a spade. We do take a pill for every damn ache and pain. I don’t think you have ice-water in your veins, hope you keep up the good work, and maybe politicians will deal with drug abuse in an intelligent way instead of pandering to bleeding hearts.”
D.M. of Courtenay, B.C. replied, “Your columns are inspirational and every Sunday they revive my faith in human nature.”
H.S. wrote, “Drug addicts would be better off in Heaven. Their brains are ruined by drugs and reviving them doesn’t make sense.”
A teacher added, “Your message should be part of our core curriculum. Teach them early and for others let stupidity be as painful as it needs be!”
From C.P. “Oh my God! Your column was beautifully written. I read it twice and now it’s on my fridge.”
N.T. said, “A vast amount of North Americans have no moral fiber and do not hold themselves responsible for their own actions. It annoys me when I realize the number of bureaucratic employees involved in rehabilitation, counsellors, nurses and other staff to care for them when it’s their own stupidity.”
J.R. in Canada, “Our once great nation is going down the drain at neck-breaking speed and few seem to realize it. There is too much political correctness and human rights nonsense. More articles pls.”
Readers did not spare some doctors. BS in the U.S. said, “My teenagers had their wisdom teeth removed and received 60 oxycodone pills, and needed none.”
From B.W. “We’ve become so dependent on the magic pill I don’t know where it will end. It’s all because drugs are the easy way out. The addicts do not deserve public support.”
S.M. “Thanks for giving me the chance to vent. There is no shortage of information about the risks of opioids, tobacco etc. We cannot afford the problems people create for themselves. I’d rather see my tax dollars go to those suffering from arthritis and other problems.”
C.B. replied, “I was in Wales when Hitler invaded Poland and remember life in Britain during the Second World War. North Americans need an emergency situation to shake people out of their self-indulgence, but it is not very likely.”
I received a few responses which confirmed I had ice water in my veins. H.M. said, “I usually disagree with your columns, your inflammatory way of expressing your ideas and often the gross generalizations. The recent column is one of your classic rants. I often wonder if you believe in what you write. You come off sounding like the worst of right-wing radio talk.”
Another critic agreed, “Your message is 20 years out-of-date. I found your article regrettably polemic. I could refute your arguments one by one.”
Some readers condemned the pharmaceutical industry. One explained he had “worked for a pharmaceutical company and knew it manipulated products to appeal to unsuspecting customers.”
I regret I can’t report all the e-mail as I received hundreds. But the message I received over and over was that if someone wants to commit suicide with opioid drugs, let him do so. And that too many bleeding heart liberals are running and bankrupting our great country.
One thanked me for my “timeless wisdom”, which I loved, and for providing the chance to voice an opinion. Another that the column was “a pure dose of strong medicine.”
The majority of responses revealed that most people believe that prescription and illegal drugs have become such a major part of our society that there is little hope the societal pendulum will swing the other way.
As one reader wrote, “The only hope is to arm our children with backbone and teach them about self-discipline, responsibility and holistic medicine.”
