When I was a boy, we were taught to reach for the moon. Literally. I was 10 years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the dust of the lunar surface and left footprints that lie undisturbed to this day. A striving for excellence was the norm. We were taught that it required hard work, critical thinking and personal drive. We were competitive by nature, and though the end results for everyone were different, few felt anything but shame in not doing their best.

What do we teach our children now? To sort our garbage. To fill in the circle completely with a number 2 pencil. That incandescent bulbs are a vital threat to the environment. That all points of view are legitimate, no matter how absurd or violent. That defending one's self is never acceptable, but a lawsuit always is. That the principles we founded the country on are somehow suspect or immoral.

What happened to the ideal of the rugged individual fending for himself? What have we done since the impossible Kennedy command to reach the moon by the end of the decade? When did mediocrity become not only acceptable, but the norm? When was personal pride sacrificed to an entitlement mentality?

I grew up in a lower middle class neighborhood, in a town that would be considered ethnically diverse at the time - equal numbers of blacks and whites and a growing number of hispanics.There was the occasional Asian - usually from Japan or China. The lawns were neatly manicured as were the hedges. The houses remained clean and the paint was patched as it peeled. Most families had one black and white TV, and a used family car that leaked oil onto the driveway.

As kids, we were expected to do well in school. Many of us were the first in our families to attend college. We did so on the scholarships that we earned, and by scrimping, saving, and working our way through. After all, those new Pell grants were only for the poor people. We pay our way.

What do we see now? Mom and Dad both with full time careers, and the kids sent off to daycare at months old. The 2 careers are necessary not for any real need, but to support the $750K house that's now worth $375K. Then there's the payments on the Mercedes, the SUV, and the minivan to haul the kids around in.

Up until recently most of us have been guilty of tossing the biggest, newest and most impressive whatever on the credit card rather than save up for what we actually need. Somehow perpetual debt lost it's sting and became normal. Then the manure hit the fan back in 2008, and well, the rest is the history we are living

The kids are taught how to win on standardized tests, not how to think and analyze. There is more social indoctrination than education going on. Adherence to rules is valued higher than striving for excellence. Grading on a curve has replaced mastering subjects. Self-esteem is valued over self-reliance. Compliant worker bees are being turned out rather than innovators and visionaries.

And that is the damage to the middle and upper classes. We have created an intergenerational permanent underclass who cannot function in our minority communities. The temporary aid of unemployment under FDR, has turned into the lifestyle choice of welfare in years following. By lifestyle choice, I do not mean people choose welfare. They are however disincentivized to improve their lot by threatening their subsistence. The projects have replaced the plantations. The masters are now institutional, but the whips they carry are just as painful.

We are of course, outlining the disastrous end results of our flirtation with progressivism - the view that the federal (well, really national) government is the best arbiter of what is right for all that ails us as a society. It has been 111 years of slide since Teddy Roosevelt looked to Europe and started borrowing ideas. It has ramped up exponentially since the real "me" generation, the boomers, took over running the country.

You remember the boomers, right? Sit-ins, demonstrations, riots... "if it feels good do it"; "I am a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars"; and that old favorite - "hell, no we won't go". Their parents dug out of a depression, saved the world from a fascist threat, and figured out how to plant an American flag on the moon. The boomers reaped the rewards and felt entitled by just being there.

All of this is reflected in our modern, self-absorbed society where mediocrity is the standard so that the mediocre can feel superior. Everyone receives an award for participation. Everyone deserves a turn at bat. Everyone is special and deserves special treatment.

Reality TV is an inexpensive way for us to mock mediocrity in others. The 24-7 news feed is more about making fun of Lindsay Lohan or Charlie Sheen than reporting news. Seriously, how much of what is reported on CNN or even Fox would have made it onto that half hour of network news back in the days before Ted Turner had a silly but profitable idea?

Twitter and Facebook feed our egos because we can report to the world that we had an excellent slice of pizza in the Bronx, but unfortunately, the restroom was disgusting. Really, who cares? I don't. OMG! STFU!

After all of these years of practice, it has finally made the country dysfunctional. The products of our school systems, our "me" culture and our egos being constantly stroked is that those we send to represent us in government are so equally flawed. The prime example of this phenomenon sits in the Oval Office, when he's not on the golf course or at a fund raiser. Is there anyone who has ever proved himself less qualified for a job than our President? Mediocrity thinks he is king.

It's the legislative branch as well - entrenched parasites collecting campaign contributions and handing out favors. What else explains a Charlie Rangel or an Anthony Wiener, or for that matter a John Boehner who would rather fold and cut a cosmetic deal than deal with the real issues and come up with real solutions?

The Tea Party movement is attempting to correct this, but replacing them one at a time will take a few election cycles, and is not a permanent solution. We need to reintroduce striving for excellence, and self-reliance as our ideals, as well as the concept of serving in government not being a career for elected officeholders.

Common Sense Dictates

The race to mediocrity has a certain future, whether we look to the bread and circuses of Rome under Nero, or the social upheaval in Europe right now. Mediocrity speaks to a society in decline. A society moving in the direction of failure. We have been here before and were brought back from the brink in 1980 by the election of a man whose vision would not allow for the decline of America.

Say what you want about his policies, his successes and his failures, but Ronald Reagan was elected for one reason only - to restore American pride. He accomplished that mission. Our next President will have a similar mandate, but more difficult circumstances. Restoring American pride now will require a reversal of the acceptance of mediocrity in our society. It was the Gipper's absolute faith in the American spirit to win the day that carried him to the Oval Office. We think it would be a good idea for the GOP candidates to take a lesson from him and call America back to it's natural excellence. That's a sure path to restoring our place in the world. With our confidence restored and striving for excellence reinstated, the rest of our challenges can be addressed and overcome. So says Common Sense.

RLB