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I'm Not a Celebrity: So, Why Should You Care What This Old Man Has to Say?
I'm Not a Celebrity: So, Why Should You Care What This Old Man Has to Say?
I'm Not a Celebrity: So, Why Should You Care What This Old Man Has to Say?
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I'm Not a Celebrity: So, Why Should You Care What This Old Man Has to Say?

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We Americans are engaged in an ideological struggle to decide whether we will remain a nation committed to the principles of individual freedom and self reliance or be transformed into an European style of socialism.

Westin believes too many Americans are either to busy or disinterested to take the time to study the issues and gather the information needed to make intelligent decisions. Instead they allow themselves to be influenced by the diatribe spewed by late night talk show hosts, TV and radio political pundits, biased politicians and other celebrities.

Dont be fooled by the small size of Im Not a Celebrity. It provides a mini encyclopedia of information behind the most important headline issues confronting our nation. It is packed between autobiographic bookends establishing Westins credibility as a senior citizen and presenting his example of what it takes to achieve the American Dream.

Westin reminds us that history teaches that the decline of free democratic societies begins with the deterioration of social morality. If America is to remain the leader of the free world, each of us, regardless of political, racial, ethnic or religious affiliation, must take it upon ourselves to live moral lives and challenge those who turn their backs on common decency. If we dont, the freedoms we have enjoyed will be lost. He hopes that by reading Im Not a Celebrity, you will be moved to action.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherAuthorHouse
Release dateMar 8, 2012
ISBN9781468557824
I'm Not a Celebrity: So, Why Should You Care What This Old Man Has to Say?
Author

Robert L. Westin, Sr.

Robert Westin was born in 1932. After graduating from the University of Denver, he spent 52 years in the insurance industry. He and his wife Tina have been married over 59 years have six children, eight grand children and three great grand children. They care for 21 llamas on their 10.6 acre ranch near Lompoc, California.

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    I'm Not a Celebrity - Robert L. Westin, Sr.

    Contents

    DEDICATION

    PREFACE

    CHAPTER 1

    CHAPTER 2

    CHAPTER 3

    CHAPTER 4

    CHAPTER 5

    CHAPTER 6

    CHAPTER 7

    CHAPTER 8

    CHAPTER 9

    CHAPTER 10

    DEDICATION

    I shall forever be grateful to my wife, Tina, for her unwavering love and support and for standing with me through good times and bad and, most particularly, for nurturing our six great kids.

    I have written this book with Tina’s encouragement and shared fervent wish that our eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren will live in a peaceful world with the freedom to pursue their own American Dream.

    PREFACE

    I’M NOT A celebrity, so why should you care what I have to say?

    Truth be told, if you are over sixty years old, you probably don’t care. You have lived long enough to witness for yourself the deterioration of our democratic republic and the subtle imposition of centralized socialism. Depending on your age, you have experienced as many as six armed conflicts and eleven economic recessions. On the more positive side, you have participated in building America into the greatest country on the planet. As devotees of the free enterprise system, you have helped improve our quality of life and the creature comforts we all enjoy. Regardless of the role you have played, whether entrepreneur or blue-collar working stiff, you know that your efforts have helped raise the standard of living for all Americans.

    My message is directed particularly to those younger Americans who, without knowledge or appreciation of our country’s history, are attempting to transform America socially and economically. I believe they don’t know what they don’t know. I am hopeful that what I have to say will help them understand why those of us who believe their actions are eroding the foundation of values and principles upon which our country is built are so concerned. Perhaps by seeing America through our eyes, they will come to the realization that the foundation laid by our founding fathers and the protections afforded by our Bill of Rights and Constitution for over 230 years should be preserved for future generations.

    Although I expect there will be critics who will say I do not have the credentials to speak for anyone other than myself, I answer, What qualifies any celebrity to speak for me? My life has spanned over one-third of our country’s history. My love for America and my tenure on this earth entitles me to share the wisdom I have accumulated with those youngsters who are accepting without question the diatribe espoused by celebrities and liberal politicians promoting the progressive agenda and the merits of social justice.

    I’ve never fully understood why so many of us unquestionably accept as gospel the commentary of those accorded celebrity status. All too many of us adopt as our own the opinions of movie and TV stars, talk show hosts, musicians and other entertainers, athletes, journalists, political pundits, politicians, and others. Instead, we should question their opinions and validate or repudiate them by doing our own research. To really understand why so many Americans, particularly the elderly, are concerned about the decline of our country, we need to pay attention to those who do think for themselves or formulate their opinions based upon their personal research of the facts and their life experiences. It’s time the voices of the center-right majority of Americans be heard and the liberal progressive minority’s demand for social justice be put into perspective.

    I’ve written this book in the hope that at least a few will read it and come to understand why it is so important to me and so many other American senior citizens that our democratic republic, built upon the foundation laid by our country’s founding fathers almost 250 years ago, be preserved. I fear that the flame of individual freedom and self-reliance fueled by our free enterprise system is being snuffed out by a progressive minority driven by an entitlement mentality seeking to redistribute the wealth of our nation in the name of social justice.

    To help you understand why I feel the way I do and why I think that I am able to speak for what I believe to be the majority of the fifty million senior citizen Americans who share my concerns, I want you to know something about me and some of the significant events in my life that shaped my perspective. I hope you will accept my word that I am not senile and have not regressed by wishing for the return of the good old days. Rather, my mission is to encourage all Americans to educate themselves. I’ve tried to give you just enough information and facts to help you understand why I believe what I have to say. I am confident that if you will do your own research and dig deeper into the facts I’ve presented, you will share my convictions. Liberals and conservatives must come together to build on the foundation of individual freedoms laid by our founding fathers if our democratic republic is to be preserved for future generations.

    Robert L. Westin Sr.

    CHAPTER 1

    So, Who Am I?

    HAVE YOU EVER asked yourself, Who am I? The answer to this simple question depends upon a myriad of influencing factors. The variables that shape our lives and define our belief systems are infinitesimal. The trite answer is, We are the products of the culture in which we were born and the geographical environment in which we have chosen to live.

    From the beginning, America has been a melting pot for people from different cultures to come together, secure in America’s promise of equality and individual freedom. America’s strength as a nation was at its strongest when immigrants realized they did not have to abandon their religious beliefs at the expense of being Americanized. They adopted America as their country and learned to speak English with a sense of pride and patriotism.

    Unfortunately, all too many new immigrants are bonding together to form their own communities structured to perpetuate their ethnic and/or religious cultures. A growing number of Mexican, Asian, Muslim, and other ethnic-oriented communities function as separate societies across our country. Rather than assimilate and learn to speak English, they are weakening America by tearing holes in the fabric that clothes us as a nation.

    The difference between these segregated communities and our multifarious geographical cultures is the pride of being an American that binds us together. The colloquial differences between New England, the East, the South, the Southwest, and the West reflect the social and cultural diversity of our country. It is the blending of this diversity into a harmonious union that provides testimony to the success of the experiment called America.

    It is clear to me that our country is at a crossroads. We can continue to walk the conservative path to the future that is paved with the stones of individualism and self-sufficiency, or we can board a progressive train pulled by an engine fueled by government-funded entitlements and assurances of social justice for all. I fear that the dissonant sounds trumpeted by progressive ideologists are overwhelming the center-right majority of Americans. The progressives’ demonization of capitalism and the financially successful is what appeals to the uninformed, who swallow the swill of distortions because they are unwilling, or unable, to think for themselves and weigh the consequences of their choice to ride the progressive train.

    My purpose is to give a voice to those of us who believe in America’s exceptionalness. I am confident that I speak for legions of Americans who share my concerns but are not being heard because they are not celebrities.

    Because I am not a celebrity and you don’t know anything about me, I want to introduce myself before you journey further. I believe that you will find that I am a fairly rational kind of person that has lived a fundamentally ordinary life. I am confident that a majority of Americans, particularly those over sixty, can relate to many of the experiences that have shaped my thinking and opinions.

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    For years, whenever I was asked about my birthday, I boasted that I had been born on November 5, 1932, the day Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to his first term as president of the United States. Presidential elections are always held on a Tuesday. When my seventy-ninth birthday fell on a Saturday, I had the uncomfortable feeling that November 5, 1932, may not have been a Tuesday. Much to my dismay, I discovered I had been born on a Saturday. Roosevelt had not been elected until three days later—Tuesday, November 8, 1932. I’m certain that no one really cares whether I was born on the day Roosevelt was elected. The timing of my entrance into this world is, however, important to your understanding of why I believe the future of our country is in jeopardy.

    The Great Depression was in full force when I was born in the still-small town of Center, Colorado. Center is in the heart of Colorado’s San Luis Valley, about 150 miles southwest of Denver. Times and circumstances were exceptionally hard for my parents.

    My mother was born in 1910, followed by her sister Irene, born in 1913, and her brother George, born in 1917. They lived on a 160-acre farm located about seven miles west of Center. Mom was stricken with polio when she was eleven and was bedridden for months. Her bed confinement left her

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