During the summer of 1979, Jimmy Carter gave his famous Crisis of Confidence speech. In the now infamous narrative, Carter intended to set forth a new energy plan. Instead, the speech revealed his shaky confidence in the American ideal. Behind shallow praise of the “American People,” the former peanut farmer painted a picture of our nation with a pessimistic brush. America was facing a “crisis of spirit” and had lost confidence in her future. Needless to say, this message of “Malaise” did not resonate strongly with a generation of Americans who had been raised in a nation with confidence and patriotism in their hearts. During the 1980 election, Americans came to a fork in the road. They had a decision to make between the “malaise” of the Carter administration and the future promised by a retired actor named Ronald Reagan.
Like me, my father was on his way out of college during the 1980 election cycle. Although he did not trust Reagan because of his years in the liberal cesspool that is Hollywood, he was deathly afraid of Jimmy Carter’s policies and lack of experience in the political sphere. Just like in 1980, I believe our nation is standing on the precipice of economic destruction and political chaos in 2012. The future President Obama promises does not align with the principles of hard work, individual innovation, and entrepreneurship that built my past. While the American people will always keep the fires of the American Dream alive in our hearts, our government has steadily progressed away from individualism and small government. At this juncture in history, I find it enlightening to look into the past for answers, both my past and my father’s past.
I grew up learning the values of hard work, innovation, and compassion from my father. He embraced these lessons as a young man growing up in a small town in the Midwest before he imparted them to my siblings and me. My father was born smack dab in the middle of a family of 12 in the small town of Atchison, Kansas. My hometown is one where local, familial ties are important, and the Lutz family was a classic example of this practice. Early on, each of the 12 children learned to work hard and watch out for each other. My grandfather started a dealership and auto repair service with his brother in the 1950s after serving in the Korean War. He was a trusted businessman and always made sure to shop local and take care of his friends and neighbors. My father and his 11 siblings grew to appreciate the small town life, entrepreneurship, and family ties through their parents’ example.
When my father was 7 years old, tragedy struck our family as his father, my grandfather, passed away from a sudden heart attack. My grandmother never remarried and raised 12 children on her own. The entire family pulled together. According to my father, they had to “work as a team if they wanted to survive.” My father and my aunts and uncles didn’t know they were poor. For them, hard work was a part of life. The children made money in any way that they could. My father delivered papers when he was 12 and grew up doing odd jobs around town, including shining shoes and collecting bottles. The children were lucky enough to attend a private, Catholic school in town, but they had to work hard to pay the high tuition bills. During high school, my father would occasionally stop by the school office and drop off 5 or 10 dollars for his tuition payment. Eventually, he and his siblings paid for their own educations.
