I am 66 and I am tired.

Slide 1:

We never learn

Slide 2:

I'm 66. I've worked, hard, since I was 18 . I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 40 to 50 -hour weeks. Given the economy, there's no actual retirement in sight although I call myself a pensioner… but now I'm tired. Very tired..

Slide 3:

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

Slide 4:

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?

Slide 5:

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Slide 6:

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Slide 7:

I'm tired of spineless politicians who lack the courage, fortitude  and character to see today’s difficult tasks through. I am tired of the hypocrisy of these politicians who want to rewrite history when the going gets tough.

Slide 8:

I am tired of civil or "intrastate" wars, fueled as much by racial, ethnic, or religious animosities as by ideological fervor where most victims are civilians.

Slide 9:

I'm tired of poverty and suffering where the world agenda is dominated by children who make their living on streets collecting trash, who spend freezing nights out on the streets and have dangerous jobs in return for which they receive little money, risking their lives.

Slide 10:

I am tired of violence and male chauvinism, where girls from poor countries are often ill-treated or abandoned by their families or their husbands, which in turn induces them to prostitution.

Slide 11:

I am tired of hearing the same laments after a tragedy, a loss or disappointment that there are lots of things in this life that are hard to understand and that the hardest of all is God. We’ll still have disappointments and rejection, illness and sadness, evil and mischief. We’ll still have to face failure, possibly tragedy. Faith in God won’t take away the darkness. But what faith in God will do is to free us from the fear that the darkness will destroy the value and meaning of our lives.

Slide 12:

Yes, I'm damn tired... But I'm also glad to be 66. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my grandchildren...