Opening remarks

Do you remember when things were different? Can you recall when there was character and originallity in our country? When just going to the next town meant you could try new foods, see new clothes, meet new people, shop in new stores, even hear a new accent. Back when county fairs actually displayed the wares of the county they were held in and were not just outlets for fattening food, cheep poorly made chinese toys and dangerous rides. (Well, I guess the rides have always been pretty dangerous.) Can you perhaps recall the phrases "Regional Specialty" "Just like Mom used to make" or "No place like Home"? That's the problem, there IS somplace like home and it IS "Just like Mom used to make" and we don't even seem to notice. "Isn't this great?" they say, "We're on vacation 3000 miles from home and we can still get (fill in the blank), just like Mom used to make." Shouldn't we lament the loss of such glorious items as "Home made apple pie", Bob's hardware store, Beazmore's Friendly Market or the MacAlpine's lunch counter?

No, I'm not a dottering old fool wishing for yester-year and I am not a starry eyed dreamer either. Many of the things we'll talk about here have been gone my entire life, but that doesn't mean that they should be left behind or forgotten. There is a myriad of important lessons in our past that the current crop of Americans have never given a single nod to, let alone a carefully considered thought.

In this blog we will examine, and hopefully discuss, the Homogenization of America. How exactly we have slipped from who we were to who we are as a nation and as a people. How we went from being a country of immigrants to a country that abhors immigration. How we have changed from the most respected nation on Earth, to the most reviled. And how our hometowns have become just like everyone else's hometown.

Join us won't you? Add your own input into this investigation, what have you noticed and what do you miss? What's good about our path and what could we have done without? Do you enjoy living in the Mom and Pop economy or in a Wal-Mart world and why? Share it with us folks and we will share with you as well.