In the spirit of the holiday season, I am humbly asking for the following this Christmas: Can we banish from the English Language the term, "the new normal."

I am beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of hearing this overused phrase that is so popular today to try and explain away why things can't be great in America anymore – that we have to settle for less.

Results and effort used to matter. Not anymore. Now we just say that it's "the new normal” and then, we can explain away hopelessly high unemployment, trillions of dollars in runaway debt and the overall decline of the American dream and spirit.

What happened to the days of President John F. Kennedy, who challenged Americans to: "Ask not what your country can do for you ... but what you can do for your country."

As we have slogged the uneasy path toward socialism, the  American culture has shifted to a full-blown entitlement society. Somewhere close to half of our nation wants the government to provide freebies.

There is very little time left to stop this. We well may be living right now through the decline and fall of the American Empire. You could say that the American people voted for the status quo this past Nov. 6, 2012, when they decided to keep a divided government.

Thirteen million fewer voters participated in 2012 versus 2008. Barack Obama received 10 million fewer votes this year and Mitt Romney received 3 million fewer votes than John McCain did in 2008.

I've been thinking about something for the past few weeks. I don't think that Ronald Reagan could win an election today in the present American societal evolution.

Even though we had a near 50 percent to 50 percent election result, how can you compete against freebies? One candidate (Obama) offered to give free stuff from the government. The other candidate (Romney) talked about equal opportunity for all, but no guarantees of the result. Americans voted for freebies.

We have been a risk-reward nation for hundreds of years. In the age of Obama, success is routinely punished, and redistribution of other people's money is the order of the day.

The incentives to risk capital and exert high energy toward a goal are waning by the day.

There is so much money sitting on the sidelines in America right now. The job creators are scared to hire people. They don't know what onerous tax or fee or other government intrusion is coming next.

We have a record number of Americans on food stamps. Basically one-quarter of all Americans are on food stamps. This is unimaginable. Many able-bodied Americans have been living on unemployment benefits for more than two years now.

We have hit a tipping point that I have written and spoken about for years. We have a 50 percent to 50 percent nation of makers versus takers.

I read a column recently that cited a reference in 1956 by Adlai Stevenson during his campaign for president. A woman yelled out to Stevenson: "You have the vote of every thinking person!" Stevenson responded back: "That's not enough, madam, we need a majority!"

This is where we are again in America. We are also victims of the non-stop campaign cycle. The race for president in 2016 has already begun. Sen. Marco Rubio, Republican from Florida, has already had a fundraiser in Iowa. It was a record-setting event.

We are literally going to have to endure a four-year campaign for president. All this and Obama hasn't even been inaugurated for his second term, beginning Jan. 20, 2013.

We have to grab a hold of ourselves. We can't accept this concept of "the new normal." We are so close to losing our country.

Barry Goldwater said more than 50 years ago that "a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have."

This current state of America should not be viewed as "the new normal." There is nothing normal about it. 

Another prophetic passage that has always caught my eye:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."

Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler, "Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"

We now find ourselves on borrowed time.

Harry Hurley is president of Harry Hurley Consulting and Communications, LLC. He hosts the daily talk radio program "Hurley in the Morning" 6-10 a.m. weekdays on Townsquare Media, WPG Talk Radio 1450, also serving as senior programming consultant. He has hosted various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.harryhurley.com. Send comments to Harry This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it