{"id":59982,"date":"2020-03-19T04:15:21","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T11:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=59982"},"modified":"2020-03-23T06:16:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T13:16:18","slug":"grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html","title":{"rendered":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Original oil painting by: Grandfather’s wife<\/p><\/div>\n

Len has asked me to write about what I see as the prospects for our nation. If I were a believer in “credentials” I would desist, but I’m not. What I am is a man who has lived his life as independently of current fashion as possible and does not care about money, beyond what he needs to do the things in his “bucket list.” To be sure, he had long ago embarked on a financial path that was reasonably assured to produce that minimum and a little more.<\/p>\n

So, my view is not shaped about concern for money or status; it’s about the nation’s psyche.<\/p>\n

It has departed far from what had been conventional wisdom: it’s belief in God, family and virtues such as humility and tolerance. I am not at all sure that there is a way back.<\/p>\n

If there is, it’s by way of a paradox observed often in history: A terrible time of trouble causes a populace to re-examine and repair its attitudes, one person at a time.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

About the Author: RD Blakeslee is an octogenarian in West Virginia who built his net worth by only investing in that which can be enjoyed during acquisition and throughout life, as opposed to papers in a drawer, like stocks and bonds. You can read more about him here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos: Courtesy of the Blakeslee Family<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Len has asked me to write about what I see as the prospects for our nation. If I were a believer in “credentials” I would desist, but I’m not. What I am is a man who has lived his life as independently of current fashion as possible and does not care about money, beyond what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":52358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","pmpro_default_level":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[490,459],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-59982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-grandfather-says","8":"category-family","9":"pmpro-has-access","10":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nGrandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Len has asked me to write about what I see as the prospects for our nation. If I were a believer in “credentials” I would desist, but I’m not. What I am is a man who has lived his life as independently of current fashion as possible and does not care about money, beyond what […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Len Penzo dot Com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1014\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1369\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"RD Blakeslee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LenPenzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RD Blakeslee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"RD Blakeslee\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85fc2849592cc314ffb452a906c531fb\"},\"headline\":\"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\"},\"wordCount\":248,\"commentCount\":10,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/grandfather.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Grandfather Says\",\"Home and Family\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\",\"name\":\"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/grandfather.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/grandfather.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/12\\\/grandfather.jpg\",\"width\":1014,\"height\":1369},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Len Penzo dot Com\",\"description\":\"The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Len Penzo dot Com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/Block_L.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/06\\\/Block_L.png\",\"width\":359,\"height\":360,\"caption\":\"Len Penzo dot Com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/LenPenzo\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/LenPenzo\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lenpenzo.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/85fc2849592cc314ffb452a906c531fb\",\"name\":\"RD Blakeslee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r\",\"caption\":\"RD Blakeslee\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails","og_description":"Len has asked me to write about what I see as the prospects for our nation. If I were a believer in “credentials” I would desist, but I’m not. What I am is a man who has lived his life as independently of current fashion as possible and does not care about money, beyond what […]","og_url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html","og_site_name":"Len Penzo dot Com","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LenPenzo","article_published_time":"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1014,"height":1369,"url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"RD Blakeslee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LenPenzo","twitter_site":"@LenPenzo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"RD Blakeslee","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html"},"author":{"name":"RD Blakeslee","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/85fc2849592cc314ffb452a906c531fb"},"headline":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails","datePublished":"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html"},"wordCount":248,"commentCount":10,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg","articleSection":["Grandfather Says","Home and Family"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html","url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html","name":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation's Travails","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg","datePublished":"2020-03-19T11:15:21+00:00","dateModified":"2020-03-23T13:16:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/grandfather.jpg","width":1014,"height":1369},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id59982-grandfather-says-a-few-words-on-our-nations-travails.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grandfather Says: A Few Words on Our Nation’s Travails"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/","name":"Len Penzo dot Com","description":"The offbeat personal finance blog for responsible people.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Len Penzo dot Com","url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Block_L.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Block_L.png","width":359,"height":360,"caption":"Len Penzo dot Com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LenPenzo","https:\/\/x.com\/LenPenzo"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/85fc2849592cc314ffb452a906c531fb","name":"RD Blakeslee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e847c809efc04ea2e55a978b7e9c669b1df06fa435628cef9d4ffab99e7294b3?s=96&d=monsterid&r=r","caption":"RD Blakeslee"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}