What Happened?

I ended my fast at 14 days. Lost about 12 pounds during that 14 days but gained it all back within the next 10 days eating mostly fruit, brown rice, vegetables and beans. Was well worth the sacrifice and gave me confidence in my ability to further control my body with my mind. The health benefits were numerous but I am not going to discuss them at this time.
I am stunned at what is happening to our country and how quickly the government has usurped almost all power over us. We are nothing more than pawns and have almost no say in what is happening to our few remaining and rapidly disappearing liberties and rights. WHEN will we wake up and break the chains which are increasingly rapidly binding us ever tighter? When will we stop mortgaging our kids' future and selling them to pay for for our own greed and extravagance? When will we quit buying endless amounts of consumer junk we don't need and can't afford?
Why are we collectively so ignorant of what this country used to stand for and what principles made it the greatest country in the history of the world?
Of course that was then and this is now. We are a broken down wreck of what we used to be.
Is there realistic hope of turning this ship around and finding our way again? Honestly, I doubt it. To many americans have been dumbed down to the point where they believe government is the answer and its role is to take care of them. To protect them from the monsters in the closet and lurking under the bed. To feed, clothe, shelter and doctor them. The vast majority of americans are nothing more than overgrown children hiding behind their parent(hardly any have parents) and expecting them to make everything o.k. As long as they have their t.v., their video games, their junk food, their hollywood trash to ooh and ahh over, they are for the most part content. We have become pathetic, useless, immoral and clueless. We want, therefore we think we deserve to have our wants fulfilled, without effort on our part. We want to be protected from all risk and to blame everybody but ourselves for our own mistakes.
How did we get this way and what was the cause of our downfall?
Since I am only 44 I can only go back so far and cite my own personal experiences. I believe based on my experience the state-run indoctrination, propaganda spewing system we know as the public education system is the root cause of our apathy, ignorance and immorality. I was taught to obey without questioning(under threat of force), to accept garbage as useful and valuable information and misinformation as truth. I wasn't taught about freedom, liberty and the principles and philosophies upon which this country was founded and which made us the greatest country in the history of the world, past tense. Want to know what american children used to be taught for over 130 years. Go find some McGuffeys readers and compare them to the crap your kids are being brainwashed with and what you were instructed out of. The difference is like night and day. Check out the grade 6 reader and see if you can read and comprehend it? Bet you can't. Give it to most college graduates and I guarantee they will have a problem reading and comprehending much of it.
WHY? Was it a result of incompetence or was it purposeful? Do you know the answer to that? Have you thought about it? Do you care?
I love this quote from Samuel Adams, a real man who knew the difference between right and wrong and what really matters in life;

"If we love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"

The words of a patriot. Know any of those?