"Thanks for the sorta compliment. Jefferson counted on a society of well-read and infomed laborers and shopkeeps to safeguard his Republic. Looks like he proved too optimistic, in the main. Janitors conversant in Locke, Rutherford and Bastiat? That was the original idea!"
No "sorta" meant in the compliment. I think I'm well read for a motorcycle mechanic. Most of the people I know in this profession are not complete DUmmies, but they don't read much, and especially are not inFoRmed on politics. They're on top of racing and new technology for the sport, but that's about it.
As far as you being a janitor, which you seem to want to make known, that's cool with me, as long as you're the BEST janitor you can be, and you don't go on strike demanding the same kind of pay as someone who had to invest in more extensive training and/or education to get their job.
That you are well read, we at FReeRepublic are benefitting thus far by your ZOOM! BAM! POW! letter, and having you come aboard as a FReeper. Hope to see more of you on the threads!
Thanks for the COMPLIMENT, Blue Collar! Sadly being "uninformed" isn't limited to mechanics and custodians. Most of official Washington is clueless---(need I include the News Cartel?). We are losing our country precisely because we're too busy or too careless to save it. I have long held that:
"People do what they do because they know what they know. Change what they know and they may change what they do."
And if this generation of Americans doesn't do what the founders did, they won't get what they had. You can't get the same cake from a different recipe. Different input, different output.
The American Republic was, as some have described it, "A system of government designed by geniuses (sic) that could be run by idiots". Meaning that they set in motion a small government that the people ought to have been able to hold accountable, had they remained informed and vigilant. In Douglas MacArthur's words, "The inescapable price of liberty is an ability to preserve it from destruction".
It has been wisely noted that Patrick Henry's cry, "Give me liberty or give me death!" has gradually been replaced by simply, "Give me liberty!" and finally just plain "Give me!"
Security is the opposite of liberty. Anytime we move toward the one, we move away from the other. The Socialist is always at the ready to exploit fear as a power grab in the guise of "security". Our Constitution doesn't begin, "We the intelligentsia..." or "We the attorneys..." The people were intended to be the guardians of their own liberties. But we long ago decided to contract sentry duty out. Just hire it done. And we've been betrayed by "professional" politicians.
A lady is said to have stopped Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia and to have inquired of him, "So just what is it that you gentlemen have given us, Mr. Franklin?" His reported reply was, "You have, Madam, a republic. If you can keep it."
The chief vulnerability of a republican form of government is that it relies overwhelmingly on the individual being informed and his hands-on vigilance. Apparently it's too much to ask of human nature.
What's saddest is an American who doesn't understand that government is HIS business and who, instead, merely assumes it's someone's given hobby or interest, but not his responsibility.
I didn't realize I was flying my custodial credentials like a flag, but I usually do flash it as a countermeasure when I am complimented. Someone once attempted to dissuade a great American general from going to the front. "You can't risk it, Sir. We can't lose you! The men idolize you!" His reply was, "Then I MUST go and disappoint them!" I tend to hold up the janitorial shield, I suppose, lest my ego get the better of me.
As for quality of work, I am subject to the same rules as any other laborer, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." (Colossians 3:23-24)
So far as possible, I attempt to mop my floors with the same care I would put into writing an editorial. Both alike are my service to him; my employers have been incidental. I've had many employers, but only one Master my career long. Over my dishwasher at my first job, I hung the following reminder:
Your place on earth may seem so small
Your duties lowly, too.
Perhaps you're wondering if it pays
To keep on being true.
Just remember as you toil,
God's purposed path you run.
He will not judge your work for size,
But by how well it's done.
Regarding strikes, I don't believe in labor unions. Not for Christians, especially. In light of Jesus' parable of Matthew 20:1-16, I find labor unions indefensible for the Christian. Jesus suggested a master has the right to pay a man who worked one hour the same gross as a man who's worked eleven hours. No labor union in America would agree...and therefore stand rebuked.
"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, AS UNTO CHRIST; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but AS THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." (Ephesians 6:5-8)
I have never understood how a Christian who would not "strike" on Jesus can justify it against their employer. If you're treating your employer as you would Christ, strikes and grumbling are out. If that doesn't upset the AFL-CIO, the boo of Philemon will! There, Paul tells a runaway slave that duty demands he return to his former master. As a Christian, the slave had a duty to return as a testimony to the master who viewed him as property. As property, running away was theft. (Paul also urged the master to recieve the slave back as a borther, not a servant.)
Again, America is slipping fast away by our universal preoccupations with our rights and utter abandonment of our responsibilities. No such thing as a one-ended stick.
As for profitable reading, Frederic Bastiat's "The Law" (about 80 short pages) is an absolute MUST for every American. In one nutshell it lays out in simple terms the fundamental principles of republican thought. Written in 1848 (?), an online version can be found and read in one sitting.
Also on my "reading list" would be Patrick J. Buchanan's bestselling, "The Death of the West". Crucial to taking the pulse of the republic today. Many are the good books, but these are two excellent titles for getting a good orientation.
It's clear that you are, indeed, quite well-read yourself, so if you haven't yet digested these titles, you might add them to your list. In any case, I thought the post might encourage others to look 'em up. Can't have too many people reading the Americanist classics!
Oh, A. Ralph Epperson's "The Unseen Hand" is worth its ponderous weight in gold. I guess if I were going to start a republic on an island with three books AFTER the Bible (a given), it would be those three.
Keep reading and keep writing what you've learned! Especially using your songwriting talent! Each of us has to seize every chance to communicate to those in our small or large sphere of influence the truths we've found. As a 19th century poet wrote:
All of the past is living still,
All that is good and true;
The rest hath perished, and it did
DESERVE to perish, too.
The world rolls ever round and round,
And time rolls ever by;
And the wrong is ever rooted up,
BUT THE TRUTH DOTH NEVER DIE!