Posted on 05/27/2005 5:29:02 PM PDT by srm913
Who Speaks For Us?
Washington, D.C. was built to intimidate. Its monuments and memorials were carefully placed to convey the backbone of American power and authority. This city is America’s head.
But is it the heart? The landmarks of Washington, D.C. and the shining skyscrapers of our largest cities symbolize our most grandiose dreams and aspirations. However, with overcrowding, decay, crime and demoralization plaguing the capital and many of our urban centers, this grandiosity comes at a price. Though the American psyche has been indelibly influenced by our urban experience, it was shaped most tangibly on the frontier. Our nation’s heart does not beat on the Beltway.
It is found in the wheat farms of Kansas. It resides in the backwoods of Tennessee. It lies in the cornfields of Iowa, the lowcountry of South Carolina, and the foothills of Wyoming. America’s heart beats in the ranchers of Utah, the lumberjacks of Maine, the cowboys of Texas, and the miners of the Idaho panhandle, for it is their experience that parallels that of our founders the most.
The first settlers on American soil constituted a courageous elect. They were an adventurous, God-fearing people willing to depart the Old World and cast their lot on a distant shore, free from religious persecution and economic oppression. They confronted many perils in the new land. As they tamed a vast wilderness, they had to accept whatever fate was meted out to them. Frigid winters, poor harvests and pestilence claimed many lives, and yet they continued westward and settled the interior. There they were at the utter mercy of the elements. Blizzards, locusts, droughts, dust storms, and even the occasional tornado awaited them, and yet they persevered because the land was good.
Our progenitors made the best of their environment. Every day involved toiling long hours in the fields without the luxury of curling up before the boob tube to catch the latest episodes of Skanks in the City and Friends-With-Benefits. No iPods, compact discs or cell phone text messages were available to alleviate the boredom. If a harvest or livelihood failed, there was no promise of welfare, food stamps, free drug needles, or any other government largesse. It was in such circumstances that the American experience was shaped. Shrewdness, entrepreneurship, initiative, perspicacity, ingenuity, and inspiration were bywords.
From humble beginnings, these settlers founded a way of life that would spearhead America’s development into the most breathtakingly successful, dynamic society in history. Our nation is now so prosperous that even those below the poverty line can boast Volvos, microwave ovens, and DirecTV dishes at their residences. There is now too much food, not too little. Higher education is available to almost anyone. Technological and medical developments have been astounding, and transportation networks allow a person to cross the continent in a matter of hours. American society is awash with wealth and capital, and high standards of living allow comforts unimaginable to those just a generation ago.
With that prosperity has come new challenges. Popular culture is now a miasma. Between commercials for erectile dysfunction pills and television programs celebrating promiscuous doctors on NBC, serial adultery on CBS, murder on CNN and victim-of-the-week on Lifetime TV, it is all too easy to forget the innate goodness of the American people and our forebears.
As rural communities dwindle and cities expand ever outward, the grasp of decadence becomes increasingly tenacious, and remembrance for our frontier heritage is further threatened. Fortunately, there are those whose gratitude has risen with the living standards and wealth. Many have not forgotten the legacy bequeathed to us.
Who speaks for us? Do our leaders speak for the citizens who live amoral, profligate lives, or do they speak for those of us who live the down-to-earth, more principled lives our ancestors hoped for? We distinguish our country from the decaying, sinking remnants of Western civilization and the depravity and tyranny of the Third World. We make the USA the most decent society in existence.
Those who understand and speak for us may not always walk our nation’s corridors of power, but they will be the only leaders to achieve lasting greatness.
Even if they won’t save us money on car insurance.
-Shaun R. Morris
-srm913
Enjoy.
taxpayer funded stadiums (shrines to millionaire athletes) and taxpayer funded shrines (state capitols) for people doing "the people's business" . it all fits.
This is a vanity, not a freeper editorial. Name it for what it is please. When you write it, it's a vanity. Start a blog and post it there.
JMHO, tired of would be bloggers in breaking news.
FReegards,
FMCDH(BITS)
I have read from more than one source that the 2nd ammendment was intended to be the first.
For whatever reason, the freedom of speech was given preference, so with just a little irony, it might be argued the 'now' (free) speaks for us (free speech) could very well be upheld by the 2nd, which was to be the 1st.
So the 'who' is we, the people must speak for ourselves.
Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.
LAZARUS LONG
... But is it the heart?...
No, the nightmare.
The incurable disease.
Don't let the pretty buildings fool you.
I do however believe the White House and the buildings in Washington are beautiful (even grand) and should be. When I was in Washington I experienced a huge sense of pride of my country. Washington, Arlington, the White House, the Mall and all the monuments are very impressive and offer a real sense of history that you can almost touch.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Government of , by and for the people has perished.
>I welcome your comments.
OK...
From dictionary.com:
editorial: An article in a publication expressing the opinion of its editors or publishers.
Unless you are an editor of FreeRepublic, your post isn't an editorial. It's a vanity post, and should be labeled as such, so people don't assume that it was created by the FR staff.
I don’t agree with you that “Washington D.C. was built to intimidate.” The monuments usually inspire wonder and respect for American history, not fear. When we want to intimidate, we use something like an F-22 Raptor.
D.C. is more than the faces and soundbites of politicians on TV. When I lived in D.C., the government employees I met were for the most part intelligent, hard-working people who were personally committed to doing their jobs well. This was true of both Democrats and Republicans. They were an impressive bunch, especially those who worked in the OEOB. You can easily find “shrewdness, entrepreneurship, initiative, perspicacity, ingenuity, and inspiration” in modern D.C., if you actually go there. Just don't look for it on TV.
This is well-written, and you are entitled to call your creation whatever you want. I'd call it an editorial, if it were mine.
Thank you kindly for the compliment, and for being a voice of reason.
The South had it right during the Civil War...state rights were being usurped by the feds. Our military is MUCH stronger now and no hope remains to regain the original intent of our Constitution. Individually, all that remains is that which is implied by the theme of Atlas Shrugged. My wife and I have structured our lives accordingly, F*** 'em, they'll receive a minimum of federal taxes from us.
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
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