It has been a while since I have posted anything. I meander from posting too often, to not posting often enough to maintain interest in this blog. I half promised myself that I would post something at least once a week – then realized that one cannot set deadlines and hard rules when doing something like this. It is better to take three weeks and write one good post rather than posting just to post. There are a number of reasons for my lengthy silence – some physical, some mental, and a little discouragement. Fail often enough and one recognizes discouragement creeping into one’s life – believe me, I know. It makes me wonder why I even do this – is it really even worth the effort to do? It is a form of therapy for me though, and batteries need recharging every once in a while anyhow. I have been ruminating on this post much longer than a cow does its cud. I was gonna wait and post it on Memorial Day – but decided since today was voting day in Georgia I would steer in a little different direction.
Some of the clips and the post itself will be lengthy. It is a fine line one straddles in modern communication. Very few people have the patience (or time) to read lengthy books, listen to entire albums of music, and put in the effort to really study a topic. I encourage anyone who sees this post to take the time required when reading, listening, or watching for education purposes. Our two minute attention span threatens to be our undoing – we have been dumbed down to a point that complex, deep subjects get skipped over or through instead of studied. Tom Wolfe, the man who wrote “The Last American Hero” – Junior Johnson’s story – passed away on May 14th, 2018. The words “hero” and “valor” were used by Wolfe to describe the courage NASCAR drivers (of the 1960’s) had – and he surmised that the “new south” of the 1960’s was the only place those character traits still survived.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VXpYKpzFaI
I pondered for a long time whether or not this was still the case, and came to the conclusion that heroes and valor still exist, but they survive in other mediums. In fact, I believe the new south that Wolfe wrote about has been superCeded by something called the modern south. (Superceded is not misspelt. The “experts” spell it wrong – superseded.) I arrived at that conclusion through another of the major rivers that run through my life – music. There is a band out of Raleigh, NC named American Aquarium who shot their latest video in victory lane at the shut down, dilapidated raceway in North Wilkesboro, NC. It is a perfect segue from Wolfe’s story on Junior Johnson and NASCAR.
The backstory of the band is very important to this whole post. The lead singer, B.J. Barham, has been very open and frank about his addiction and substance abuse history. He is a shining example of someone who has beat the odds, and intends to use what he has learned to help others. Their brand new album, which includes “Tough Folks”, is an attempt to lead others to higher ground (pun intended). It takes a lot of guts to be that open as a public figure – and makes him a target for cynics and skeptics. A tweet he posted recently conveys the weight of his efforts.
Humbling & heavy start to the morning. This new album is about taking the negativity life throws our way and using it as a conduit to fuel positive growth. This note made me want to go out and continue to sing these songs, even louder for the folks in the back. Keep your head up. pic.twitter.com/GfHPYBUBrG
— American Aquarium (@USAquarium) May 19, 2018
Valor indeed,
Continuing with the NASCAR/music confluence, I am reminded of Eric Church’s song “Talladega”. The video itself was shot at Nashville Speedway. There are three things about the video I would like you to notice. First, notice the line “Most days in life don’t stand out, but life’s about those days that will.” Our modern life and the pace at which we live threaten to take away our most precious moments in life. Moments and experiences are no longer savored and enjoyed as we live them – we rush from place to place and person to person – to the point that we are existing, not living. A prime example is something I have noticed at the majority of live music events I have recently attended. Instead of enjoying the experience – really listening, seeing, smelling, noticing the event itself, people want to document and record it – almost as proof they were there. Our senses and minds are the best way to record the experience – not a smart phone on a selfie stick. Which leads me to the second thing to notice. There are several places in the video where Eric stops singing. Reliving an experience through memory is much more powerful than words – it is, in fact, a form of time travel. Sometimes there are no words. The third thing to notice is the dying man’s hat – the symbolism it represents cannot be overstated. His service to our country reminds us of what it means to be a hero. Heroes are simply ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things in life – they come in all shapes, sizes, and from all areas of life.
Valor and heroes – sometimes I wonder if we really consider them as important. I’m not real sure we even think about them at all – there are too many distractions and magic shows being conducted. Before I begin on patriotism, I want to add one more video to the list. The dying man from Eric’s video makes a cameo appearance in this video as well. This song was written by a terrific songwriter named Lori McKenna – and Tim McGraw recorded it and released this video. It shows many of the different world religions being practiced, and in my opinion, shows us how similar we all are. If we could only focus on the things that we agree on instead of fighting over what we disagree on, this world would be a much happier, safer place. Sometimes I wonder if arguing and fighting over which religion is right is the same thing as arguing over which branch of science or mathematics is the most important and/or right.
I left patriotism as the last subject for a very specific reason. My soul hurts, and I weep – inside and out – as I watch us tear our republic apart. I do my very best to shy away from any political conversation – as the answers we need now are far beyond its scope and power to deliver. I am going to make a declarative statement here to draw a line in the sand on where I stand on the subject. A patriot does not choose sides in his or her own government; a patriot fights to change the shape or form of government when it no longer meets its original purpose and design. I am going to attach a copy of George Washington’s Farewell Address… If anyone doubts how much we have been “dumbed down”, I would like for them to tell me how long it took them to decipher what Washington said in his farewell… The first time I studied it – as a thirty something year old man – it took me three months. I had to literally rewrite it into shorter sentences with smaller words before I could read it in its entirety and understand it – with a trusty dictionary and thesaurus nearby. It is full of wisdom and warnings – none more prophetic than his warning against a two party government. We have taken the beautiful model they created, and warped it into a Republican vs Democratic shitshow. If you don’t feel like you “did” it, you at least allowed it – as I did, and 99.99% of Americans, past and present. I will pull out that specific warning so it wont take you a month to get there – then you tell me if Washington was a prophet or not.
“All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.”
“However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
If that ain’t a warning against a dual party political system, I don’t know what is… What is the answer – how do we fix it? I do not believe our system of government can be reformed or “fixed” as it is currently structured. It will require a second revolution – a revolution I believe can be “bloodless” if managed properly. Unfortunately, I believe the American people have become too soft as a group – we don’t want sacrifice or hardship. My ultimate concern is that nothing will change until a complete collapse happens. As for me, I refuse to choose sides and rearrange deck chairs on our version of the Titanic, valor, hero, patriot… They are only words. As the baby boom generation passes away, my generation faces its own rubicon…
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp