On this property 40 miles from Boston, sits a house built in the mid-18th century that my cousin calls home.
A Time
George Washington at the time had risen to the rank of colonel in the Virginia Regiment shortly after the start of the French and Indian War in 1755, a struggle between the British and the French empires as to who would control North America. The war helped spread smallpox, one of the main causes of death in the 18th century. The disease devastated the lives and culture of Native Americans.
Needless to say, the indigenous people were not consulted as to who should be in charge of the region. At this time it’s more than likely that my European ancestors very much thought of themselves as loyal British colonialists and subjects of King George II.
Alexander Hamilton was born on the British island of Nevis in the Caribbean in 1755 or 1757. Many years ago when I lived in the Eastern Caribbean, I’d occasionally take the ferry from St. Kitts to Nevis in the early morning, about a one hour boat ride, watching the sun slowly come up over my very own “wine-dark sea.” If you ever needed to reflect on life in general, this slow ferry ride was the absolute perfect place to do it.
In Virginia in 1755 lived a 12-year old boy, who was to become the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. His name was Thomas Jefferson.
Heather Cox Richardson, the well known professor of American History, speaks of certain periods in our history when immense, unexpected change occurs relatively quickly. One of these periods, according to Richardson, is between 1763 and 1776.
European colonialists went from being loyal subjects of a king, who frequently saw himself as divinely appointed, to a Thomas Paine laying out in Common Sense, a 47-page pamphlet in 1776, the reasons why the colonialists should be independent.
People like Paine were asking the question, where does authority come from and who has the right to form a government, and what are the laws of nature? Dare we even consider this very new possibility?
Ultimately the colonialists saw themselves as unwelcome people in the empire. A great deal occurred during these thirteen years, including The Boston Massacre in 1770 and the dumping of 342 chests of tea from the British East India Company into Boston Harbor in 1773, but certainly misunderstanding grew and positions hardened on both sides. Still, nothing was really a foregone conclusion.
We have it in our power to begin the world over again. (Thomas Paine)
Inkling of An Idea
It was probably during this period when the incipient idea of “exceptionalism” raised its head in the colonies. It was Paine himself who said in Common Sense that the people should trust their “feelings” about what is right.
Be careful what you wish for: Seemingly some of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, among others in our recent January 6 insurrection, were just “trusting” their feelings when they stormed the Capitol, injured police and trashed the legislative body of the United States, a body for better or worse that belongs to all of us.
But in all fairness, this easily manipulated mob was nurtured and helped along, which a portion of us clearly recognize, while some of us deny, I think, the obvious, and an even a smaller segment cling onto it as a way out of their wasting rage.
Even the idea of the city versus the country developed its peculiar American mythology during this time. You know, those English in cities have vices, don’t you know. They are morally corrupt. Hm-m. My earlier relatives in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century would have been pleased to hear these sentiments. Well, are they really going to be loyal to something new was the question in 1775 and 1776. Now, would the Indians, the slaves and the immigrants be part of this something new?
The Economic Idea
Will we have to work harder to just stay even? According to the article, more than 20x as many researchers are needed to generate about the same amount of production growth as was the case 80 years ago. Ideas, according to the article, are not running out but they are getting more expensive, frequently requiring greater specialization and more education—regardless of the field.
What financial commitment are we willing to make? How do we allocate the available finite resources? To what degree do we require an educated citizenry? Better still, do we actually understand how a functioning government ought to work and our collective responsibility for making it happen? See:
Vladimir Putin’s cockamamie Peter the Great fantasy and his criminal attack on Ukraine is causing a global food shortage that could very well lead to starvation across the globe. But thousands of miles away in Kansas, the farmers that grow wheat in the U.S. are not going to pick up the slack and realize windfall profits simply because Ukraine’s wheat production has collapsed.
In fact, the state of Kansas may lose as much as a billion dollars this year. Dry, drought conditions in western Kansas will probably make for an extremely poor wheat harvest. A key question becomes how many years, as the climate heats up, will the drought continue. And, how fast can researchers come up with a new heat resistant wheat? Can they? Now consider the various resources that will be needed. Who will lose out?
Next, think about how many public officials as well as local and national politicians will grasp the situation. Best beware of the upcoming “Ides” of November citizens.
Then of course are the people themselves in the developed countries. Once they get beyond their “outrage” over the increasing cost of food, the price of gasoline, the soaring inflation the inequality and who they will blame, will an actual good idea emerge as to what ought to be considered and implemented.
OAK-LAA-HOMAAA
The TV series is called Schmigadoon, a parody and a look back at old Broadway musicals like Oklahoma, Brigadoon and Carousal. The premise is that a couple decide to go on a retreat to recharge their relationship and they find themselves ending up in a bizarre Disneyland-like setting, a 19th century town in rural America.
They soon discover, however, that, well, this town is sort of real and they can’t actually leave Schmigadoon unless they find “true love.” It reminded me a little of an old Rod Serling Twilight Zone TV show.
But the theme of “going back” caught my attention, attractive it seems today to a segment, a fairly large group of Americans. Does a dynamic, optimistic, confident and inclusive society clamor to go back? To what exactly do we want to go back to? Oh yeah, that’s right, a simpler time.
Freddy Kruger’s Horror at the Capitol
The opening day of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack was surprisingly compelling and demonstrated that this insurrection was not a spontaneous tourist visit. One of the most persuasive film clips was of the character dressed in the usual GI Joe costume confronting the police officer at the barricades just before all hell broke loose. As I recall, he was one of the leaders in the Oath Keepers, who asked the police officer if she had been paid during the COVID pandemic, as though that was the focus of his generalized, incoherent rage.
In watching the assorted clips of the insurrection and listening to the various comments of the participants, then and now, it strikes me that behind all the snarling, confused rage and in-your-face threats there is a decided fear of the unknown and a lack of understanding about what is happening around them, as well as what they perceive is happening to them.
But last—at least it seems to me—is a kind of moral unraveling, an empty nihilism drifting through both abandoned shopping malls and the slick, vacant, sterile world of some high tech future … surrounded by drug addicted lawns.
I also suspect that many in the stop-the-steal crowd do actually know that nothing was stolen and change is coming whether they like it or not. But, at the same time, plenty of these folks are a lost cause and won’t change their minds regardless of how much they “do not go gentle into that good night.” They are invested.
The other “iconic” image that remains with me is of my very own United States Senator Josh Hawley with a raised fist on January 6 walking in front of the Capitol, presumably showing solidarity with the “cause.” Keep in mind that the good senator has a history degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Yale.
He knew very well that the election was not stolen, but he was more than willing to encourage a coup. It is Josh Hawley and comfortable, smug people like him, in and out of government, who stand in the shadows while aiding and abetting treason and the attempted overthrow of a duly elected president, for which there should be severe consequences in the best of cases.
What really “good” idea does the likes of a Josh Hawley have for this country? A return of a privileged, white patriarchy from the 1950s or even the 1920s, with maybe a ,little Christian theocracy thrown in? They only offer a monster show.
“The country is not what it was.” {from Assassins, by Stephen Sondheim}
It never is!
A Kind of Epilogue
a good idea worth considering:
Yes You Can Do Better Than The Great American Lawn
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
NEXT POST JULY 3, 2022
And a happy father's day to you!