It's time to retell the American story the way it was intended to be told. Sure, I'm a history buff, but this is more about perspective than it is history. There has been a ton of talk lately about Obama being either a communist, fascist, or socialist (as if these are interchangeable) and how that goes against what the framers wanted. They are even having tea parties like those rebels in Boston before the revolutionary war began.
The notion of the framers being for capitalism or against socialism is ludicrous. Anyone that understands history knows those things didn't exist when they wrote the constitution. Sure, Adam Smith wrote his The Wealth of Nations in 1776, but that could only loosely be called capitalism after the fact and certainly not back then. Besides, it's not as if the forefathers could get on Amazon.com and order themselves a copy. The concepts of capitalism, socialism, and communism were a response to the Industrial Revolution. That did not come to the United States until the 19th century. Karl Marx himself wrote his Communist Manifesto after the ink was dry on our constitution. So, let's forget about all the nonsense of America's roots being those of capitalism.
The American story is a story of progress. When you look at every amendment and major law in this country that still stands (this removes Prohibition), you see an amendment or law that extended human rights beyond the point where it was before. This is the American story. As human beings we are all flawed and all have our own prejudices and piccadilloes. The triumph of the American story is that we have been able to overcome these as a people at each step in our nation's history.
When our country began, we said that all men were created equal. Our forefathers didn't fully understand the implication of their own statement. So, following the civil war we amended the constitution to reflect that error. Our forefathers didn't fully understand that women were also a part of that equation. We fixed that error following World War I. We added more civil rights following Brown vs. Board of Education. On and on the American story is a story of expanding the rights of its people.
This is our history. We must embrace it. If we don't then we give into that other history that some people have been putting forth. They will tell you a story that sounds good at the outset, but takes only some facts and makes you believe government prevents us from reaching that destiny. They will tell you about people picking themselves up by their bootstraps. They will tell you without the big arm of government that we all will live fruitful and productive lives. They will even tell you that government has kept some people down and prevented them from succeeding.
Remember one thing: the constitution makes no mention of what kind of economic system America must have. It couldn't have because the systems people had in mind didn't exist. If someone tells you Obama is a socialist then ask them to define socialism. I bet they can't. If they say he is a fascist then remind them that socialism and fascism are completely different things. More than anything, remember the American story and remember that progressives are on the right side of history. We must progress. It's our destiny.
I leave you with this quote as something to ponder.
"Wherever God erects a House of Prayer, the Devil always builds a chapel there, and twill be found on examination, the latter has the largest congregation." Daniel Defoe
I agree wholeheartedly. That's why I said what I did..."The question is....do we have enough GUTS to do what it takes. To tread on a few individual rights for the benefit of the community as a whole."
Too many people grabbing at MORE than their FAIR share of the pie. Not enough hand slapping if you want my opinion. Seems like EVERYBODY gets one FREE transgression. That old line "it's my FIRST offense".....we need to make sure it's the LAST offense. THAT'S OUR JOB AS A COMMUNITY TO PROTECT OURSELVES. Rape, murder, child molestation, government corruption, major drug sellers, drunk driving homicides.....ALL should be like "skydiving".....you only get ONE mistake.
Sorry, I woke up in a bad mood. But I mean this.
The American Story has been sold out by crooks and thieves. The majority of those crooks and thieves are not in government. They are in the private sector, behind the curtain, pushing people's buttons.
The American Story has been sold out by crooks and thieves. The majority of those crooks and thieves are not in government. They are in the private sector, behind the curtain, pushing people's buttons.
Conservatives cannot deny those events or the pattern of those events. They can only deny that it is progress. I say let them. That kind of thinking would really endear them to women, African Americans, and other disenfranchised groups. Their history is one I'm already familiar with. Newt Gingrich wrote a book that argued 1955 as the apex of American civilization. I'm sure even he understood the social implications of such a statement.
thanks, i'm looking into starting an artist's cooperative and sharing my stock of papers, then holding a show and getting some local media coverage. i have a friend who was there in the beginning of project row house and several others who currently hold shows with social justice themes. my experience in texas is parents are very sensitive to kids only being exposed to their own political leanings, and for that reason i'm steering clear of any school art projects, even college. the glassell school where my son was on scholarship had funny issues with political art due to fundraising concerns, and even md anderson had issues with a soco artist who has a cancer foundation because his lyrics had a bad word or two. but the art community in houston by and large is diverse and thriving. anyone on this forum who has ideas or wishes to get involved on a monthly or quarterly basis should let me know. again, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post scott, i really enjoy your topics and thoughts.
I think it would be interesting to do an art project with those objectionable images along side a story from the time about a court case or law that changed that. Of course, that's just my opinion. I remember getting newspapers from my grandmother and had them laminated for my classroom. Unfortunately they got lost in my move from that school to another.
Scott - That was a very elegantly stated treatise on the evolution of this nation from it's birth, and I applaud you for such a well constructed argument for progress. Unfortunately, a conservative reader would no doubt expose your work as yet "another version" of history and would most certainly interject revisionist comments to "prove" otherwise.
I am saddened in the end that truth can be so fleeting as to punish us all with madness and invective.
Our founding fathers came from a time before industrialization. They hardly could imagine our current society or even an America at the turn of the last century. The start of the industrial age bred the progressive movement. Positive change for the new times. Social, political and economic issues needed to be addressed in order to adapt to those changes. Who brought about the change and reform? - the middle class and regular everyday people like us. People who believed in making society a better place for all.
Scott,
Your blog was very timely for me (and VERY well written). I love history. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the little details and miss the big picture.
One day I saw Lawrence O'Donnell talking about conservatism. He said that there are no conservatives left, not really. When the progressives wanted to abolish slavery, the conservatives in Congress finally agreed to regulate slavery in lieu of abolishment. He pointed out that Conservatives (and they weren't always under the Republican name, that came later) opposed the establishment of a minimum wage, they opposed women's suffrage, they opposed child labor laws, they opposed the abolishment of slavery, they opposed social security, they opposed health care reform, they opposed medicare, they opposed medicaid, they opposed the New Deal, they opposed the establishment of the Fed, they opposed the FDIC. Once each of those passed, not a one of them will support getting rid of them (except maybe Dick Armey :D)
It's not about whether the issues are right or wrong, its about opposing change, of any kind.
I don't believe in change for change's sake, but I believe strongly in necessary change and progression with the times. Like our founding fathers did.
scott since you're a historian and an educator, perhaps you could offer some ideas about a project my son and i are planning. we recently found houston newspapers, in plastic that belonged to my dad going back to around 1938 to the 60's, two or three tubs full. my son actually cut up a front page photo of oswald being shot for an art project using photo transfer gel which horrified me at first. but i started thinking that art is where these things might belong, because some of the content is so politically incorrect and racist it actually occurred to me that young to middle aged people might not even handle reading it well, some may have the "eye opening" experience we had. the adverts, the obits, everything is racist and often sexist. the jobs only want 18-44yr old applicants! so we're talking to artists, history buffs and anyone who's interested about these newspapers to get ideas on how to use them as artistic teaching tools. i know libraries have copies of these papers, but i feel art might reach a larger audience, and i also feel as hard as these things are to read, the lesson is lost if they are not put into proper context. any suggestions you have would be appreciated, along with anyone else who wants to weigh in.
I'd stipulate that in dafoe's example there were probably a lot of people in the devil's congregation that thought they were in the other one. It's like that others quote, "the road to he'll is paved with good intentions."
Sheeeeeesh. Politics AND religion in the same blog.
I am not sure I agree with Mr. Defoe. I think man is basically good. I think the really bad ones are damaged, sick if you will.
Granted, the state of our planet does not necessarily support me. Genocide, racial cleansing, imperialism, rampant crime, religious extremists around almost every corner willing to kill anybody who doesn't go to their church. Or here, willing to kill anybody who wears the wrong colored sneakers. Government corruption is a daily new event. Here, there, everywhere.
The question is....do we have enough GUTS to do what it takes. To tread on a few individual rights for the benefit of the community as a whole.
I am gonna stop there because.....oh, I think my office toilet is running.