Thought some of you might enjoy reading this:
Sedition and Dissent
I come to you from Boston. The Northeast; raised fist of the Nation.
Everyday, I walk streets that date back to the birth of our America. I walk past the resting place of Samuel Adams, who decided to forgo a grand burial and instead be buried in the unmarked grave of those who died during the Boston Massacre (one of whom, was a black man). I walk past the spot where the Sons of Liberty met under a great oak (long cut down) and spoke of revolution in the face of tyranny and the democracy of man. At the end of my block is the road (Old Roxbury Highway, now called Harvard Ave.) that Paul Revere followed to Cambridge where he met with Ethan Dawe's, thus the message got out to Lexington and Concord that the British are coming. I was born and still live in the part of the city that held the slaughterhouses, without them, the siege of Boston would have failed and George Washington would have lost his first real test as commander of all the Revolutionary forces. I am not afraid to admit that on occasion, when walking alone late in the evening I almost hear the rioting; see the soldiers resolutely huddled in ditches as the siege goes on or even dodge Revere's stallion in full gallop down a dirt road.
These images and many others haunt Boston.
The stories are so compelling it is wonder if they aren't myths. The amazing character in the people of these times is so admirable that if even an iota of it still exists in America today, we are the better for it.
Unfortunately, I am not sure if any of that spirit is left. We were born in the epoch of the Enlightenment. We have regressed into the epoch of materialism. Our leaders are corrupted by money, they are not the philosopher-kings that many of the Founding Fathers had hoped would step-up to direct our nation. Our citizenry is apathetic and when they are jolted to attention they are uninformed because they wallowed for so long in the ignorance of their apathy. Our road is pockmarked with schisms- classism, nationalism and racism. Our direction is unknown and who gives a damn anyway as long as there is a fat check with our name on it at the end?
There are times when the clergy of this country claim we are 'morally bankrupt'. Not being a religious man myself, I don't hold much truck with established churches or their ideologies. I do agree with their terminology. We are bankrupt, we are mired in our self-interest, so sanitized and coddled between our two great oceans and continuing to stack bricks on the walls separating us on the daily ( http://www.bartleby.com/104/64.html ) it's no wonder that a friendly word is met with a grunt and a suspicious eye from a stranger at a bus stop.
How many are left in these times that ask that annoying question- why? How many have the resolve to research answers? Why does the Palestinian teenager persist in throwing rocks at that Abrams Tank? Why do we need to spend so much money on our military? Why does a 73 year-old, homeless war veteran freeze to death on the streets of Boston? He risked his life to defend the ideals of America and froze to death on the streets that birthed America. Did he hear the riots? See the soldiers? Did his heart fail under shadow of a stallion?
Why?
No one's asking and no one's telling. It's a secret. HELL, it's a matter of National Security- so ya just better STFU.
Where is the dissent? Our country is built on dissent, birthed in sedition. The red on our flag represents the blood of revolution. Paine, Jefferson, Adams, ect. they all asked - why? They answered with a Declaration.
It seems we no longer ask questions, we wait until someone tells us. We sit on our hands and accept.
Today, the President is going to tell us what we need to know. He is going to tell us his plans for tax cuts, why we need to give more power to private insurance companies and HMO's when it comes to drug benefits, why we need to go to war with Iraq, what he is doing (despite the Constitution) to 'protect the homeland' and touch on the sure diplomatic success we will have in N. Korea if we give it a little time.
After which, the 'liberal' media will cover his empty words for hours with endless 'experts' and commentary none of which will teach you a godamn thing.
So I offer this post today in dissent. I am not looking for an argument nor am I looking for an answer to why. Tonight, I am going for a walk in the cold, when the streets are empty and listen and watch for some sign of the old spirit, the foundation that will never crumble or be forgotten.
Even in our troubled times.
01/28/03