THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER," and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.
These were the words with which he began, on this day, in 1776.
His name was Thomas Paine.
It was the first of s series of tracts concerning the American Revolution, titled as is this piece, The American Crisis.
The words were read to American troops on Dec. 23, 3 days before the Battle of Trenton
And today?
Today we write and read blogs.
Some have argued that blogs have assumed the role previously assumed by the like of pamphleteers and tract writers like Paine, like Benjamin Franklin. Our own AaronBa (Aaron Barlow) made that point in his book The Rise of the Blogosphere
The beginning words of this December 19 pamphlet should be well-known. At least during Vietnam they were referenced - in 1971 there was the Winter Solider Investigation, organized by Vietnam Veterans Against the War, intended to publicize the atrocities and war crimes done by American troops and their allies in South East Asia. Held in Detroit, the events did not get much attention in the press, but would lead eventually to hearings before the U. S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations led by William J. Fulbright, hearings that would make a national figure of a young former Naval Officer who asked "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" Now that man, John Kerry, is a successor to William Fulbright, as chair of Foreign Relations.
In 2008, veterans of our current conflicts sought to reproduce the impact of 1971, holding Winter Soldier Hearings in Silver Spring, MD, just outside the District of Columbia. These got more coverage than their predecessor had in 1971, when only Pacifica Radio covered the event. Some major media organizations covered the more recent event, but not many, and in general there was still a blackout, as you can read here from FAIR, in a piece that concludes
Contact the broadcast networks and ask them why they decided to ignore the Winter Soldiers hearings while carrying the less-informed observations on Iraq of John McCain and Dick Cheney.
THESE are the times that try men's souls. - How often people will make reference to these words, but not in anything like the context in which Paine expressed them. We may well be tempted to apply them to our frustration that with control of the two political branches of government the Democrats in Washington have failed on much of the agenda we expected, and that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to drag on interminably, although the former may be winding down within a year.
I think Paine's words are applicable even beyond the question of wars that truly affect the nation and its future, as did the American revolution.
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. I think service of this country can be defined far more broadly than being in the uniformed military. I do not in any way belittle the patriotism and service of those who wear the uniform, as I myself did in the 1960s. It is why, like another who is now anti-war, Meteor Blades, I was among the first packing boxes for the troops in Pittsburgh, the last time I attended Netroots Nation - as Tim said, it is important that we do this.
I think of a man I met recently named Robin Harper, who has refused to pay war taxes since during the Korean War. He has had his life defined by his mission, one that serves as a shining beacom to those who know about it. I would argue he is no summer soldier - he has dedicated his life to trying to persuade his nation not to engage in war, certainly not in wars of choice. I would argue that he serves his nation, and we owe him thanks.
As we owe thanks to many who serve in other ways. Some work quietly to build up local communities. Others use their voices to challenge the abuse of authority, the tilt of government to those who already possess power and wealth, a tilt that occurs not only at the expense of those who have less, but at the expense of the ideals of what this nation can and should be.
Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
It may shock some to consider using words like "Tyranny" when speaking of our own government. We may not be there yet, not completely, but the concentration of power into ever fewer hands is a move towards tyranny. That tyranny is not merely in the power of the government, but in the power that has accumulated in private and corporate hands, at the acquiescence of some in government and with the active support of others.
Perhaps now is an appropriate time to quote the words of another rabble rouser, from the time of a war almost a century later, one that almost destroyed the still young nation:
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
We would do well to remember those words of Frederick Douglass, and to consider them together with the challenge put forth by Thomas Paine.
Paine argued for war, a war to free the nation. He may have had Quaker roots, but he was far from a pacifist.
I grew up only a short drive from the house in which he had lived in New Rochelle. I was early in my life made aware of the importance he held in the minds of many for helping make the American Revolution a success. As a writer he inflamed the minds of many - Common Sense, the pamphlet he published anonymously in January of 1776, and with whose title he would end the first of the series of pamphlets we know as the American Crisis, sold 100,000 copies in three months, in a population of perhaps 3 million. For something today to have that reach would require more than ten million copies.
Paine wrote about a war that was ongoing. His final paragraph reads like this:
This is our situation, and who will may know it. By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue; by cowardice and submission, the sad choice of a variety of evils- a ravaged country- a depopulated city- habitations without safety, and slavery without hope- our homes turned into barracks and bawdy-houses for Hessians, and a future race to provide for, whose fathers we shall doubt of. Look on this picture and weep over it! and if there yet remains one thoughtless wretch who believes it not, let him suffer it unlamented.
Paine argued about the importance to confront tyranny, and the costs and consequences of failing to do so.
Might it not be appropriate to consider the costs and consequences of our failing to continue our struggles to prevent the move towards tyranny and suppression in our own nation? Cannot we see how unwillingness to continue our own struggles against those forces - political and economic and even claiming to be religious and moral - which would move our nation backward, take away the freedom of expression and the power to offer our words to others through the internet; which would tilt even more political and economic power towards those already having too much of both so that our elections become even more of a sham - and a shame - would be like those in the 18th Century willing to give up because of the early losses of the Revolution?
Our future privations might not be as horrible as those that can occur during war. But remember, we are at war. Overseas forces acting ostensibly in our name have been causing devastation similar to that about which Paine warned. Here at home increasing numbers are without food absent government support, are losing home and hearth, and in Arizona being denied medical treatment necessary to life.
Let me return once more to the opening paragraph: What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Perhaps we believe that we should not need to struggle so mightily to maintain and improve the American dream for the vast majority of the American people. But it has always been a struggle. The conscience of the nation has so often had to be aroused - to end slavery, to give women the right to political participation. There have been struggles for civil rights for Blacks and for Women. Now there are for gays and those transgendered.
The struggle is ongoing. We will suffer losses. Some of the victories may seem fleeting, or less than complete.
We should not give up.
Paine was born in England. It was Benjamin Franklin who helped bring him to this nation in 1774.
Perhaps I might offer the words of another Englishman, one with an American mother, who was given full American citizenship by a grateful Congress.
In many ways Winston Churchill was not admirable. But for now, for the purposes of this essay, I am only concerned with the words he offered during one of England's darkest hours, facing the full force of Nazi Germany apparently alone: here is a part of his famous words:
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
we shall never surrender - for if we do, then Paine's words about summer soldiers and sunshine patriots would be applicable to us.
It is winter. We have had some snow. We have suffered defeats politically. Yesterday we saw some progress, perhaps not as much as we might want, but progress nevertheless.
We can remember Paine's opening words: These are the times that try men's souls.
They are, but they are also the time when men - and women, and children - can rise to the occasion, to beat back the forces that would impose a regimen of tyranny.
The challenge is before us. The opportunity to triumph is still possible. But only if we do not give up the struggle.
This is not war. It is something far more serious. It is still a struggle for liberty.
I for one do not intend to surrender without a struggle.
What about you?