-Caveat Lector-
History 101 - The Dream Is Dead
By John Brand, D.Min., J.D.
YellowTimes.org Columnist (US)
8-28-2
"One age misunderstands another; and an age without vision
misunderstands all others in its own nasty way." - Ludwig Wittgenstein
"When the legends die, the dreams end. When the dreams end, there is
no more greatness." - T.S. Eliot
America's problems, screaming at us from the headlines of the daily
papers, are endless. What is our country's underlying disease? Is it
terrorism? Is it our balance of trade deficit running into the billions? Is
it a President who does not even think twice about shredding the Bill of
Rights? Is it the millions upon millions whose credit card debts are
staggering? Is it corporate executives who have no sense of morality? Is it
the declining stock market?
None of the above are the substantive issues confronting our nation.
They are merely symptomatic of our fundamental disorder. Our President
desires to take our nation into a senseless war. It seems that neither he
nor his clones have any real ideas about the disastrous consequences of such
a venture. Yet, not even this Vietnam-like insanity is our basic problem.
What is it then?
The vast majority of the people, those who govern and those who
are governed, have no majestic visions of the potentials of our
nation. We no longer dream the dream. We have lost the splendor of seeing
our nation as a bastion of freedom. We have forfeited our inheritance of a
government of the people, by the people and for the people.
We crave money, power, and authority - not to see how we can use
money, power, and authority to make this a great nation. No, we see these
forces as ends in themselves. They have become the gods at whose feet we
worship.
The love of money does seem to be the root of much evil. In
1936,when our nation was still in the midst of a backbreaking depression,
President Roosevelt, in a speech to Congress, January 3, 1936 said, "We have
earned the hatred of entrenched greed." Can any less be said today? The
moral fiber sustaining our Ship of State is battered by the whirlwinds of
avarice. The fabric of national decency is tattered and torn by the storms
of a senseless - a neurotic - thrust for more and more filthy lucre in the
hand of a few. Men and women possessing no sense of self-worth seek to find
meaning for themselves in the size of their investment portfolios and their
bank accounts. Lacking that sense of personal meaning and dignity stemming
from the inner resources of one's own character, these misguided blind
guides feel that too much is never enough. And so they cook books, rob
millions of their investments, circumvent payment of taxes in an effort to
compensate for the integrity lacking
in their own personal essence. America, indeed, has inherited the
evil of entrenched greed.
President Washington wrote to the President of Congress on August
16, 1777, "This matter I allude to is the exorbitant price exacted by
the merchants and vendors of goods for every necessary they dispose
of. I am sensible the trouble and risk in importing give the adventurers a
right to a generous price, and that such, from a motive of policy should be
paid but yet I cannot conceive that they, in direct violation of every
principle of generosity, or reason and of justice, should be allowed, if it
is possible to restrain 'em, to avail themselves of the difficulties of the
times, and to amass fortunes upon the public ruin."
Can you imagine that many of those now elected to high offices or
appointed to the Supreme Court would give their lives fighting for freedom
for their fellow countrymen? Can you imagine that many corporate executives
would pledge their fortunes to achieve liberty
in the land? Can you imagine that many religious leaders - whose
names are household words � would put their honor on the line for
the cause of unalienable rights? I cannot imagine that that would
happen today.
Thomas Paine in "The Crisis Papers," 1783, wrote, "We have it in
our power to begin the world over again. A situation, similar to the
present, hath not happened since the days of Noah until now. The birthday of
a new world is at hand, and a race of man . . . are to receive their portion
of freedom from the events of a few months.
The reflection is awful, and in this point of view, how trifling,
how ridiculous, do the little paltry cavilings of a few weak or interested
men appear, when weighed against the business of the world."
I admit I had to go to Webster to find out just what "cavilings"
means. One definition is to be occupied with trivial matters. That, I
believe, states our problems. Our controlling alphas are occupied with
matters that to our Founding Fathers would appear petty and inconsequential.
They would turn over in their graves were they to see grown businessmen
worrying more about the daily value of their company's stock then providing
goods and services at a fair price. They would condemn politicians selling
their votes to PACs supporting them.
They would throw up their hands in horror as they witness our nation
seeking to impose its will on the world. Making money, the dirty side
of politics, forcing others to comply with our ideas, are
insignificant concerns when placed alongside the great ideals of liberty and
justice.
The powers driving the Fathers to sacrifice their lives, fortunes,
and honor in order to attain liberty were a profound sense of liberation
from tyranny based upon the wisdom of the ages. The dream to be free is
rooted and grounded in a particular understanding about the dignity of human
beings. This certainly is not to claim that our forefathers had the desire
to bring freedom to all living in the Colonies. Blacks, American Indians,
and women were excluded from the dream. That failure stands as a permanent
black mark in the annals of our nation. Yet, even with this fundamental
error of judgment, the passion for freedom - at least for their fellows -
sounded a clarion note throughout the world. It was an expression - an
action - resonating from deep within the spirit, the heart. It is great
testimony to the wisdom of the Fathers that by writing the Constitution and
the Bill of Rights they enabled minorities in later generations to attain
their freedom. The dream marched on!
And that desire, that ideal, that transcendent value of liberty
sustained the Fathers in the bitter circumstances at Valley Forge. Ideas,
hopes, and beliefs in the rights won at Runnymede surged through their
veins. Whatever actions ensued were the consequences of the commitment to
those fundamental values. The sense of "becoming" and not of "having become"
was the wind in the sails of the Ship of State. We were in the processes -
on the road - of reaching toward the ideal that "all men are created equal
and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." There was never any
indication that by declaring liberty throughout the land that the
implementation of these ideals had already been accomplished.
And not only had they not been attained then - they are not a fact
today. What then is the difference between the mental perception of the
Fathers and our own? The Fathers believed that their ideals were becoming.
We believe that we are a nation that has already become! When a
civilization's ethos implies that it has become - has arrived, has
achieved - then dreams fade into dogmatism. Horizons disappear and become
boundaries. Visions vanish and doctrine dominates.
Wisdom has given way to feverish activity. We embrace the belief
that America has fulfilled its dream. And so we seek to impose our assumed
superiority on the rest of the world. Not only that, the dogmatic leaders of
our nation try to impose their will on everyone within the nation. We
mistakenly assume that flexing our muscle, imposing our will on one and all,
dispatching military forces all over
the globe, is evidence of the assumption that our destiny has been
fulfilled.
No longer do "old man dream dreams, and young men see visions."
(Joel 2:28) Old men try to force everyone into the mold of their own
self-image. Young men, devoid of visions, organize dot-coms. Vision has been
replaced with sheer activity. The organic, the flowing, the growing, and the
vital heartbeat have been replaced with the mechanical, the numbers, the
systems, and the cold harshness
of laws. There is no sense of history only a sense of conquest.
There is no sense of mobility, of change, of transformation, and of
nurture of the humane spirit. Metamorphosis has ceased. All effort,
all attention, all resources are devoted to spreading a lifeless
form. The present point, the immediate needs, become all consuming.
The dream has died.
There is much activity but little wisdom. There is much physical
exertion but little insight. When there are no dreams, there is no
greatness. And all the grubbing has gone for nothing. What does
the future hold for a nation so degenerate that profits are more
important than people, money more important than morals, stock options more
important than a social conscience?
Oswald Spengler paints the picture for us in his monumental work,
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195066340/yellowtimes-20>"The
Decline of the West." Spengler proposed that once a people become strong
enough to form a state, they develop a "culture." A culture is driven by
moral values and ethical concerns. A culture is bursting with creativity,
with a sense of becoming, but never with the feeling that it has become. In
the midst of this excitement of nurturing a tender plant, there comes a time
when the interests of the culture shift from conceptual values to
materialistic benefits. Spengler calls that state a "civilization." He
describes the last days of Rome when it had degenerated into a mere
civilization and had ceased being a culture with these words.
"Romans were barbarians who did not precede but closed a great
development. Unspiritual, unphilosophical, devoid of art, clannish to the
point of brutality, aiming relentlessly at tangible success, they stand
between the Hellenic culture and nothingness." The fall of Rome ushered in
400 years of Dark Ages throughout Europe. Spengler continues by saying that
the Greek soul had given way to Roman intellect and that this is the
difference between a culture and a civilization. "Again and again there
appears this type of strong-minded, completely non-metaphysical man and in
the hands of this type lies the intellectual and material destiny of each
and every 'late' period." Spengler wrote this in 1917. How could he foresee
the pervasive deadening force of materialism destroying our nation?
Jefferson's simple words, "The whole of government consists in the
art of being honest" have been lost in the insane striving for personal
aggrandizement and power. Our Vice President will not reveal any details of
the group that met to discuss an energy plan for the United States. It does
not take an Einstein to realize that we are dependent on foreign oil.
Alternative sources of energy are all around us. Thermal heat, the solar
atomic furnace, blowing winds, motions of tides and waves contain enough
energy to drive our world until the sun fails
to shine - possibly four to six billion years into the future. But
the commitment of our leaders is to oil and gas. And so we are engaged
in wars, in subversive activities, in effective economic suicide and
continue chanting the oil and gas mantra. I do not know the place or the
time when so many of our leaders had their blood replaced with sour crude
now surging through their veins. They do not think of energy as being the
lifeblood of a nation. They only think, oil, oil,
and more oil.
A nation that has traded its birth right for stock portfolios and
bank accounts has lost its thrust to search for avenues of greatness.
It can no loner support differing points of view, critiques of its
programs, and objections to its expansionary goals. These words taken from a
letter Jefferson wrote to Dr. Benjamin Rush in 1800
are incised on the walls of the Jefferson Memorial. "I have sworn
upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of
tyranny over the mind of man." Jefferson had no tolerance for the
suppression of anyone's opinion. To his nephew Peter Carr he wrote in a
letter dated August 10, 1787, "Shake off all the fears of servile
prejudices, under which weak minds servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in
her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question
with boldness even the existence of a God, because, if there be one, he must
more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfold fear."
Now we have members of our President's staff suggesting that
criticism of any program, any idea, or any law stemming from the President's
brow is an unpatriotic act. This man and most of his entourage, by
inference, claim to possess absolute truth about all things. Unilaterally he
declared international accords null and void.
He forced through Congress a bill giving him unlimited trading
powers. He proclaimed that we are at war but only Congress can declare war.
The word on the street is that if anyone dares to oppose the President, the
challenger is unpatriotic.
Free exchange of ideas concerning their dogmas is not tolerated.
They are so impressed about the absolute correctness in their beliefs and
actions that they seek to institute a national network of informers. The UPS
or FedEx deliveryman, the postman on his or her appointed rounds, or a
neighbor are encouraged to report miscreants to the Vaterland Security
Office. The dream is dead.
President Eisenhower speaking at the Columbia University
bicentennial dinner on May 31, 1954, said, "Without exhaustive debate, even
heated debate, of ideas and programs, free government would weaken and
wither. But if we allow ourselves to be persuaded that every individual or
party that takes issue with our own convictions is necessarily wicked or
treasonous, then, indeed, we
are approaching the end of freedom's road."
Professor Marvin Olasky, School of Journalism, The University of
Texas, is the author of the program embraced by President Bush making
religion a partner with government. To Baron von Humboldt
in 1813, Jefferson wrote, "History, I believe furnishes no example
of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This
marks the lowest grade of ignorance, of which their political as well
as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own
purpose." And to C. Clay in 1815, Jefferson wrote, "This loathsome
combination of Church and State." And yet it is such a loathsome combination
that Bush et al seek to impose upon our nation.
The destructive symptoms in our society are not primarily the result
of foreign agents or terrorists. Forsaken ideals and lost
expectations generate the destructive miasma of chaos in the land. In vain
do we look for healing balms to the gods of Mammon, the PACs, and
international entanglements.
The dream is dead! That is America's problem. All else is a
nightmare resulting from the death of the dream.
___
John Brand is a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry veteran of World War
II. He received his Juris Doctor degree at Northwestern University and a
Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry at Southern Methodist
University. He served as a Methodist minister for 19 years, was Vice
President, Birkman & Associates, Industrial Psychologists, and concluded his
career as Director, Organizational and Human Resources, Warren-King
Enterprises, an independent oil and gas company. He is the author of
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/075961041X/yellowtimes-20>"Shaking
the Foundations."
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