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Aug. 27, 2005 If one reads a history book be it world history or national history, what will be found are stories of war, peace, protests, religion, bad leaders, and good leaders. The history of the world has been governed by man’s view of his neighbor and himself. Millions of people have died because of one country’s belief that their borders needed to expand. Hitler was a nasty fellow, but he had the entire backing of his country. It’s called nationalism. During that same period of time Roosevelt had the backing of his country. It’s called nationalism. Charismatic leaders throughout history have held their countries in a trance, a trance that allowed them to commit almost any atrocity they chose. The world is not a pretty place, never has been. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you need to visit the poverty in Africa. Perhaps, you need to revisit the old south before the Civil War, or revisit the London that Dickens spoke of. Hungry people will follow the person with food. Poor people will follow the person with money. The weak in spirit will follow the person that can make them strong. The unintelligent will follow the person that scams them. That is the world in which we live, like it or not. Because 2,000 or 2,000,000 people have died does not ease the pain of losing one son or one daughter. It is true that statistics don’t always tell the whole picture. For example, the polls, if a poll is taken in Texas and people are asked, “How’s the President doing?” They will more than likely say, “He’s doing finer than frog hair.” If you take a poll in Massachusetts, you’ll get the opposite answer. Polls are misleading, but death is not. Eighteen hundred men and women are dead because of a president’s misrepresentation. No, that doesn’t compare to the Civil War, World Wars I and II; nor however, does it compare to the deaths at Ruby Ridge or in Kent, Ohio. Is there a yardstick for a murder? If I lost my son or daughter in a senseless war, made logical by charismatic politicians, I would be standing beside Cindy Sheehan. What his motives for fighting were, makes no difference. There are many dead heroes in the history books. Death should not come from spilling blood on foreign soil. If I may loosely quote a verse of William Cullen Bryant’s “Thanatopsis,” Go not like a quarried slave to his dungeon, but soothed and sustained by some unfaltering trust like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams.”
Every child deserves to live to an old age and lie down at home “with the drapery of his couch about him (or her)” and die. Liberals, Moderates, Conservatives alike deserve to live to an old age. Blacks, Browns, Whites, Greens, and Oranges alike deserve to live to an old age. Politicians fighting imaginary egos should not be allowed to determine the lengths of our lives.
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