A Problem in Search of a Solution

There are days when the search for a bit of good news can seem to be a fruitless endeavor, particularly if you are expecting it from the media.  No matter where I turn (minimal TV, some radio now and then, a lot of reading) finding something inspiring, or even to make me smile, seems an overwhelming task.

But then on date night over a nice dinner, the love of my life tells me about a funeral service she attended earlier in the day that honored the life of the mother of a member of her Lions Club.  The recently deceased lady had lived almost though her ninth decade and during the latter part of her life had become an ardent supporter of her church’s activities – not to mention attending to eight children, thirty-two grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren.  This was a lady who fought through abandonment by a first husband who left her with four children and eventually remarried to wind up with a family of eight.  She lived most of her life in rural Maine and was not rich in a material sense, but she left behind a letter to her family and friends which she requested be read at her service.  My wife said it was one of the most moving things that she has ever experienced, because the message that she wanted passed on dealt with how blessed she felt because of family, friends and faith.

I was not there to hear this missive, but it certainly did start me thinking.  For one thing, the meal that we were enjoying was the result of a gift card given me at a recent birthday celebration by two ladies who have been great friends and neighbors for over thirty years.

I am fortunate in having two intelligent, productive, caring young men for sons and the most wonderful woman I have ever known has been willing to put up with me during the best years of my life.

My health is good enough to allow me to stay active in many physical activities and so far my mental faculties are sufficient to keep me alert and involved.

I have a young, active, affectionate canine companion who enjoys with me my forays into the back acreage.

So, if I direct my search away from the seemingly never-ending stream of crisis-laden reporting that centers upon our rapidly declining nation, it is possible to find some reassuring news.

But unfortunately, one cannot always avoid the invasive nature of our government-dominated modern society, particularly at tax time when one is faced with coughing up what the current overlords have decided is one’s “fair share”.

And that brings me back to what I view as an increasingly disturbing facet of life in America.

I would ask my readers to spend a few minutes viewing a movie cartoon that can be found at:

http://nationaljuggernaut.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-cartoon-seemed-far-fetched-in-1948.html

This illuminating little gem was sent to me by a friend and if you can view this without a cartoon light bulb going on over your head, then you are ultimately doomed and it may come sooner than you think.

Despite glowing promises of “hope and change”, “the most ethical administration ever”, and the ascension of a self-proclaimed “Great Unifier”, America is currently under the stewardship of an autocrat who in his shrill, divisive rants (disguised as campaign speeches) seems intent on pitting citizens one against another in matters of race, social and economic status (rich against poor, have-nots against those who, due to their own efforts prosper), rule by man – or woman - vs. the rule of law, capitalist cronyism vs. the free market, and the subjugation of the God-Given rights described in the Constitution to the “entitlements” conferred by the state upon non-producers.

The resulting chaos is one of the more important tools in the plan to implement rule by the secular Progressives who dream of an enforced “equality” that will ensure their oppressive Utopia.  One of Kurt Vonnegut’s most illuminating works is his 1961 short story “Harrison Bergeron”.  If you want a preview of what Obama and his band of fascist oppressors have in store for us, do not fail to read this chilling tale.

There are so many different warnings available for us, but don’t count on being exposed to them via the current government-directed educational system.

Nor can you expect any good news from the government apparatus, the politicians who infest it, or the corrupted news media who is under its sway.  If you truly seek inspiration, look to the traditional sources of our national welfare: family, friends, and faith.   

Do You See What I See?

There were many Christmas Days that I spent in far-away places when I was a much younger man, and I am very grateful that I have been able to enjoy home and family over the last several decades after I had settled back down in Maine.  Being able to spend this particular holiday with loved ones in a warm and familiar environment is, for me, a great part of the blessings that this time of the year can bring.

For a number of reasons, I find it difficult to comprehend the motivations behind the escalating “war against Christmas” being waged by some members of our society.  Oh yes, I recognize that the rants protesting the “crass commercialization” of this special celebration have some validity.  Particularly after being exposed to the gleeful recitation via the media of examples of behavioral obscenities highlighting the mass idiocy observed during the shopping frenzies prior to Christmas Day.

And yet …….

I have been fortunate to observe many acts of kindness and charity committed by people who have no desire (or need) for the kind of recognition so craved by politicians, celebrities, and others who see generosity of spirit and sharing as a billboard to promote their own desperately constructed public personas.  There are, for instance, families who have gone out of their way to ensure some happiness at Christmas for those less fortunate by donating gifts deducted from their own sometimes meager resources.  Or those who volunteer their time, goods and money to charities who work tirelessly to improve the lives of the truly needy.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who expressed the opinion that society has undergone a radical change, has been lured into the sinuous embrace of materialism to the point where the ties so carefully constructed through religion, public morality, school-taught ethics, and bonds cemented through a sense of community have all but vanished.

To be sure, many of the fraternal organizations that have provide charitable support and community support as part of their moral and ethical structure are currently battling shrinking membership (my Masonic Lodge and my wife’s Lions’ Club are two personal examples).  Still, both of these organizations continue with their charitable activities, understanding that membership shortages are cyclical in nature and that there is always a small core of committed members who can keep things going.

My friend and I agreed that dedication to structured beliefs has, for many, become something to be avoided because the secular society that has become so recently popular is dedicated more to the worship of self and the “freedom” to become beholden to self-gratification above all else.  Discipline, restraint and common sense are in many cases to be derided, not emulated, and such a creed severely limits the opportunity for true compassion.

There are always choices to make, I believe, and the opportunity for good – as well as evil – exists in all humans.  I will always admire someone who shows, through their actions and words, that they have a strong moral and ethical base that consistently directs their interactions with their fellow beings.  Those are the ones that I am happy and willing to associate with.

Tradition, faith and morality have traditionally built such a cadre.  And there are many of them in evidence, if one is willing to take the time to look – and evaluate – and yes, judge.

I hope that all of you who have chosen to spend a few moments with me have enjoyed a Merry Christmas with those who matter most to you.

A Hint of Things to Come?

Reading has been a lifelong love of mine and has provided me over the years with much enjoyment and not inconsiderable solace.  My reading patterns have remained rewardingly eclectic and sometimes uncover hidden gems that occasionally result in a near-epiphany.

This time my attention was forcefully claimed by a review written by Michael Knox Beran (author of Pathology of the Elites and a contributing editor of City Journal) for the July 18, 2011 edition of the National Review.

Leading with the heading “Was Malthus Right?” Mr. Beran uses the Australian philosopher David Stone’s posthumously published book, What’s Wrong with Benevolence:  Happiness, Private Property, and the Limits of Enlightenment to examine the development of a “welfare state of such colossally good intentions that ….. it devours the substance of the commonwealth”.

“It might seem paradoxical”, Mr. Beran contends, “that charity, which St. Paul ranks among the virtues, should be at times an evil.  But one has only to consider 20th-century Communism, Stove says, to know that it is so”.  Stove maintains that it “is quite certain that the psychological root of 20th-century Communism is benevolence”.  It would seem an uneasy stretch to link the philosophies of Karl Marx, utilitarianism advocate Jeremy Bentham, and St. Paul, but Stove patiently explains the differences between “bad benevolence …. resulting in cruelty, horror and the gulag” and other more noble acts that result in aid to the suffering.

Stove makes a cogent argument that bad benevolence is likely to be vast in its scope, targeting for its solicitude not a particular person or even small groups, but great multitudes – even all of humanity.  Moreover, Stove insists that bad benevolence in this “external” form proposes to bring about the happiness of others not by changing their characters, but by altering their circumstances, thereby failing to provide any character guidance that might help to overcome individual deficiencies.

Thus the “altruist” who yearns to save Mankind is often an uninterested dispenser of benevolence, having little sympathy for actual men and regarding “kindness” as a mere abstraction.  Such perception is fostered by the selfish motives associated the self-love that blurs the demarcation line where kindness ends and selfishness begins.  Stove describes such benevolence as akin to “moral heroin” that intoxicates the conscience and dulls the pain that even a morally obtuse person might feel when he plays the tyrant.

On the far end of the scale of “bad benevolence” can be found the obscenities of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Hitler whose tyrannies are  legend.  Much further in the other direction, not so much good as not being outrageously noxious, are the growing assaults upon freedom by the modern welfare state.

The modern cult of benevolence, as exemplified by the modern cult of social reform, has carried further the work of the Reformation, according to Mr. Beran.  “Henry VIII and Elizabeth made the church an arm of the state”, he relates, “but Condorcet and Godwin would make the state into a church”.  No where could this be made more evident than by the actions of our modern “Progressives” that have culminated in a carefully planned assault on America’s moral, social, educational and economic values.

Beran’s final synopsis should serve as a clarion warning for America.

“The prophets of benevolence wanted the universe to be again adorable, as it had been for their forebears, who believed it to be the work of a divine hand.  Unable to live without a messianic compensation of their own, the architects of the benevolent state substituted for the redeemer God a redeemer statesman, for the inspired church an inspired state, for the priestly clerisy an administrative clerisy, for the kindly friar a benevolent social worker, for voluntary almsgiving (conceived as a duty) compulsory expropriations (conceived as a prerogative of sovereignty).”

A careful examination of our current state of governance should yield a clear picture of where our own Ruling Class is leading us.  If you value your freedom, you had best make sure that these people do not remain in power.

Remembering

For many of us here in Maine, it is expected solace that the lilac bushes will be in bloom by Memorial Day.  With the cold, wet spring that we have encountered, that may not hold true this year.  But this minor delay is a far cry from the destruction and misery that a procession of tornadoes has wrought upon our fellow citizens in the Midwest and parts of the South.  Our hope and prayers need be directed toward them, both for a cessation of the destruction and an easing of their burden.

My roots in New England are deep and go back many generations.  Cemeteries in more than one state hold the remains of my kin.  Military service has been a trait shared by many of them; grandfathers, fathers, sons, uncles and cousins, volunteers and draftees.  As the years pass, graves multiply and those who were once young assume the mantle grudgingly worn by all elders.

Memorial Day holds a wealth of memories for all of us.  It of course involves sadness, for we no longer enjoy the company of those who cannot soothe us with their physical presence.  The day involves honoring the departed, whether it is a grave site visit, participating in parades and ceremonies, or a simple quiet reflection on those who have in the past shared our lives.

I am a member of the Masonic Lodge in Freeport, ME, a group that played a pivotal part in obtaining a piece of steel from the remains of the buildings that fell on 9/11/2001, to be used as the base for a town memorial to those who were killed on that horrible day as well as to the living and dead heroes who saved many other potential victims through their personal sacrifices.  Members of the Maine National Guard and their vehicles transported the steel from New York to Maine, accompanied by riders of the Patriot Guard and other motorcycle clubs and aided by law enforcement officers and other first responders.  A welcoming ceremony was held this past weekend and a number of local groups have banded together to formulate additional ceremonies and activities planned for the weekend surrounding September 11, 2011.

But this upcoming weekend belongs to remembrance of those who no longer share our lives.  There are far too many fallen military personnel who have served our nation well over the decades and they deserve at least a moment of reflection, particularly the young people who have sacrificed all in the maelstrom of the Middle East.

Whomever you have the opportunity to honor – and there are many who have shared our lives that deserve that respect – take a few moments from your daily lives for at least a brief prayer, or even a “Thank You”.

Remember ……. don’t forget or overlook.

A Gentle Reminder

For a while, yesterday seemed to be turning into “one of those days”.

John D. MacDonald, prolific mystery writer and social commentator, once delivered a pronouncement through his protagonist of the long running “Travis McGee” series that “birthdays ending in zero” were a particularly heavy burden to accept.  I am on the cusp of decade number seven and growing increasingly disgruntled with the limitations that an aging body is only too pleased to enforce – not to mention the accompanying slow decay of intellectual prowess.

Combined with the aches and pains induced by a morning of activity with the chain saw (instigated by the demands of a voracious wood stove and a dwindling firewood supply), my grumpiness and mild despondency seemed a proper companion as I set out on an afternoon of attending to errands.

After parking in the suitably crowded Wal Mart lot (yep, I shop there …. along with regular visits to the local florist, Ace Hardware store, feed store, and meat market; if you want my business, earn it through customer service and quality, other than just lower prices), I headed to the store.  After only a few steps, I noticed the parked car with the passenger side door wide open – and the man sitting on the pavement beside it.

He was an elderly gentleman, rather frail in appearance, and had one hand on the armrest of the open door attempting to pull himself up and get into the car.  A silver-haired lady, also well along in years, who I took to be his wife hovered anxiously over him and as I approached I heard her say, “I’ll go find somebody”.

“Can you use some assistance, Ma’am?” I asked.

“Oh, yes, please!” she replied.

As bent over the old gentleman on the pavement I noted that his black ball cap was embroidered with the words “Korean Vet” and a replication of the appropriate medals.

By this time another male passerby had materialized at my side and between the two of us it took only a moment to get the old fellow on his feet and eased into the passenger seat of the car.  Both he and his wife were quick to express their gratitude for the help, but I immediately assured them that we vets had to stick together (they had both remarked on my own “Retired Army” black ball cap).

After making sure that they had no need for further assistance I headed for the store and was barely inside the door when a flash of insight made me stop for a moment.

My personal pity party had been neatly sidetracked by an older man’s plight, a person who had more difficulties to deal with than just a few minor discomforts.  I don’t put much stock in coincidences.  Someone with an exceedingly crowded scheduled had taken a moment to provide me with some serious attitude adjustment.

Message from headquarters received “Lima Charlie”, and I read you four by four, Boss.

And thanks.