Please have the patience to read this entire entry and take the time to contemplate it upon finishing. If you must, skip the next paragraph as it is merely an introduction.
I have succumbed to the seemingly inevitable fate of nearly all those who begin writing blogs or journals: life got in the way. Well, I'm back with a renewed dedication that is equal parts excitement and obligation. I began this blog not because I am foolish/arrogant enough to believe that anyone needs my words or insight. I simply wanted to record the abhorrent fiscal and social policies of the day with the hope of once and for all answering one of the most pertinent and consequential questions of our time: can government and her policies save and keep this great nation or will they usher in its demise? If I can help or inform anyone along the way then that would be an added bonus. So, as most of you know, markets are closed today. On this Memorial Day, I would like to take this opportunity to dedicate this "comeback" entry to the courageous and selfless warriors who have so willingly sacrificed their freedom, future, life, and American dream in order to protect all of those things for people they have never/never will meet. Thank you.
As I sipped my coffee this morning my wind wandered, thinking about the meaning of this day. I wondered how many others were doing the same. Disappointment set in. For far too many, this day bookends a 3 day hiatus from monotony and obligation. It's for baseball and barbeques, for yard work too long passed over. The more responsible and "patriotic" among us may proudly display a "Thanks to all who have served" as our status on Facebook. I demean none of these observances as I am actually pleased that such uniquely American pieces of our culture have been graphed onto this most hallowed day. But, as I looked at my daughter playing at my feet, I couldn't help but think of the generations of fathers who proudly handed over the privilege/right to watch their own children grow in exchange for the hope, just the hope, that their children wouldn't need to consider paying such a price. Too often, we as Americans are the "Sunshine Patriots and Summer Soldiers" that Thomas Paine so eloquently lamented. We love our country and her ardent and noble protectors on Memorial Day. We may even tear up a bit as we dutifully and intently listen to our National Anthem serving as the preface for the sporting event we attend on the eleventh day of September each year. Do such emotions flood over us on June 11th? Does such pride and allegiance drive us to tears on November 11th or Labor Day? Does our tearful admiration rise to the surface while we hurriedly pass by an impeccably organized and camouflaged clad young adult in the airport as we indignantly rush to our gate, righteously angered at the 15 minute delay that is jeopardizing our connection flight home? Do we, for that matter, consider exactly to what foreign and inhospitable hell hole this young warrior is traveling to, our flight home serving simply as the first leg of a journey that could quite possibly be their final destination? I say this not to apply the leverage and pressure of guilt, or extol my own virtue of not succumbing to such short sighted and selfish oversights; for such observations are possible ONLY through experience and self examination, as I too am guilty of these selfish oversights. I say this because I fear that far too many of us in this culture have been lulled into a self focused and historically inaccurate understanding of what exactly this America is. We believe that America IS the freedom of speech, the right to a fair wage and paid for medical care. We bluntly and universally speak of our "rights" and entitlements as if they were an inheritance, a currency awarded to all who had the good sense and foresight to be born here. We debate and question war and violence as they are clearly the arcane tools of our less evolved, albeit brave and dedicated, predecessors. However, at the very least and to our credit, we will agree and state with a tone of patriotic sophistication that our uniformed guardians have "preserved and protected" the liberty we so enjoy and too often abuse or under-appreciate. Yet far too rarely we recognize those breathing and living uniformed Talismen of freedom for what they are. Those young soldiers aren't the protectors of America; they are America. Unlike nearly every other country on the face of this earth, America is not the natural evolution of a geographically concentrated race or culture. We are a people of different descent, different creeds and cultures, ironically bound together in an inner-dependent community that is based on the very freedom that has enabled our individuality and self determination. Uniquely, America was birthed of blood and conflict. We are the adopted children of armed engagements and fierce battle. We are the barefooted 16 year old boy that fought through the ravages of starvation and dysentery to march toward Princeton through a freezing winter storm on a Christmas night in 1776, resigned to death, but determined to die standing up in what was seen at that time as being the final gasp of our all too young Revolution. We are the brothers who spilled each others blood on the fields of Antietam and Gettysburg. America is not the result of such men, it is these very men. America is not freedom or opportunity. Rather, freedom and opportunity are the offspring, the result, of the ultimate price that so many young men and women selflessly paid. America is selflessness, courage, conviction, blood, and sacrifice. Freedom and liberty are merely the miraculous benefit that blossomed from the bloody soil that served as the final resting place for our best and most courageous. Don't let this definition of what we are get lost or contorted. Teach your children of the sacrifice and unmitigated tragedy that gave birth to the freedom that they will grow and prosper in. And, when you see a soldier or think of one on hallowed days like today, don't thank them or shed tears for what they have done. Thank them and cry appreciatively for what they ARE. They are America. Freedom, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness are merely their byproduct. Thank You to all who have served and/or paid the ultimate price. As for me and my family, we will never forget and will fervently attempt to be ever mindful of the price you have so selflessly paid so others might enjoy the life that you forfeited. May God Bless You and may you forever Rest in Peace.
