We were looking at a Civil War monument in one of the towns around here last week, and we calculated the town had 25% of its young men killed during the Civil War. 25%. And, that doesn't count the ones wounded. Can you even imagine what that kind of loss does to a community? In 1865 that meant at the very least 1 in 4 young women wouldn't be able to find husbands. In a time when women married for economic support, well, what were they supposed to do? The labor market was decimated. Old people had no one to care for them in their old age. Land had no heirs. Entire towns withered. And, it was worse in the South for everybody. The economic system based on the enslavement of people was smashed, sort of. Even though actual slavery ended, and some historians say it took a war to make that happen; virtual slavery arose which lasted another 100 years.
Second, I find it very frustrating when we collectively decide to forget our own history. I'm in my late 60's, and in the prime of my great-grandparents' time, they were struggling with an astonishing communication revolution, increasing mechanization of labor, the population shift to cities, an exploding urban manufacturing economy, and the change in the demographics of the population.
The chaos caused by swift change and societal pressures were so overwhelming; fear ruled us: We had a corrupt political system drowning in special interest money, racial and cultural fear and distrust, labor/management clashes, and the Anarchists, don't forget those idiots - think 19th and early 20th century terrorists - setting bombs to explode indiscriminately across the country).
My point is this: We've survived an economic revolution before. We've survived a political system going off the rails. We ALL come from somewhere else unless your ancestry is pure Native American, and even you came from somewhere else - just farther back than the rest of us. As a country, we are still a unique experiment of a society based on ideas instead of blood lines. We are:
We believe: You don't have to agree with me, but you must be civil when you don't.
We know: Bring us your customs, your food, your values, your religion, and even your language, but our public education system will change your children into Americans.
We should remember: We have nothing to fear except fear itself.
We are ALL Americans because we are 'we the people'. All of us. Smart, stupid, no matter what color, or who we worship, or how wrongheaded we appear to someone else.
Happy Fourth of July. It's more than a day off work for beer, BBQ, and fireworks.
