The Good Old Days
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
Bob Dylan said it well about 40 years ago: the times they are a changin'. That makes some people frightened and we see a variety of coping mechanisms these days-- some good and some not so good.
Here's one that we see a lot of lately: "We need to go back to the Good Old Days." What and when were the good old days is a little obscure but it seems to have something to do with the some men called the "founding fathers" and a return to an earlier America. (I apologize for not making their reference holy by capitalizing the fs). It is about a time, they say, when people were more honest and God-fearing and good. Life was simpler and more wholesome. Ah, the good old days.
Were those days really so good?
I suppose if you ask a black person if he or she would like to go back to the plantation you might get a different perspective. Lest we forget, until changed, the U.S. Constitution counted African slaves as 3/5 of a human for representation purposes. And under the law they were not humans but chattel (this means personal property).
Shall we return to the alcohol consumption at the time of our revolution which is thought to be 3 times per capita what it is now?
Shall we return to torturing perceived witches by burning them alive or smashing them to death? (Christine O'Donnell ought to be shuddering).
How about a bunch of white men chasing a black man across the countryside and, after catching him, having a picnic and a hanging party at the same time?
Ladies, how about you having no right to vote?
How about having 12 year old kids working in deathtrap factories for 80 hours a week?
How about being a Catholic and being perceived as the devil's henchman? Today we fear Islam and how it might take over our country. Back around the time of the civil war it was a different fear. The rumor was Abraham Lincoln was secretly a Catholic. Imagine that ...
Or how about going back to Prohibition and creating monsters like Al Capone again?
The truth is the "Good Old Days" is a myth. Now, unless I missed this lesson back in church confirmation, placing false hope in something other than truth and the Almighty is idolatry. It seems there is a lot of that lately especially when we mix politics and religion in the wrong way.
The other day I was following a Lincoln Continental and up in the rear window was a campaign sign that said vote for so and so, a real American. Of course so and so was a Tea Party favorite and, setting aside the subtle bigotry, it got me to thinking, what, after all, is a real American? My great-great-great great grandfather fought in the American Revolution, for the Americans, and as far as we can tell we are 100 percent Euro so does that make us real Americans? Or are we just quasi-Americans? I don't understand the grading scale.
For whatever it is worth I have an opinion on who real Americans are. They are people who recognize life is in session and don't hide behind an idealized past but face the present with courage, accepting the truth that change is one of the few constants in our lives.
Ironically if real Americans live that way, someday they may look back on or time and call it the good old days.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
Bob Dylan said it well about 40 years ago: the times they are a changin'. That makes some people frightened and we see a variety of coping mechanisms these days-- some good and some not so good.
Here's one that we see a lot of lately: "We need to go back to the Good Old Days." What and when were the good old days is a little obscure but it seems to have something to do with the some men called the "founding fathers" and a return to an earlier America. (I apologize for not making their reference holy by capitalizing the fs). It is about a time, they say, when people were more honest and God-fearing and good. Life was simpler and more wholesome. Ah, the good old days.
Were those days really so good?
I suppose if you ask a black person if he or she would like to go back to the plantation you might get a different perspective. Lest we forget, until changed, the U.S. Constitution counted African slaves as 3/5 of a human for representation purposes. And under the law they were not humans but chattel (this means personal property).
Shall we return to the alcohol consumption at the time of our revolution which is thought to be 3 times per capita what it is now?
Shall we return to torturing perceived witches by burning them alive or smashing them to death? (Christine O'Donnell ought to be shuddering).
How about a bunch of white men chasing a black man across the countryside and, after catching him, having a picnic and a hanging party at the same time?
Ladies, how about you having no right to vote?
How about having 12 year old kids working in deathtrap factories for 80 hours a week?
How about being a Catholic and being perceived as the devil's henchman? Today we fear Islam and how it might take over our country. Back around the time of the civil war it was a different fear. The rumor was Abraham Lincoln was secretly a Catholic. Imagine that ...
Or how about going back to Prohibition and creating monsters like Al Capone again?
The truth is the "Good Old Days" is a myth. Now, unless I missed this lesson back in church confirmation, placing false hope in something other than truth and the Almighty is idolatry. It seems there is a lot of that lately especially when we mix politics and religion in the wrong way.
The other day I was following a Lincoln Continental and up in the rear window was a campaign sign that said vote for so and so, a real American. Of course so and so was a Tea Party favorite and, setting aside the subtle bigotry, it got me to thinking, what, after all, is a real American? My great-great-great great grandfather fought in the American Revolution, for the Americans, and as far as we can tell we are 100 percent Euro so does that make us real Americans? Or are we just quasi-Americans? I don't understand the grading scale.
For whatever it is worth I have an opinion on who real Americans are. They are people who recognize life is in session and don't hide behind an idealized past but face the present with courage, accepting the truth that change is one of the few constants in our lives.
Ironically if real Americans live that way, someday they may look back on or time and call it the good old days.
David C. Kolbe
Warsaw, via e-mail[[In-content Ad]]
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