I think one of the coolest things in life are the rare opportunities to hear the stories of the people that brought us the 21st century. Now, you read that first line… and the people that came to your head might have been Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, the founder of Facebook, whatever his name is, (I don’t really pay attention to much outside my four walls… which given the theme of this blog is really kind of ironic); BUT those people that UTILIZED the coming of the 21st Century are not the people that brought us to the 21st century…
Stop and think about it.. 100 years ago it was 1912… Automobiles were new, I don’t think we were flying yet but we were thinking about it and people actually cared and watched out for each other because they looked to each other for help and they expected help from each other when they needed it. There have been two world wars since and wartime conflict went from a form of honor and respect for the enemy to a bloodthirsty battle where there are no rules as long as the enemy bleeds or feels pain and fear. (But if you’re from America then the politicians like to put a ’30’s era spin on things and act like it’s the individual soldier that makes today’s war an ugly thing and they proceed to prosecute our own) And it’s things like that that I think our older population can’t understand.
To hear the stories that of internal conflict here at home is some real history from the first hand witnesses… I grew up in Oklahoma; the only real racism in that state is the current event issue concerning illegal immigrants from Mexico. Now my only personal experience with that current event would be my time working construction under my father and the per job encounter with roofers and masonry workers… those guys can work now, but if you need something done neatly or to a degree of specific precision you’re better off paying a little extra for some good ‘ole American pride.
But the generation that can tell you the real stories of bringing this country into the 21st century are the ones that coined the phrase ‘good ‘ole American pride’
Because I don’t see that in my generation… My generation is all about the automation of computer controlled machinery and it’s all about knowing how to handle the computers to run the equipment and we are forgetting about the guy that builds the machinery that the computer runs. You see it’s the latter of the two that have the real ingenuity that used to make this country great… that real ingenuity that you only find in a free country.
Now that I live in Alabama I have heard some real first hand stories of Racism at it’s finest era… because it wasn’t but 50 or something odd years ago that the National Guard of this ‘fine’ state was given executive orders from the Governor to bar Blacks from entering a school. So I am here and can hear first count stories of that segregation climax. And then there was the strike of the trucker unions that took place in this state… where the national guard was again called in to assist the state troopers in removing trucks that were blocking highways… as the stories go, shot were fired and people killed in that hometown conflict.
To say the least Alabama has a very drama-rich history. I have actually heard first hand opinions that a person of class did not eat at the same table or sleep in the same room as a black person… that blew my mind… I only read of those opinions in the history books and I wasn’t prepared to meet a person that was actually raised that way!
It’s hard to believe that people ever thought that way. And I look at my complacent generation that has no thought and shudder to think of what may come from them… because history shows that every generation or nation that did not produce some form of thought and idea of how to live would end up being told how to live from someone else.
My wife and I were in the courthouse of our little town yesterday to get some papers notarized and while we were there Governor Robert Bentley came in was doing his meet and greet pony show shaking hands and greeting people and since we were there he shook our hands found out I was raised in Oklahoma and mentioned I was doing right for holding an University of Alabama hat. We got back to the car and Kristina called her mother because she thought it was very neat that we got to meet Dr. Robert Bentley the Governor of our state. I wasn’t impressed and she thought I was silly to not think it was a cool thing… well I seem to have a different feel on politicians… they used to be one of the people not over the people… A politician should not be a role model but rather a person very good at picking good role models depending on the issue or decision at hand.
In my wife’s attempt to make me feel impressed with the Governor she told me that he was a Dr. and upon his election to the seat of Governor refused to accept the Salary of a Governor until he got the state into a better state… I don’t know if it is true, nor do I care… the first politicians of this country didn’t get paid for their efforts and was politicians like that that gave our first Army the strength and will to win wars.
I know politicians should be paid for their efforts but I believe their salary should reflect the group or body they REPRESENT, therefore if the majority of the state populace is in poverty then the Governor is also in poverty.. My wife looked at me and asked: “So if you got elected Governor you would take a lower salary then what your making now?” I said, “yes, because I work for the people not the other way around” She thought I was foolish again…
So at what point did our political seats stop being volunteer service positions of humility and concern and rather lofty career choices for the rich and famous?
It seems the generation that is leaving us don’t understand this either and their overwhelming concern for the generation to come often leaves them in an awe-stricken silence.
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