The Past Speaks To Those That Desire To Listen

Note: Apropos of some comments attached to yesterday's post, I was thinking it would be useful if there was a truly powerful alternate voice out there, a sort of libertarian flavored progressive one would be something to my liking. One that would not apologize for being human at Sen. Wellstone's funeral, but appalled at being called to do so. One that would bluntly call their leaders, including those on their side generally, to task when need be ... in word and deed. And, one that knows when it is time to join with the rest when need be, even if only the imperfect is possible. A group via well chosen races, coalition building, and instant run-off voting that can be a part of the solution without splitting their forces to the benefit of the other side.

I shall eat dairy if I must, but I shant eat meat. I know the difference, but know the compromise all the same. And, it is not always necessary, no it is not.

Cement and sand; hoist and derricks; here comes a foreman -- listen to the foreman if you are not too sensitive -- Skyscraper -- not many months ago. Now the workmen have vanished. Now the finished building stands; soon the public wonder will concentrate on other miracles.

-- Skyscraper (1931) by Faith Baldwin*

We are the true conduits to our past. Those who came before us supplied the words, memories, and artifacts that guide us. Our very genetic history is sometimes used to understand our ancestry. And, it is our desire, effort, and passion that unearths, conserves, and adds to such past. Such a concern is one important aspect to our very uniqueness as a species.

A few things led me to consider such things. The two hundredth anniversary of the Burr-Hamilton duel. Back to the Future Part III being on television. A walk past a Revolutionary War monument (established in 1926, honoring the end of the colonial army's inglorious retreat from NYC one hundred fifty years before). And, a perusal of a local graveyard behind a Presbyterian Church (established c. 1710).

This last trip was particularly striking. It was also a tad depressing because of the disrepair of many of the tombstones. There were several markers honoring Revolutionary War veterans. The oldest stone I could read was dated 1797. One spoke in the first person to those passing by, as the buried once did, that they too will join him in the end. The tombstone was from the beginning of the nineteenth century, but some things do not change so much.

I have enjoyed history for some time because it is filled with fascinating stories and details that turn out to be often quite true. It also often helps us to understand the present day because our present was a creation of the past, and it turns out that it wasn't so different either.

Let us from time to time honor, contemplate, and respect our past. And, hopefully, those in the future will do the same.

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* Skyscraper is one of the first trio of "feminist pulps," re-published works of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s with added commentary to put them in context. The book fell into a predictable moral calculus by the half-way point, but it remained entertaining and worthwhile as an idealized (and at times revealing) look at the life of a young career woman in the early 1930s.