Amen, Silverfiddle. America is the last stand. There is no where else to go.
The USA was "born" in the last two-thirds of a 60 year war between Britain and France, but many of our founding fathers's grievances had roots in British soil in peasant revolts against the monarchy 400 years before that. America's strength is in the self-determination of its people. A principle we should never give up.
It's time to drink, barbecue, and harass the Cornwallis family down the street with explodey things. ;)
I have two copies of the Johnny Horton Legend album on vinyl around here somewhere. One was my grandmother's... We kids drive her crazy playing that song over and over and over lol
Very cool history though. It wasn't long after the Battle of New Orleans that the British gave up on trying to reclaim dominion over America and signed the Treaty of Ghent.
Terrible rendition, but a much more interesting tune to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p7pz4C52WA The Hunters of Kentucky (Jackson's Kentucky rifleman in New Orleans)
Before the U.S., no nation had ever long survived as an extended republic, and none was explicitly founded on and served as a worldwide beacon for ideals of liberty. None. No other people declared their nationhood by appealing, in the name of unalienable rights, with a “decent respect to the opinions of mankind,” to the “supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions.” No other national government was established through the explicit and deliberate actions of “we the people,” not to secure dominion but to “secure the blessings of liberty.”
And none, despite the caterwaulings of the “blame American first” crowd, has so lived up to those ideals, at home and abroad. We enjoy the freest speech, the most vibrant and varied expressions of faith, the amplest procedural protections in criminal trials, the most unfettered public square — and, more materially, the most robust and enduring public perception that “people are rewarded for intelligence and skill.” The simple truth is that aside from a few Nordic countries that have not borne the brunt of defeating Nazism and Soviet communism, the combination of freedom and average prosperity in the U.S. remains virtually unmatched.
Did you know our National Archives now have a disclaimer on the Dec of Independence...a warning of racist comments, etc etc? Pretty shocking (almost made me cry when I saw it)..... Happy Fourth to you, the wonderful Warren, and all your readers..... By the way, Biden did say something I agreed with today "America's best days are in front of us" (I paraphrase)...I agree....when BIDEN IS GONE, our best days will be here!
Happy independence day. I'm not American but even as an outsider I can see that the country is worth celebrating. As someone who comes from a deeply flawed country with a deeply problematic history but who loves it anyway, I recommend against ever shushing criticism. True patriotism is consistent with "whining".
SF says that America is "systemically good." I see what he did there, and I think he's right but at the same time I agree with Senator Cory Booker that if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough.
If someone is so easily offended, they probably shouldn't be digging through historical archives. My grandparents--whom I loved dearly--were Polish and Ukrainian. I grew up around everyone telling Polack jokes.
If any of those jokes were written into the Constitution, and if any had a punchline that said that you are worth 3/5 of a white person, then I'd be relaxed about someone at the archive warning you that their documents contain material of that nature. Congrats if you could take that sort of thing in your stride even when you least expected it, but I don't see the harm in making some small accommodation to make the archive more accessible to those less emotionally robust than you or I.
It didn't have to do with people-hood, but rather with representation in the House of Representatives and the census. It was a compromise between the North and the South.
So we should instead pretend that it was how you misrepresented it to appease the childish and ignorant? Quite frankly, that subject doesn't come up until grade 5 in the US -the equivalent of year 6 in the UK- and , when it can be explained instead of used as a cudgel and indoctrination for anti-US propaganda. I remember it quite clearly. I can "envision" any kind of scenario but it soon comes a time in debate where any scenario devolves into some kind of hellish silly season.
They won't ameliorate anything, but they allow the reader to prepare themselves. Warnings might not help you, but they could help someone, and they're easy for people like you to ignore. Yes, I think they're genuinely intended kindly. While the typical user is certainly an adult, I wouldn't be astounded to find a child accessing the archive, and it would be nice to be welcoming to them. I know a Jewish fella who was quite upset at school when his English teacher read out a TS Eliot poem -- this one, I think -- which is great but it does contain a bracing dose of antisemitism in its final stanzas. When it got to those lines, they came out of the blue with no warning so it affected him more than it needed to have. I don't think a little heads-up before reciting it would have been amiss. It's a boring cliche to dismiss trigger warnings as pointless. but I think if you look it's easy to find scenarios where they absolutely would help.
Jez, I know a Jewish fella who was quite upset at school when his English teacher read out a TS Eliot poem -- this one, I think -- which is great but it does contain a bracing dose of antisemitism in its final stanzas.
@always: I guess he was doing O level or A level back in the '80s (he's older than me), so 16 or so. @SF: I didn't grow up with trigger warnings, nor do I feel that they would be useful to me personally.
The Nation Archives is also 'cleaning up' some language. I assume it is to descriptions, and not the documents themselves:
"The National Archives is committed to working with staff, communities, and peer institutions to assess and update descriptions that are harmful and to establish standards and policies to prevent future harmful language in staff-generated descriptions."
Jez, Can you not envisage a scenario where an actual child turns to the archive for a school project perhaps? Should that child be discouraged?
As one who grew up with the basal readers The McGuffey Readers, the book title-numbers being used in the same grades in our school as those same title-numbers were used in all American schools into the 20th Century, most of my schoolmates and certainly I could understand America's founding documents by the time we were in 6th Grade.
Please, please, thoroughly read the above link. You will see what I mean!
Yes, "dumbing down" is real.
It's time to return education into what it should be instead of indoctrination.
And teaching history instead of social sciences should also be tossed into the trash can. John Dewey's "progressive education" is a failure!
We welcome civil dialogue at Always on Watch. Comments that include any of the following are subject to deletion: 1. Any use of profanity or abusive language 2. Off topic comments and spam 3. Use of personal invective
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Have a Happy 4th, AoW & Warren!
ReplyDeleteBack atcha!
DeleteI am proud to be an American. We are the greatest nation on earth, because of the people, a mostly self-selected group from all over the world.
ReplyDeleteOur nation is systemically good!
Amen, Silverfiddle. America is the last stand. There is no where else to go.
ReplyDeleteThe USA was "born" in the last two-thirds of a 60 year war between Britain and France, but many of our founding fathers's grievances had roots in British soil in peasant revolts against the monarchy 400 years before that. America's strength is in the self-determination of its people. A principle we should never give up.
It's time to drink, barbecue, and harass the Cornwallis family down the street with explodey things. ;)
Hey! There's the Beamish I used to know!
DeleteI really do live near a Cornwallis family lol
Deletelol +++
DeleteTake a moment to remember our independence wasn't won with a declaration. We had to keep fighting for 40 years to make it stick.
ReplyDeleteThe first 45 rpm I ever had!
DeleteI have two copies of the Johnny Horton Legend album on vinyl around here somewhere. One was my grandmother's... We kids drive her crazy playing that song over and over and over lol
DeleteVery cool history though. It wasn't long after the Battle of New Orleans that the British gave up on trying to reclaim dominion over America and signed the Treaty of Ghent.
Trivia: the Treaty of Ghent was signed two weeks before the Battle of New Orleans. Word hadn't spread that the War of 1812 was over yet...
DeleteGreat song, but I liked Sink the Bismark even better. Love the drums/cannons!
DeleteTerrible rendition, but a much more interesting tune to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p7pz4C52WA
DeleteThe Hunters of Kentucky (Jackson's Kentucky rifleman in New Orleans)
SF - yes to Sink the Bismark!
BAYSIDER
👍 👍 👍
ReplyDeleteBAYSIDER
A wonderful tribute. Happy Independence Day!
ReplyDeleteStop whining, people — you live in history’s greatest nation
ReplyDeleteBefore the U.S., no nation had ever long survived as an extended republic, and none was explicitly founded on and served as a worldwide beacon for ideals of liberty. None. No other people declared their nationhood by appealing, in the name of unalienable rights, with a “decent respect to the opinions of mankind,” to the “supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions.” No other national government was established through the explicit and deliberate actions of “we the people,” not to secure dominion but to “secure the blessings of liberty.”
And none, despite the caterwaulings of the “blame American first” crowd, has so lived up to those ideals, at home and abroad. We enjoy the freest speech, the most vibrant and varied expressions of faith, the amplest procedural protections in criminal trials, the most unfettered public square — and, more materially, the most robust and enduring public perception that “people are rewarded for intelligence and skill.” The simple truth is that aside from a few Nordic countries that have not borne the brunt of defeating Nazism and Soviet communism, the combination of freedom and average prosperity in the U.S. remains virtually unmatched.
Did you know our National Archives now have a disclaimer on the Dec of Independence...a warning of racist comments, etc etc? Pretty shocking (almost made me cry when I saw it).....
ReplyDeleteHappy Fourth to you, the wonderful Warren, and all your readers..... By the way, Biden did say something I agreed with today "America's best days are in front of us" (I paraphrase)...I agree....when BIDEN IS GONE, our best days will be here!
Don't cry. "This alert is not connected to any specific records, but appears at the top of the page while you are using the online Catalog." I'm confident that we wouldn't argue that the archive does contain some deeply harmful opinion that absolutely warrants a warning, so until someone funds the task of going through the archive finding all the harmful ones to label separately, the only practical choice is a) put a blanket warning over the entire archive or b) don't provide any warning at all.
DeleteHappy independence day. I'm not American but even as an outsider I can see that the country is worth celebrating. As someone who comes from a deeply flawed country with a deeply problematic history but who loves it anyway, I recommend against ever shushing criticism. True patriotism is consistent with "whining".
SF says that America is "systemically good." I see what he did there, and I think he's right but at the same time I agree with Senator Cory Booker that if America hasn't broken your heart, you don't love her enough.
The disclaimer is a waste. The people it is aimed at have probably never heard of the National Archives.
DeleteIt's a resource for everybody. It should aim to be welcoming to everybody, rather than assume that all its visitors are anti-woke paleoconservatives.
DeleteIf someone is so easily offended, they probably shouldn't be digging through historical archives. My grandparents--whom I loved dearly--were Polish and Ukrainian. I grew up around everyone telling Polack jokes.
DeleteIf any of those jokes were written into the Constitution, and if any had a punchline that said that you are worth 3/5 of a white person, then I'd be relaxed about someone at the archive warning you that their documents contain material of that nature. Congrats if you could take that sort of thing in your stride even when you least expected it, but I don't see the harm in making some small accommodation to make the archive more accessible to those less emotionally robust than you or I.
DeleteJez,
Deleteworth 3/5 of a white person
It didn't have to do with people-hood, but rather with representation in the House of Representatives and the census. It was a compromise between the North and the South.
And it worked against slave owners and slave owning states. They couldn't pack themselves up with slaves and claim more representation.
DeleteSF,
DeleteYep!
Yeah I know. My point is that disenfranchisement is not comparable to a formulaic "polish people are dumb" joke.
DeleteBeing exposed to historical documents does not disenfranchise anyone.
DeleteIf some people really are that infantilized, I question how they make it through life.
And please, spare us the old painful past bs.
DeleteThe entire side of my mom's family are slavs. Go look that one up, and tell me what words in use today derive from that word.
I could go into some very specific family history, but I hate the victimology sweepstakes.
I'm tired of this shit. And hopefully, other people are feeling the same way
Can you not envisage a scenario where an actual child turns to the archive for a school project perhaps? Should that child be discouraged?
DeleteSo we should instead pretend that it was how you misrepresented it to appease the childish and ignorant?
DeleteQuite frankly, that subject doesn't come up until grade 5 in the US -the equivalent of year 6 in the UK- and , when it can be explained instead of used as a cudgel and indoctrination for anti-US propaganda.
I remember it quite clearly.
I can "envision" any kind of scenario but it soon comes a time in debate where any scenario devolves into some kind of hellish silly season.
You really think those disclaimers are too worn a child?
DeleteDo you think those disclaimers in any way ameliorate the hurt someone would feel over something in one of those documents?
It is performatory hand washing by our government.
Do you think those disclaimers are to Warn a child, or anyone else?
DeleteThey won't ameliorate anything, but they allow the reader to prepare themselves. Warnings might not help you, but they could help someone, and they're easy for people like you to ignore. Yes, I think they're genuinely intended kindly. While the typical user is certainly an adult, I wouldn't be astounded to find a child accessing the archive, and it would be nice to be welcoming to them.
DeleteI know a Jewish fella who was quite upset at school when his English teacher read out a TS Eliot poem -- this one, I think -- which is great but it does contain a bracing dose of antisemitism in its final stanzas. When it got to those lines, they came out of the blue with no warning so it affected him more than it needed to have. I don't think a little heads-up before reciting it would have been amiss. It's a boring cliche to dismiss trigger warnings as pointless. but I think if you look it's easy to find scenarios where they absolutely would help.
Jez,
DeleteI know a Jewish fella who was quite upset at school when his English teacher read out a TS Eliot poem -- this one, I think -- which is great but it does contain a bracing dose of antisemitism in its final stanzas.
What age was the student?
Neither of us is right or wrong. I think this is mostly generational.
DeletePeople who grow up infantilized and expecting trigger warnings are in for many horrifying shocks from real life.
@always: I guess he was doing O level or A level back in the '80s (he's older than me), so 16 or so.
Delete@SF: I didn't grow up with trigger warnings, nor do I feel that they would be useful to me personally.
@Z I heard about that and it is apalling. Good God!
DeleteSorry I am late to the conversation too busy over the weekend but I pray you all had a happy Independence Day free from all the left winged nonsense.
Such old documents and history should shock and horrify. Cleaning it up reduces that effect, making them seem not as bad as they really were.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but warnings are prepended to the document, so the document itself can be presented as-was.
DeleteThe Nation Archives is also 'cleaning up' some language. I assume it is to descriptions, and not the documents themselves:
Delete"The National Archives is committed to working with staff, communities, and peer institutions to assess and update descriptions that are harmful and to establish standards and policies to prevent future harmful language in staff-generated descriptions."
Jez,
ReplyDeleteCan you not envisage a scenario where an actual child turns to the archive for a school project perhaps? Should that child be discouraged?
As one who grew up with the basal readers The McGuffey Readers, the book title-numbers being used in the same grades in our school as those same title-numbers were used in all American schools into the 20th Century, most of my schoolmates and certainly I could understand America's founding documents by the time we were in 6th Grade.
Please, please, thoroughly read the above link. You will see what I mean!
Yes, "dumbing down" is real.
It's time to return education into what it should be instead of indoctrination.
And teaching history instead of social sciences should also be tossed into the trash can. John Dewey's "progressive education" is a failure!