The Fragile American Experience

The Loss of Dignity & Respect

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I’m in the middle of a book about George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment.

As I thumb through pages last night the chapter focused on the Boston Tea Party.

I was taken back by the dignified manner in which protestors made their point.

They destroyed lots of tea but hurt no one and made sure no one was injured.

After throwing the tea overboard they cleaned up the ships, sweeping up the mess they made.

Later, they even spoke of paying back the tea company because the protest was not against them but a corrupt government. (I don’t know if they did I haven’t gotten to that part yet.)

My mind wanders back to the protests in Portland, Oregon and other large cities, hell, even Eugene at the start of the pandemic.

BLM and others protested the police.

They said that’s what it was about but I think it was simply anger gone nuts.

Like all of us they were upset with the lockdowns and found a cause to blame it on.

A time when we were told to stay away from other people, yet protestors were allowed to take to the streets, destroy people’s businesses, ransack public property and cause mass chaos, even injury and death.

Now years later we are still paying for the destruction, not only to property, but to people’s lives, destroyed by the chaos, selfishness and anger of a small segment of the population.

So much has changed since the days of the Boston Tea Party.

I wonder what the outcome might have been if protestors would have respected the private property of others and made their point in a pure fashion, not some act of rage like a bunch of grade school bullies out to get their way.

I didn’t see any of them cleaning up after themselves or trying to maintain class, while at the same time taking their frustrations to the street.

On this Thanksgiving Day, a time we look back at the things we are thankful for, it’s hard to see much in society worth saving.

We’ve lost our sense of decency.

We’ve lost class and respect.

Kindness is no longer rewarded.

But most of all, we’ve lost our minds and rather than find the ability to do what’s best for all and keep our focus on the message at hand, we seem to accept the madness….and look where it gets us.

Maybe it’s up to us to say “No More.?

We as a culture get to decide what is dignified and what is just plain hateful and wrong.

We set the standard or they will.

I am thankful for the handful of people out there who are willing to go against the grain and call out the madness.

I think we’ve got one more shot at this in 2024.

If we miss this opportunity, the Fragile American Experiment may shatter.