Posted by
billyLevine on Thursday, December 17, 2009 3:31:22 PM
I know the amber waves of grain exist, but they are far, far away...in a land still untarnished by progress, the thing we cherish most even if it comes at the expense of beauty.
Vision and Verse
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The earliest settlers of our nation did not arrive on our shores simply to escape the hopelessness of oppression. They came because they had heard of a land almost too beautiful to imagine, a land of unlimited resources and opportunity. Despite the hardships that accompanied settlement on an uncharted continent, they did something so monumental that schoolbooks cannot find the words to describe the miracle - they forged a new nation. The books our children read speak of farming, logging, trapping and a myriad of other endeavors requiring men and women to reach within for every ounce of will, sweat and toil. Sadly, they overlook an astounding miracle of creation. Imagine it for a moment. There can be no comparisons; the miracle is as unique as it is astonishing. It has never been duplicated...at any time, anywhere. From the heart and soul of man's imagination, a nation was created, forged in the image of dreamers; people willing to brave staggering adversity. America offered a man the freedom to worship without fear, allowed a poor man to prosper and became a sanctuary for the disenchanted and impoverished. Amber waves of grain and the purple mountain’s majesty were more than just words to a song - America had the enticing look and fragrance of a spanking new car. There were no streets lined with gold, but for those who were both courageous and desperate enough to endure the hardships of a voyage that offered no guarantees, America presented them with an opportunity to create a society that prior to their arrival had been nothing more than an idea; a dream - the figment of some French philosopher's fantasy. Long before Walt Disney set foot on planet earth, Tinker Bell waved her wand, and from the tumultuous seas, an enormous and magical land mass rose up and greeted it's new inhabitants.
"Hello," America said, "What is mine can now be yours." Colonization began.
July 4th celebrations can never do justice to the miracle. On that memorable day in 1776, a brash and determined band of colonists had the audacity to declare this nation's independence from tyranny. The events that led to that momentous declaration have been forgotten by many, but I remember them as if they happened yesterday. Why? My answer is simple - I can write this, the publisher can print it and you can read it; without fear of that dreaded knock that has become engraved in history’s dark catalogue of oppression and terror.
There were contradictions
The British believed that they could win a war by invading, pillaging and plundering everything that America's colonists had worked and died to create. Men of wisdom and foresight said "no," and put their refusal to words, protecting new values and beliefs with powerful and beautifully written words. The words are still embedded in our culture, as they were intended. We know the words, but we quickly lost sight of the message. The result is painful to contemplate, for the “shoe is now on the other foot,” and that shoe is too small for the foot. The metaphor may seem oblique, but the facts speak for themselves. We played out the transgressions of our oppressors and fought them at the same time. Hitler assumed and lost.
History proofs the equation; the futility of Britain’s attempt to invade - with more than ten times the military might and weaponry, they failed miserably. One might wonder how this was possible. There is no mystery to it - try to invade a man’s home and you will understand. Sadly, we forgot and failed to comprehend the power of belief; the awesome might of heart that causes people to defend to the death the very values they worked so feverishly to protect. Within that memory lapse lies the beast, for we selfishly assumed ownership of stolen land and came to believe that only our values were worth protecting.
The British made the same mistake and we drove them out with their tails between their legs. t for the same reason. We assumed and paid dearly in Vietnam, but we are poor historians. There are exceptions to the rule of assumptive colonialism, and sometimes, no matter how hard a man fights to defend his home, he loses it. Native Americans learned this and the blood is still on our hands. Was their power of belief insufficient to protect them from invasion? Certainly not. They simply lacked the technology and cynicism, while those who took from them used technology and shameless lies to render them helpless. Time has helped us to forget that had it not been for the wisdom of those who had not lost their vision and a collective conscience that prevailed over the Hitlers of the time, an entire race may have been exterminated
The "great assumption" has become reality again, as we invade, pillage and plunder just as His Majesty’s army attempted three centuries earlier; the only difference being this - we are pillaging and plundering our our own people. This re-cycling of history's worst moments has become a frightening and routine reality...not in some distant and backwards land but right here, in America.
Barrack Obama is literally choking the life from this once great country. He tells us that we have to “spend our way” out of the economic crisis that threatens to bury us in an ocean of debt. He is the salesman for a nationalized healthcare program that will bankrupt America in less time than it will take to pass the healthcare bill. He tells us that same sex marriage is fine; despite centuries of it NOT being fine. And to put the icing on the Obama cake, he plans to completely disarm the country, in total defiance of the constitution.
But “He is our President,” you say. Well, when was the last time we had a non-citizen in the oval office?
Does anyone really care about allof this? It appears not. Americans have become complacent, and while they revel in the pleasures of their pursuits, the liberal collective gains momentum; bringing with it the threat of socialism...no, let’s not mince words - communism.
Blinded by our collective cultural ego, we do not recognize the fact that we are self destructing. America's miracle has been tarnished.Telltale and horribly unpleasant signs are everywhere. and believe me, you don't want to look too closely. If you do, hold your breath, and you will see the signs on the New Jersey Turnpike as you pass through Rahway, Edison and Elizabeth. Miles of refineries pour out their poisonous stench from endless rows of smokestacks. Clearly, this was not what the early settlers of this country envisioned. But then they could never have imagined how important it would be to produce gasoline, a substance to which we are hopelessly addicted. Our dependence on internal combustion blinds us to alternatives that already exist, yet we continue to pay a morbid toll for our unwillingness to change. Our freedom to drive gasoline guzzling automobiles enslaves us to a culture of tyrants. While we struggle and stretch those paychecks to their limits, men in flowing white robes dine on caviar, pay billions for thoroughbred racehorses and billions more for arms that we willingly sell to them.
Whether we admit it or not, we have already invaded a land divided - America. We have become diseased. And the disease may be terminal. Yet we have always been a nation of miracles. Is it time...once again? If things continue as they have been, our future may look like this...
The American States, 2015.
Journal entry, November 22, 2015.
Johnson is the name. William Johnson. I work for BART - Barter Exchange and Redemption Taxation. There is no Bay Area Rapid Transit anymore. There hasn't been much of anything since the crash of 2009. The states are no longer united, there is no President and no Federal Government. States are run by Governors who are now autonomous and make the laws, which are enforced by state militias that have the authority to kill lawbreakers on sight and arbitrarily detain people in government holding facilities. Thousands died in these detention centers when supplies of food and water stopped abruptly. Curfews vary from state to state, but in general, people must be off the streets and in their homes by 9:00 pm.
After the collapse the people learned that they had been defrauded - that money had been privatized for thirty years and existed only in the form of credit. They rebelled and martial law was imposed to stop the rioting and looting. The Pentagon disbanded and the military were re-assigned to the states by a committee of Governors appointed by the Justice Department, which subsequently disbanded when the states declared independence.
These first seven years have been hell. Goods and services are in short supply and Americans, in their rage against a system that had ruthlessly defrauded them, have been on a rampage. Looting and rioting has subsided, but the truth is, you don’t want to be surprised without a weapon. I keep a rifle and a handgun. So far I’ve used them twice. In both cases, it was clear that our attackers would kill us. They wanted our home and I could not let them take it.
By order of the Governors, material holdings of captured criminals were stockpiled in BART redemption centers throughout the states and these became the banks.
Stores continue to operate, but money and credit has been replaced by barter. People come with their goods and trade for credits, or units of buying value. Some people barter services, so you can go to a store and earn buying credits by painting, or re-flooring, or any other skilled labor you can contribute. Store employees work for the same buying credits. Some people called it socialism and a mini civil war broke out that took a year to quell. In the end, by 2012, people accepted the fact that the barter system worked, and as a result it has become more efficient and responsive to the needs of the people.
The legal drug cartel - the pharmaceutical industry, has been taken over by the states and medicines are distributed freely to those who need them. Pharmaceutical workers, scientists, researchers...all are paid in barter credits.
My job? I collect taxes, in the form of barter, but things like tax return forms and taxation rates have been replaced by a uniform collection system that demands very little from individuals. It works because there is no longer any large scale fraud or loopholes that exempt businesses, so the ultimate value of taxation barter collected far exceeds anything ever amassed by the defunct IRS.
There are still serious problems and hardships that Americans must endure. From Minneapolis west to Las Vegas, America looks a lot like the wild west of old. Roving bands of marauders and small armies terrorize cities, particularly in states that have been decimated by the Great Floods of 2012, during which an unprecedented series of hurricanes swept through the Gulf states and left a trail of complete destruction in their wake.
I wish that I could tell you more, but there really isn't much to say now. I lost my family in the Great Floods and I live alone in a small house in Rosemount, Minnesota. I had a son, William Jr. He was murdered by marauders on September 13 - nine days ago. I cannot describe to you the sense of complete devastation that I feel - not only for my family but also for my country; a place that I still love dearly for everything it once stood for and everything it is trying to be once again.
This is my journal. Perhaps one day someone will discover this and understand that the price for freedom and safety from tyranny is mighty high. Nothing should ever be taken for granted. Today is my birthday. I am 72 years old, but I won't be here much longer. There is only one hospital and it is overflowing with victims of a new virus that no one understands yet. I understand it, though...I am dying.
If you pass through and read this, good luck to you and may God be with you.
k