[Platt] The usual radical left-wing bashing of America, parroting Howard Zinn and the rest of the 60's flower children professoriate, completely ignoring the millions slaughtered in the 20th century under atheist communism.
[Case] America's flaws are all redeemed By the faults of those yet more extreme? We can with pride choose to ignore What faults we have, 'cause some fault more? Is justice such a relative thing That minute amounts let freedom ring? If we've set standards, we fail to meet You'd pat our backs, well, ain't that sweet? But I'd hold us to a higher code Demand we reap from the seeds we've sowed. If future histories will deem us Good Let's focus on "is" and not on "should" For sin is sin, not more or less When we miss the mark, that's not our best. Redemption comes when we sin no more It's opening windows not closing doors. You'd judge us by the flags we wave I'd look through the eyes of native and slave. Claiming goodness doesn't make it Truth It comes from reflection, on the sins of youth. But if you reflection includes no flaws And all you see are "Oooos!" and "Ahhhh!" If that's what you see, you can keep on Brother, Seeking salvation through the sins of another. > [Ham] > My contention is that man will realize his true freedom only when > he becomes his own authority. > > [Case] > Authority? > How much you got? > How much you need? > When I get enough will I be freed? > When I am my own and I'm cuttin' loose > Will I be there because I got the juice? > When I'm truly free, without constraint > Will I see the world without complaint? > Will I be calming seas? > Will I walk on air? > By what Authority? > Whose got some? > Can I get some? > Buy what? > Authority? > > [Ham] > We came close to this ideal when we broke the chains of tyranny and > founded > a free republic with limited government and maximum liberty for its > citizens. Except for the war between the states, it worked well for the > first hundred years or so. > > [Case] > During Ham's 72 year Golden Age > We fought a war with England > And rampaged across a continent > We ravaged civilizations > Scattered whole races of people > The Civil War was a vacation > For the Lakota and the Zuni > When the white men stopped > Killing each other > The rampage renewed > They threaded two oceans > With strands of steel > For those who rode the Iron Horse > It worked pretty well indeed. > Do you think that horse was forged > >From broken chains of tyranny? > > [Ham] > But by the middle of the last century we began > to lose our bearings and take freedom and prosperity for granted. We > thought we could "improve" upon the value of life by treating everbody as > equals and passing "progressive" programs to spread the wealth and make > government society's caretakers. > > [Case} > Under any kinda program wealth gets spread. > But when the bread gets buttered, who holds the bread? > Africans and women got three fifths 'a slice > Carnegie's got toasted. Served with rum and spice. > > Is it the white man's burden to tote the loaf? > > When the buses stopped in Selma > And governors were escorted > >From the steps of universities > By armed police > A race of people's lot "improved." > The value of their lives grew when they were given > The freedom and prosperity "we" had been taking for granted. > > Of whose care does the caretaker take? > Who gets the bread and butter? > Who gets the steak? > Should we ease the white man's burden while niños are starved? > If the loafman's load is lighter will some bigger crumbs get carved? > > Under every kind of program, when the wealth gets spread > Just like spreading butter; it's who holds the bread. > > [Ham quoting himself:] > "The refrain we hear most often is: 'It > can't happen here -- America is different.' But the reality is that > civilized nations are not immortal; they are born and die just as > individuals do. Although their longevity may exceed the average person's > lifespan, we cannot escape history. And history teaches us that empires > also die." > > [Case] > The deaths of empires can be protracted and rumors of them exaggerated. > Take the Greeks. > Egypt gasped away for 3000 years > Until Cleopatra had the last asp. > China's dynasties didn't so much die > As change names for 5000 years. > The Chosen People have wandered > Through desserts and death camps for millennia. > The British might well insist that theirs endures. > > Historians sign the death certificates. > America is different if it claims the right to decide. > Do not the Greeks live in us? > And the Iroquoi? > And the Hottentot? > And the Hindu? > And the Jew? > I think they do. > What of the Inca and the Aztec, the Mayans and the Anasazi? > What sins did they commit > To attract the buzzard's eye of historians? > > 'It can happen here, if America is indifferent.' > Indifferent to the sins of its past. > Indifferent to the poor in spirit > Indifferent to the mourners > Indifferent to the hungry > Indifferent to those persecuted for seeking justice > Indifferent to all those, whose only hope of empire > Is the Kingdom of Heaven > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
