THE STATE OF THE UNION MAY BE STRONG; clearly it is healthier than the condition of this country’s unions, which grow increasingly imperiled. All considered, though, the state of the United States is ragged and schizophrenic, as are most nations today. Our situation mirrors that of the European Union fairly closely, where a similar struggle goes on between progressives who favor people and growth and backwardites who favor companies and austerity.
Here at home we have “red” states that take more money from federal government than they give back to it, versus “blue” states that give more money than they get back from it, much of which supports the poor “red” states, excluding Texas which is expected to turn “purple.” Contrast that with the EU, where poor nations need support from the five richer, more productive nations, but the rich ones want the poor ones to practice grinding austerity that debilitates their populations and prevents growth.
Many voices criticize the EU for its policy of putting business interests above social needs. Many Europeans fear a drift toward militancy overseas, worrying that French action in Mali signals possible reliance on war to cement bonds of unity in Europe. They mirror Americans who fear that administrative emphasis on security and drone strikes may signal further erosion of constitutional freedoms, our personal and human rights.
If our United States is financially ragged and politically split right down to the bone, it is still pretty rugged, though the workforce is severely weakened by long-term loss of wealth. Unemployment and the loss of skills and readiness to work, and much-increased homelessness and poverty threaten our future workforce; it is further threatened by over-costly higher education and the coming inflationary spiral from the Fed’s massive injection of fiat credit into the banking system without corresponding support for little debtors. The big banks and their attendant institutions have abused the bailout by breaking the weakly written and unenforced bargain in which they were expected to ease up on the little debtors. Instead, they massively enriched themselves by depressing everyone else, buying themselves out of hock and playing the markets without investing in substantive growth.
Yet on second thought, how strong can our union be with a house divided into red and blue states squabbling over everything while putting blame on others before taking responsibility for sensible governance? With so many so-called “patriots” wishing they could secede from the union, is our purported “strength” based on more than inertia?
Face it, folks! The state of our nation is rotten. Too many otherwise good citizens have become philosophically denatured by bad rhetoric and divisive conditioning. Too many of us have forgotten our national ideals and the real nature of civilization. People on the political right have never felt more clear about the essentials, yet they have never been more savagely confused and vulnerable to barbarism from within themselves.
Underlying and encompassing the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C. and the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, is an earlier, statuesque figure of a woman, variously shown in graphic art and on coins, as representing the United States. Her name is unknown by many people and forgotten by most. She is the goddess-like matron, Columbia, shown elegantly gowned and coiffeured, swathed in the Stars and Stripes as an extensive shawl or cape, often windblown. She is shown often on movie screens as the Columbia Pictures logo.
Columbia is not unique. She compares with Athena of ancient Athens, Britannia of the United Kingdom and the revolutionary French woman, Marianne. Britannia is clothed in the Union Jack and Marianne carries a flagstaff from which she waves the French Tricolor, leading a crowd along a street past the Bastille just taken by the people of Paris. The Tricolor is red, white and blue, like the British Union Jack and our own flag. From France came the meaning of those three colors: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité. Fraternity means not a college club but the spirit of caring brotherhood most properly shared among all citizens of a nation, and ideally across the entire world. We’ve lost it.
These figures of powerful women spiritually imbue and embody their nations. Each symbolizes the creative will and unity of her people. It is altogether fitting that such symbols be female and more womanly than amazonian. Motherly and nurturing, women seek the peaceful conditions in which they flourish. They give birth to our children and sustain homes even while employed outside them. They earn everything their men can provide them. Men must earn their love and companionship. Men and women must be worthy of each other’s trust and service.
It has long been argued that the eagle is no fit symbol for American democracy, for it is a raptor that lives by killing smaller prey. Benjamin Franklin correctly thought that the wild turkey should represent us. It puts on a domestic show but lives cautiously out of harm’s way without flying far or high, exposing itself carelessly often in an open field.
Athena was portrayed in partial armor, bearing spear and shield, symbolizing readiness to defend her attainments of learning and wisdom. Why should not these great women have been armed and armored warriors, mounted on great horses like the statues of Italian condottieri, instead of standing each on her own two feet? Riding a horse clearly demonstrates class distinctions of dominance and subordination. The rider enslaves a lesser being. This does not comport with great democracy, which long ago found slavery inconsistent with its ideals. The armored warrior suggests defensive concern for self and aggressive interest in territory, status and rank. Arms and armor are not consistent with agriculture and husbandry, forestry, land management and civil engineering. Perhaps the mad antipathy felt toward Jane Fonda by militant, macho, old white men and their ignorant sons rises from the psychic discord of feeling betrayed by Columbia, whom they with shameful guilt had abandoned to play John Wayne instead of George Washington and found no great, white horses waiting to be bossed around under their buttocks and between their legs. Real women don’t allow saddle and spur.
Robert Shelby was poet laureate of Benicia from 2008-10.
Sharing is caring!
None of the above matters anymore. Bob Livesay and I now have the answer to everything. Vast deposits of poor oil in the Monterey Oil Shale field will enrich the nation’s upper-crust. Start saying goodbye, folks. Move away. The vultures are gathering around these fields. All the oil companies you know and some you never heard of, are getting ready to grab ground. They control a lot, already. How sweet it is, that some can get rich by making our state look like Alberta, Canada, and wrecking the land forever. But, this is only a start. The United States has so much shale oil both on land and under coastal seas that it will be possible to ruin two-thirds of the whole country in just a few years. Indeed, it will make so many new jobs, we will have to import thousands of workers from everywhere else. Business? Wow! Livesay and I look forward to rapidly increased global warming and China-like atmospheric pollution to save us from sunburn. We’re getting in on the ground floor so as to be first to get buried under it.
Robert I have an autographed picture of the women who posed for the Columbia pictures logo. She has since died. As far as shale goes you again show your unwillingness to even investigate anything. If I had not mentioned Monterey Shale in the past few weeks you would be a sleep at the switch and not aware of it. You should be praising and thanking me for keeping you up to date. The state of California is preparing legislation to protect the above and below ground along with exposing and controlling the chemical use. It will be extracted clean, burn clean and make this state even cleaner than it presently is. All with the willing help of Silicon Valley and their technology. I know of no poet that contributed anything to this great state other than words that are soon forgotten. Words of hate and personal attacks accomplish nothing. Robert I suggest before you shoot that nasty mouth of yours off do a little investigating. I do not consider myself an expert. But as far as your concered I do understand that you know nothing about politics, government, finance and industry. Robert Shelby you are a one trick pony and that pony just broke its leg. Believe me Robert this is not the last you will hear from me.
“….and make this state even cleaner than it presently is.” ?
yes
Explain.
I do not have to I have lived in California all but a few years. The air is much cleaner today than it was in 1960.
Air only then?
If the scientific community is funded to find a way to make fossil fuel burn cleaner to the satisfaction of the Enviro Greenies, would that not be a good investment. Fund the sientific community and they will jumb on it in a minute. Now I must admit the Enviro Greenie group will not like that one bit. It destroys their agenda. But it could happen when we have a regime change in 2016.
Good column. I lived near Washington D.C. for a decade, and I had no idea who Columbia is until I read your column.
The only illness this country has is very far left leasning Liberal Socialist. It appears Robert Shelby you are at the top of the list in name but certainly not in stature. When they say standing on a soap box I would believe Robert Shelby you would understand that very well. I would hope some day Robert you could become a very good American. Your writings do not seem to indicate that at present.
Do the writers actually check what they publish here? Here is another wacky piece. Makes the Herald look so junior league, publishing junk like this, along with Matt Talbot’s “oh so holy” preachy garbage.
Let’s just take the first two sentences. Does anyone else see how weird this is?
“THE STATE OF THE UNION MAY BE STRONG; clearly it is healthier than the condition of this country’s unions, which grow increasingly imperiled. All considered, though, the state of the United States is ragged and schizophrenic, as are most nations today.”
Mr. Shelby says “the union is strong”, then he brings in a totally unrelated use of the word “union”, apparently referring to labor unions. Then in the next sentence he says “the union is ragged and schizophrenic”.
SERIOUSLY — what kind of hackneyed writing is that? No matter the validity of the points he is trying to make later, he sounds like a very confused person. Worse than a middle-schooler trying to get an essay in before the English teacher’s deadline tomorrow.
But then again, I know middle-schoolers who write better than this. At least they are honest in their mistakes and ineptness and aren’t trying to pretend they are writers or poets.
“I know middle-schoolers who write better than this.” No, you don’t.
Thanks for reading! Ed.
Actually, I do, but then again, “better” is a qualitiative term that means different things to different people.
True. And, as strenuously as I disagree with it, I appreciate your input. But to be clear, there is no measure of writing skill by which any middle schooler, anywhere, is a better writer than Bob Shelby. For that matter, there are no high schoolers who are as good, either — at least not in my extensive experience of reading and editing high school writers’ work. However, I’d love to meet your candidate and judge for myself. Ed.
Here’s an idea – sponsor a writing contest on “Good Citizenship” for the middle and/or high schools. You most likely would get more honest, heart-felt responses than Shelby’s contentious polemic. They may not have the depth that comes with years of living, which, granted, is shown in Shelby’s writing, but they would not be so divisive, I suspect. I doubt they would base their writing on creating this false dichotomy of “progressives” and “backwardites”,
There is a positive and negative to being older and “experienced”. Positive is that age can give perspective and insight. Negative is that it can also give rigidity in your opinions and a clinging to an outdated world view.
What I find most disappointing about Shelby’s writing is that, with his age and stature, I would expect some wisdom and insight, but it is just not there. Instead, he resorts to cliched exhortations and unnecessarily divisive statements, then wanders off into a ramble about women and Columbia.
Perhaps the mad antipathy felt toward Jane Fonda by militant, macho, old white men and their ignorant sons rises from the psychic discord of feeling betrayed by Columbia, whom they with shameful guilt had abandoned to play John Wayne instead of George Washington and found no great, white horses waiting to be bossed around under their buttocks and between their legs.
When you parse that out, and try to figure what he is trying to say, yes, it sounds grandiose, and yes, I am reading it waiting for the deep insight it is buiding towards, but then ….. it just falls flat. There is no deep, profound meaning. In fact, it is just plain nonsense.
A student may not write with such grandiose flourishes, but I am sure there would be more honesty and heart in what they did write, without such ego-boosting, ostentatious writing.
It is like some claiming to be a great chef and who was chef laureate at some famous restaurant, and who then sets up a dinner where he will be the cook, and you show up, but the soup is bland, the entree is over-spiced, and the dessert is burnt.
It would be better (yes, there is that word again) to have some middle-schooler cook me some mashed potatoes and gravy.
Well, again, I disagree with your conclusions, but it’s a good debate to have. And I love the idea of a writing contest … something to look into, for certain. In the meantime, for an example of the writing ability of our city’s youth, click here: http://beniciaherald.me/2013/03/15/in-other-words-to-be-concluded/
Ed.
From the column: Underlying and encompassing the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C….
There are two interesting aspects of the Statue of Freedom, which, I am sure due to space limitations, were not mentioned:
** The original design included a feathered headdress, meant to represent the Native Americans. The design was changed to a ‘Roman Cap of Freedom’, a cap awarded to or worn by freed slaves in the Roman Empire. At the time this statue was being purchased and installed, Jefferson Davis, was the Senator in charge of the Capitol committee, the change was intended as a direct slap in the face at Jefferson, who was outraged when his request for the feathers was not heeded.
** The man who ran the foundry, where the statue was poured, was an ex-slave, whose foundry was used for much of the bronze and iron statues that adorn Washington. He is honored in DC as being an early example of contributions to DC by African-Americans.
Thank you DDL.