The Lost Art of Struggle

I have been dismayed, as readers of this blog have no doubt noticed, by the developments in our nation since the election of B. Hussein Obama and his accompanying host of communists, cronies and thugs. Yet in our republic, we the people still bear the bulk of the blame for our circumstances. This "progressive" movement has been underway since the turn of the previous century and has progressed at varying rates until now. Sadly now, we have elected treasonous politicians who perceive an opportunity to take the final leap toward a fascist or socialist utopia and the ultimate destruction of the "last best hope of earth."

There are numerous fronts upon which this war has been waged down through the decades. One of these has been to erase from the American character the art of struggle. The government has seized upon and aggravated a human failing that has been repeated time after time through history. It is the tendency toward seeking correct principles, discovering them, benefiting therefrom, achieving relative prosperity and success, moving into pride and a sense of entitlement to wealth, which results in the loss of all that has previously been won.

We forget that our individual strength is developed most in times of struggle and trial and so it is with peoples and nations. We may pay lip service to the fact, yet we see a burgeoning spate of attorneys' ads on TV declaring that "you may be entitled to compensation for this or that thing. But by far, the most efficient purveyor of that fantasy is our own government.

The recent financial crisis has been caused, in large part, by the government declaring a right of home ownership regardless of ability to pay for it. This led to pressuring banks to approve risky loans that, (surprise, surprise) defaulted on a HUGE scale, causing the economy to collapse. In the midst of the crisis, the government declared certain organizations "too big to fail," and they have expected the same presumption to be applied to the United States by her creditors as well.

Using that erroneous presupposition, the government has advanced a ludicrous spending spree that has "doubled down" on the housing debacle as well as a range of wildly fantastic promises and assurances of a pain free existence in perpetuity through the government seizure of ever more of the private sector.

Lured by the promise of ease and comfort, the American people are subtly robbed of the one of the core necessities of their individual and collective character for success and prosperity--the art of struggle.

When I began working in law enforcement as a Dispatcher for the County I was struck by a pair of individuals who "checked in" nightly pursuant to a probation requirement. The men got into trouble while intoxicated and the Court had ordered that each take an "Antibuse" tablet--a drug that purports to make a person violently ill if he/she ingest alcohol after taking it--in my presence and that I confirm it was swallowed and document the same. We learned that the men would take the tablets, immediately return to their car and drink some alcohol, which would cause them to vomit the booze and the pill, leaving them free to get commode-hugging drunk over the rest of the evening!

Occasionally, when the men would check in, we would have a warrant waiting for their arrest and they would be taken into custody and put in jail. Each time, there was a small, incremental increase in the punishment meted out by the Court.

What struck me was that the Court, in its easing or smoothing of their contact with the System for these two men was less merciful than a more harsh initial treatment! These two men were given minimal inconvenience at every stage of their contact with the Law. Each time they found that "this isn't so bad!" I noticed they never showed a hint of distress or alarm when they checked in and learned one or both were going to jail! I couldn't help but wonder if they would be any different if they were sentenced to the maximum possible penalty for their very first crime! They may very well have continued their lives of petty crime, but there is a possibility they would at least think twice before committing each crime if for nothing more than to assess the cost versus the benefits!

In similar fashion, our government is easing us into a state of slavery and financial ruin. While it seems merciful and helpful to many, it is merely putting off and aggravating a crushing inevitability. Moreover, by encouraging not only a refusal to change habits and practices but a reckless expansion of those practices, the situation and the coming reckoning becomes so much, much worse.

Our ancestors came to this continent with absolutely NO sense of entitlement and with NO safety net whatsoever. The Pilgrims experimented briefly and disastrously with a socialistic approach and learned very quickly the benefits of the pursuit of self interest and private property. Those pilgrims and their children, including our Founders, literally carved their livelihoods and their futures from an untamed and largely unknown wilderness. The risks often involved death for themselves and families, but countering those risks were limitless potential for the growth of wealth and prosperity. But more importantly, there was the promise of liberty and property.

Driven by both the full burden of risk of failure and the gleaming promise of success, these people heroically endured on-going struggle and made that endurance an art form--an art that has largely been lost in our generation. Is there anyone we know who would be eager to rush to any of the signers of the Declaration of Independence to compare our scars, bumps and bruises accumulated in defense of liberty with theirs? Do any of us feel that the likes of George Washington and his soldiers at Valley Forge would be impressed with the stresses we endure at Christmas time--stresses that drive some to suicide?!

NO! Strength is bred through struggle and opposition. Our generation will yet face monumental struggle. The risks of failure, for some, will include death, but for all will mean lost liberty and private property. The potential benefits remain the same.

Tyranny has arisen from within and, while it is presently a "soft tyranny," it will harden dramatically and rapidly. We must prepare now to be counted worthy to be numbered among citizens who refuse to be subjects. We must begin to learn afresh the lost art of struggle whenever the opportunity presents itself and to thank God for those opportunities rather than complain or cast about for a government fix or attorney to ease the pain. Where little is risked or sacrificed, little reward can be expected.

Only by willingly laying all upon the altar can we hope to earn the full blessings of life, liberty and property that are possible. Only by gratefully welcoming and embracing struggle can we build the strength equal to the task at hand. Now is the time. Now is our time. This is our struggle and we must face it with the courage shown at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Concord, Bull Run, Gettysburg and Normandy. We must be prepared to exhibit the determined endurance on display at Valley Forge, Bastogne and Fallujah! We must, in our time and turn, learn and perfect the art of struggle.

NOT of the princes and prelates with periwigged charioteers

Riding triumphantly laurelled to lap the fat of the years,—

Rather the scorned—the rejected—the men hemmed in with the spears;

The men of the tattered battalion which fights till it dies,

Dazed with the dust of the battle, the din and the cries.

The men with the broken heads and the blood running into their eyes.

Not the be-medalled Commander, beloved of the throne,

Riding cock-horse to parade when the bugles are blown,

But the lads who carried the [hill] and cannot be known.

...

Others may sing of the wine and the wealth and the mirth,

The portly presence of potentates goodly in girth;—

Mine be the dirt and the dross, the dust and scum of the earth!

Theirs be the music, the colour, the glory, the gold;

Mine be a handful of ashes, a mouthful of mould.

Of the maimed, of the halt and the blind in the rain and the cold—

Of these shall my songs be fashioned, my tales be told.

~John Masefield, A Consecration

PS: I seldom do rough drafts or re-writes beyond some corrections of typos when I find them in my blog posts. I tend to shoot from the hip when the inspiration strikes. However, I wish I had watched Glenn Beck's program featuring billionaire, John Huntsman prior to writing this particular post.

By way of a quick intro, John Huntsman is the owner of Huntsman Chemical who was born and raised by poor parents, who has made numerous mistakes and failed in many efforts to rise and become a self-made billionaire. He has determined that he will die broke, in part through donating a large portion of his fortune to the Cancer Institute he founded in Salt Lake City, UT.

In their discussion, Glenn and Mr. Huntsman underscored much more effectively than I have done the value of life's valleys--indeed, the absolute necessity of failure to success. Mr. Huntsman has made integrity a hallmark of his life and I believe that integrity demands of each of us that we give our absolute best effort in our lives, but we must understand and recognize that failure and frustration are inevitable and that they teach us what we most need to succeed in subsequent efforts. Again, it is learning to be proficient in the art of struggle that allows us to build the strength we most need to win. Along the way, we need to be grateful for a loving God whose plan allows us to strive, to fail, to learn and to strive again without allowing failures to define us, rather to make failure our servant to lift us.

I pray that it may be so with each of you and with all my fellow-citizens, individually and collectively, as we endure the coming consequences of our faults and failings.