What I'm reading....and How it relates to today

We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but falsely identified as lying within. ~Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man

During my confinement after surgery, there was little I could do. What I could do though was read. prior to surgery I ordered several books, okay twelve to be exact. I'm an avid reader. Anyway, I started reading Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". I had saved this book for last because it was 1168 pages. I can read very quickly, but I wanted to savor this one.

All I can say so far is WOW! This author was prophetic in her writing. As I read this book, I have to keep reminding myself that she wrote it in 1957. She could very easily be talking about today. It is a fictional novel, but I find myself so absorbed by her thought provoking phrases that I find myself thinking she knew what was coming.

"Atlas Shrugged" deals with how we as a people have to have a standard, a code that we live by and that we must have a moral compass, if we do not, we allow ourselves to become slaves and we become hopeless. We have to know right from wrong and we have to strive for and fight for what is right. I am only a third of the way through this book thus far, but the following excerpt slammed me like a ton of bricks and summed it all up for me as to how society has denigrated to what we see now. I know it is lengthy but please read it to the end.

Francisco speaking to Rearden:

"... Did you want to see it used by men who could not equal the power of your mind, but who would equal your moral integrity - men such as Eddie Willers - who could never invent your Metal, but who would do their best, work as hard as you did, live by their own effort, and riding on your rail - give a moment's silent thanks to the man who gave them more than they could give him?"
"Yes," said Rearden gently.
"Did you want to see it used by whining rotters who never rouse themselves to any effort, who do not possess the ability of a filing clerk, but demand the income of a company president, who drift from failure to failure and expect you to pay their bills, who hold their wishing as an equivalent of your work and their need as a higher claim to reward than your effort, who demand that you serve them, who demand that your strength be the voiceless, rightless, unpaid, unrewarded slave of their impotence, that yours is only to give, but theirs only to take, that yours is to produce, but theirs to consume, that you are not to be paid, neither in matter nor in spirit, neither by wealth nor by recognition nor by respect nor by gratitude - so that they would ride on your rail and sneer at you and curse you, since they owe you nothing, not even the efforts of taking off their hats which you paid for? Would this be what you wanted? Would you feel proud of it?
"I'd blast that rail first," said Rearden, his lips white.
"Then why don't you do it, Mr. Rearden?..."

Does this sound familiar to you? Do the actions of the "whining rotters" sound like anyone you know. I could name about half of our goverment as the "whining rotters". Heck, I could name a slew of people in my own community.

We live in the greatest county the Earth has ever seen. We became great through our freedom, our right to pursue our dreams, our right to fail and pick ourselves up and to then go on and succeed. When did we become a nation of whiners with our hands out? That is not what made our country great. Hard work, determination, integrity, honesty, vision and pride in a job well done. That is what has kept us strong and it is what we need to get back to, not sitting waiting for our next goverment handout as we stand idly by watching our goverment tear apart and throw away what has been our greatest strengths.

I don't know what the answer is or what the most effective way to help people wake up to what is happening, other than to read history and see what has and has not worked in the past and do my best to let others know and to tell it the way I see it. You might not agree with me, but hopefully it will put you on the path to see all the sides and not just listen to the mainstream, but to question them and listen to your own mind before you just follow like blind sheep. Inform yourself, don't rely on just one source, find and search out several till you are satisfied you have turned over every stone.

If you would like to now more about Ayn Rand you can learn more here. I highly recommend her books and don't be surprised if you see more rants from me and a quote here and there from her books.

I'm off my soap box for today. I will get the pictures up from the few shows Morgan attended so far, with more coming, along with other stuff that has been going on.