Carl Sandburg said, "When a nation goes down or a society perishes, one condition may always be found, they forgot where they came from." I now am wondering if that is happening to our nation. Please, this not a political statement! But, we come from Scottish descendants who were hard working, religious, independent and loyal. They were willing to defend their ideals with their lives. I have read twice the book by James Webb, Born Fighting. I am going to read it again. Its about the Civil War, and the common men, especially those Scots of the South, who fought and died. They were on the wrong side and they lost. The South did not win the war and should not have.
I graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in American History and an emphasis on the Civil War. I came to believe that the common soldier in the South fought for their idea of freedom. I understand that slavery was the driving force at the top, but most of those troops at the bottom had never owned slaves. Many had never seen them, especially in the mountains of Tennessee. So, why did they fight so hard? Webb believes they followed their generals as they had been taught in the Clan system of Scotland. Not sure but, maybe. I do sometimes wonder if we have forgotten where our nation began - in a desire for individual liberty, opportunity and freedom. I attended a conference recently on Medicare rules for nursing homes. We were told that Medicare presently has 300,000 laws, rules and regulations. In September, 2010, the whole system is being changed and replaced by a new one. It is so complicated that no one will ever be able to understand. Isn't that a loss of freedom for everyone, including the people it is designed to serve? We should not lose out personal freedom to laws, rules and regulations. Our Scottish forefathers, especially Andrew Jackson, would not be happy. Scots fought the Whiskey Rebellion over issues like these. I blame both Democrats and Republicans. What do you think?
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