Remember Robin Hood? The guy who lived in Sherwood Forest and made a career of defending the poor and hopeless against the rich and powerful? Yeah, he broke the law, but listen up dummies! Guess what? Your freaking country was founded by guys who broke the law! So don't give me any crap about the law being the be-all and end-all of civilization!
The law, practiced today, has by and large been subverted, making it legal for the rich and powerful to steal from the poor, and illegal for the poor to defend themselves from anyone! The true law of the land - the Constitution of the United States - is ignored by courts and law enforcement agencies today, in preference to case law which protects only the rich and powerful.
I grew up watching Robin Hood, Zorro, the Count de Monte Cristo, the Lone Ranger, and many others. None of these guys had the support of "the establishment." They saw people being victimized, and they did something about it. Most of the people in my generation grew up watching them, and others like them; not only that, most of my generation wanted to be them. We wanted to bring good into the world, supplant evil with good, nurture it and protect the good.
What happened? As a generation, we lost our vision. We went for the money, the power, and the instant gratification. We're no longer the good guys, and we've bred a subsequent generation of leaders that have no concept of what it means to fight for something that is good for our neighbors. We, and they are only willing to fight for things that magnify the power, prestige, and socio-economic advantage of whatever social, political, demographic, religious or other elite group to which we imagine that we belong.
We became a nation of Pharisees and money-changers, and the only values we are now hold are the freedoms of those who are influential to take advantage of those who are not.
It's funny though, most never are accepted as full members of the elite clubs, despite unending loyalty to their poorly understood causes...
SO... where is Robin? He was buried when we all became Sheriffs of Nottingham.
Mariner
September 13, 2008 4:38 PM
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