Music Monday: Get a History Book Please

So in honor of our nation's birthday, I would like to humbly suggest to every arm chair constitutionalists, every senator and every member of the house and every governor hurry to their local library and or surf on over to Amazon and check out some history books. I would humbly suggest getting books from a variety of sources-- for example, it will not kill liberals to read more conservative texts and conservatives to check out some liberal texts. The ultra religious would be well served by reading some texts by those of an agnostic bent and agnostics would not be struck down by reading some texts written by ardent believers.

The point of this is-- relying on a single source or a single flavor of sources IS not the basis for forming a well rounded opinion. The truth, is almost always in the middle. One cannot in my opinion effectively reach the middle or come to terms with any subject or effectively reject a position until one has examined said issue from all the angles.

Also, one has to be dedicated to understanding the realities of what was in the past. I cringe when I hear people, mostly white middle aged men, saying we need to return to the government of founding fathers. Um, women could not vote in 1776, they could not own property, actually they were property and owning slaves and indentured servants was perfectly legal and encouraged. Monogamy was not the norm, certainly not for men of means. We actively drowned women calling them witches, using way less than humane or scientific means of truth extraction.  People were jailed for debts and small infractions were punished by standing in the public stocks. (Trust me the colonies and early America prohibited all sorts of social behaviors.) The colonists and the early Americans paid a lot of taxes and honestly only property owners actually got to fully participate in the political process. So by all means, let's go back to the time of ...

Beastie Boys-- Paul Revere


(I'll stay right here-- because I have actually read about the early Americans and I think, frankly I will pass. If only to avoid wearing crazy cotton dresses and raw sewage in the streets.)