A Note on Independence Day

On this day of note
twelve generations ago
with a bloody byonet
America severed its umbilical chord with its cultural roots
and nobles of note
were granted no more estates of note
and came to these shores no more.

It may do us well to note
that from that day to this
for better or for worse
America remains a nation of the merchant class.

There are no great estates of note
no great castles of note
and no great art of note.

It does however
possess a great wealth of paper
of note.

I’d have to disagree.

Please illustrate. I’d welcome the chance to take my uncharitable comment back and be proved wrong. (Perhaps I should have been more precise in this and said no “epic” art of note.)

blues… (and everything born of the blues)

-Imp

Not to mention the fact that the greatest poet of the 20th century was American…

So what is wrong with merchant class? The merchant classes are the backbone in any community. I am rather proud of it. MagnetMan honors the USA people with that work. Those that come from this stock are far better to handle the world. I am rather fond of our artists and contributors.

Notable people are only noteable because someone said they were noteworthy. I would rather have the poorest of the poor watching my back than some inbred noble or noteable famous person.

I stand corrected. But the slaves from Africa were never of, and never will be, of the merchant class

Again I need more enlightenment.

There is nothing wrong with merchants per se. But there is more to life than trading in commodities. Every nation has to progress from the farmer through to a middle class and then on to nobility. Middle class family wealth needs to be accumulated via risk ventures in order to create a stable family dynasty that does not have to take further risks or send their children out as migrants to find work. Then the sons and daughters of the wealthy merchants need to distinquish themselves on the battlefield or in academia or marriage and bring honor to the family name. Then a few more generations of perculation are required, tending to the family estate and establishing community rapore via national service and charitable works. From that a noble class eventually emerges. They are then honor-bound to to represent the principles of their nation at home and abroad, especially among peers of like-mind.

America is on the way towards producuing noble families - in the best sense of ther word. But it takes time for a young nation to mature. That time can be well spent if the population in general reconnmects with its original cultural roots and learns how to understand and respect the evolutionary sequence that determines social position. Ignorance has given nobility a bad name in this country. That perception needs correction. Hence the reason for this post. I mean it kindly.

True and not true. The noteworthy deed must come first before the honor can be bestowed.

The poor are the salt of the earth from which all classes arise.

Since Adam and Eve, all humans are inbred.

Good art can transcend culture. It communicates something human enough that language and other learned meanings become unnecessary. The U.S. has made a lot of things that have crossed cultural boundaries in this way. The U.S. created the car, the airplane, the computer, the assembly line, and several art forms that have all earned appreciation by people who live outside of the United States.

Musical art forms like Blues, Rock N’ Roll, Jazz, and Rap have moved past the borders of the U.S. and into the lives any people in the world with the technology to listen to recorded music.

The theatrical art form of film was developed by many around the world including the Soviet Union, France, and Italy, but significant contributions to the art have been made by film makers in Hollywood California. It’s difficult to say how large or how significant, but if one could imagine if Hollywood never existed what the modern film would be like today, then one can begin to get a sense of its impact.

Other American art forms or forms that were contributed to by America in significance are the video game, the comic book, and the sport of basketball.

Muhammad Ali?

All very true. Classic art stems from folk art. One day America, like all great cultures will produce its own epic art. But it must become noble before that can be envisioned.

One needs to open their mind to what us being suggested here. Criticism can be constructive, but not if it falls on deaf ears. Denial can be ugly. America has that ugly reputation now, world wide. It is unnecessary and it must be changed. It will not go away by itself. Our behavior must change. Hundreds of celebrities have realized that and have stopped their self-centered posturing and are reaching out. That is an encouraging sign. A noble sign. They need our help. It should encourage and enoble all of us.

The quote a famous American cowboy philosopher, " when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."

America is obsessed with merchandizing, in making absorbitant profits and stock-piling mountains of money. Merchants make poor diplomats, they think only of the bottom line. Our international neighbors despise us for that precise reason. We will spend 400 billion dollars next year on homeland security. That is a lot of protection for a lot of unecessary hate.
The rut is now a hole and we must stip digging.

Money does not make greatness. It requires something far more than that.

Andrew Wyeth

I don’t completely accept your idea of nobility or superiority of a moral nature, so I can’t agree. Work needn’t have a good reason for it to be made to be good. I do personally prefer work that reaffirms my morals and aims to enlighten others, but who am I to say what is moral or who is enlightened? I prefer to use other means to assess art’s value.

Master of realism for sure. But that genre has been past-mastered centuries ago by thousands of forgotten masters. Only a relative few became icons. Cannot imagine any single canvas of his as epic.

That’s relative, and your lack of appreciation for today’s art is your loss.

It is not my idea. It is the idealism of every culture on every continent (except this) during all of recorded history.

All work conscientiously done is good. The problem with merchandizing is that its sits in the middle ground between manufacturer and consumer. The merchant serves a worthwhile middle purpose, but the mark-up becomes problematical - and invariably becomes corrupted by the extension of credit when times are hard. The good-hearted merchant goes bankrupt and the hard-hearted merchant survives. Interest on credit soars from a modest 3% to an unpayable 23%. Books are cooked and taxes avoided and the winner takes all. Only a few giant corporations will survive this system in the end and the golden calf of Baal will reign supreme.

The purpose of a noble class is to put a moral cap on basic primate greed by exibiting an example of moral principles that money cannot corrupt. The lowly laborer feels more secure from unfair exploitation, knowing that there is a House of Lords that oversees the moral conduct of the nation. The American Senate is supposed to fill that function- But his service is bought and paid for by the merchants. So there is no limit to corruption

Comparing the work ethic with the art ethic is like oranges and apples.
Both artist and laborer need to put an honest effort into life. This is the only path to nobility and the larger burden it has to bear.

And that is the single reason that the US is great.

Pwned.

How do we define national greatness?
Republics?
Thery have risen and fallen over the past two thousand years.
Democracy?
That is a travesty. The rich always end up wielding the final whip.
Money and military power?
History shows that is merely a temporary condition.

One can appreciate the need for every nation to feel that it is great.
America has spent three centruies cultivating this feeling.
Older nations have spent millennia doing the same thing.
Each one feels that it greater than the next
Try and tell the Greeks or Romans that America is greater and they will laugh in your face.

So, if you reject all I have said, what is the true measure of greatness?

What? Not Gary Larson?