Here's a Test For Us...

Posted by parhad on September 08, 2001 at 17:38:21:

I've been involved with these forums for about ten months now...part of the time on my own, the rest being chased around the internet. I imagine that things weren't radically different from when I started, or that they've varied much in all this time. With me removed from the other forums, I witness pretty much the same discussions about who is what, which is where, who is an "agent" who sold out to some "masters" and who is all wrong and all right. Nothing much has changed that I can see, and I doubt much will change with or without my presence, or for that matter the input of any one, ten or fifty of us. I guess I'm asking what the point of it all is if we have nothing tangible to show for all the hours and energy expended.

What if we gave up on splitting hairs and each other's heads in favor of burying our differences, our dislikes and animosities, jealousies and petty envy...to unite behind something we could agree would benefit us all in some way, without hurting us any way at all, not really.

Who can deny that there would be some benefit to all of us, whatever we call ourselves, wherever we came from, whatever we think of each other... in some small particular way...for don't we all keep saying how we're all one people? Well why don't we act like it? Do you suppose the Democrats were any too happy to accord Bush the victory? Do you think they really believe it when they say there are no hard feelings because no matter what they are all Americans, of whatever hue and stripe? Well, actually they do mean it...as hard as it must be to swallow a partisan defeat, it really is true that Americans are in the same boat and the people expect and even demand, that their leaders put aside their personal differences when it comes to those issues which affect the nation as a whole.

Aren't we in danger of having all our little boats swamped? Is this really the time to be pulling out maps and reaching back in time 100 or 1000 years ago? Is there nothing we could rally round which would stand a fair chance of benefitting us all to some degree, though it might benefit some more than others? Isn't that what Democracy and Pluralism is all about? Isn't it "consensus" that makes things move forward? Where is there, or has there ever been, the kind of "unity" we seem to be seeking, a unity which does not and has never existed...and especially not for people actually faced with life and death decisions as we are.

The Shumirum Monument is paid for. It has been accepted and waited on patiently by America's Second City...though first in public monuments. There is not a single barrier or barricade or obstacle blocking its installation and the attention it would gain for us and the benefits which might grow from that in time. At least...isn't it better than nothing? Isn't it better than having it sit in storage for however many more years?

Why do you have to "like" me to benefit yourselves and your children? Should your children only have George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Beethoven and Sun Yat Sen, Lafayette and Pulaski, Madame Curie and Florence Nightingale Moses and Marconi, Columbus and DeSoto...shall they only have the heroes and great people of OTHERS to look up to while they grow...while you try to teach them that we should honor our Heritage, keep the the language and the customs alive?

Can we not put aside our differences and combine our common interests and ancestry for the benefit of us all? Is there not more to gain by installing Shumirum in Chicago, for all of us...than there is for any one of us to lose? Will we go on accenting our disagreements, widening the divisions while we only talk of unity and common ties?

Is this not a fair test for all of us who mean well...who are sincere as well as honest. The greater part of the work has been done...there remains very little to do in order to complete the project...why not....why not?

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: : I've been involved with these forums for about ten months now...part of the time on my own, the rest being chased around the internet. I imagine that things weren't radically different from when I started, or that they've varied much in all this time. With me removed from the other forums, I witness pretty much the same discussions about who is what, which is where, who is an "agent" who sold out to some "masters" and who is all wrong and all right. Nothing much has changed that I can see, and I doubt much will change with or without my presence, or for that matter the input of any one, ten or fifty of us. I guess I'm asking what the point of it all is if we have nothing tangible to show for all the hours and energy expended. : What if we gave up on splitting hairs and each other's heads in favor of burying our differences, our dislikes and animosities, jealousies and petty envy...to unite behind something we could agree would benefit us all in some way, without hurting us any way at all, not really. : Who can deny that there would be some benefit to all of us, whatever we call ourselves, wherever we came from, whatever we think of each other... in some small particular way...for don't we all keep saying how we're all one people? Well why don't we act like it? Do you suppose the Democrats were any too happy to accord Bush the victory? Do you think they really believe it when they say there are no hard feelings because no matter what they are all Americans, of whatever hue and stripe? Well, actually they do mean it...as hard as it must be to swallow a partisan defeat, it really is true that Americans are in the same boat and the people expect and even demand, that their leaders put aside their personal differences when it comes to those issues which affect the nation as a whole. : Aren't we in danger of having all our little boats swamped? Is this really the time to be pulling out maps and reaching back in time 100 or 1000 years ago? Is there nothing we could rally round which would stand a fair chance of benefitting us all to some degree, though it might benefit some more than others? Isn't that what Democracy and Pluralism is all about? Isn't it "consensus" that makes things move forward? Where is there, or has there ever been, the kind of "unity" we seem to be seeking, a unity which does not and has never existed...and especially not for people actually faced with life and death decisions as we are. : The Shumirum Monument is paid for. It has been accepted and waited on patiently by America's Second City...though first in public monuments. There is not a single barrier or barricade or obstacle blocking its installation and the attention it would gain for us and the benefits which might grow from that in time. At least...isn't it better than nothing? Isn't it better than having it sit in storage for however many more years? : Why do you have to "like" me to benefit yourselves and your children? Should your children only have George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Beethoven and Sun Yat Sen, Lafayette and Pulaski, Madame Curie and Florence Nightingale Moses and Marconi, Columbus and DeSoto...shall they only have the heroes and great people of OTHERS to look up to while they grow...while you try to teach them that we should honor our Heritage, keep the the language and the customs alive? : Can we not put aside our differences and combine our common interests and ancestry for the benefit of us all? Is there not more to gain by installing Shumirum in Chicago, for all of us...than there is for any one of us to lose? Will we go on accenting our disagreements, widening the divisions while we only talk of unity and common ties? : Is this not a fair test for all of us who mean well...who are sincere as well as honest. The greater part of the work has been done...there remains very little to do in order to complete the project...why not....why not?

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