Common Sense

Remember building the pyramids?

Either 20,000 or 100,000 - depending on which historian/archeologist you believe - sweating Egyptians, each hooked to a long rope, the other end of the rope attached to a giant, multi-ton block of stone, pulling with all their might, under a hot sun?

Sounds like fun, huh?

And only 2.5 million more multi-ton blocks to go! (That’s just for the largest of the three pyramids - the others are there, waiting, too!)

People laboring for the state. Without pay. However willingly or unwillingly (we don’t know the answer to that question).

500 feet high, covering 13 acres - that’s one big mama!

It’s possible dragging the stones there was the easy part. Lifting them in place, and ‘dressing’ them to fit so smoothly a knife blade won’t fit in the joint - that prob was the real work.

Here’s a take on how it was done:

“”[It's]…now believed that the labor force reached 100,000…when farm work was impossible due to the annual Nile floods [July to late October]. During the rest of the year these human beasts of burden would return to their tasks as serfs on the rest of the land.”

Right there you have it. At least one theoretical construct of it.

Yet, reading it, can you maybe relate it to something more modern? Something closer to home?

Anyone ever heard of something called “Tax Freedom Day”??

It’s the day of the year when you’ve worked and earned enough to pay all your taxes for the year - state, federal, local - and you are free to begin working for yourself, and keeping what you make.

This year the Tax Foundation says, after taking into account the 1.5 trillion federal budget deficit, you’ll have to work from Jan 1 to May 29 to pay your annual taxes.

Only after that do you begin keeping for yourself what money you’ve earned.

Let’s look at the box score:

Ancient Egyptians: 3+ months working for the state (but during a time when they could not work for themselves - I guess - because the fields are flooded), over ten or twenty years.

The strong, free, modern 21st-century American: five solid months working for the collective state - national, regional, and local - with every year generally seeing “Tax Freedom Day” delayed a day or two longer - for a lifetime.

Say, who had it better?

Or more properly, who had it worse?

Or in yet another way, you can ask “what’s the difference?” What’s the difference between involuntary labor 4500 years ago and even more [semi-]involuntary labor, today?

(I asked this question at an Appleseed, and a lady blurted out “Air conditioning!” Actually, I was thinking the answer would be “the Egyptians had it better, because they only labored three-plus months every year, whereas we have to labor five” - or maybe “the moral here is, don’t waste your time pitying the poor Egyptians - there’s plenty to pity us poor hard-working Americans about” - but she had a point. Maybe it explains why Americans are not rushing to build time machines to go back to “the Land of Vacation” so many centuries ago. )

Let’s add one more historical fact to the mix: 200+ years ago, 13 colonies revolted over a penny stamp tax. (OK, a slight exaggeration - it was the attempt to seize arms at Concord that really set things off.)

The Stamp Tax, like many of the acts of Parliament at the time, led to riots, tar-and-featherings, and a massive boycott of imported English goods. So massive, the Stamp Tax was quickly repealed.

All that, over a penny.

Actually, over the issue of “taxation without representation”.

However, recent experience suggest it looks like taxation WITH representation has been a little oversold, right?

We get to this point when we let our standards slip - the standards set by the Founders. And we slip into an “unholy trinity”.

1. Politicians become adept at one thing: saying anything to get re-elected.

2. The vote-counting procedure in modern American can’t seem to be made idiot-proof - or tamper-proof.

3. The voters are largely lazy, ignorant, and self-centered in their self-interest.

It’s a “deadly trinity” which has the power to easily sink this ship.

And, is sinking it.

The past has many uses. Inspiration, motivation, education, and, not least, as a standard by which to measure the present.

By that standard, I’m not sure how well we measure up - either to 2500 BC, or to the late 1700s…

Guess you’ll have to decide.

In the meantime, resolve to come to an Appleseed, learn your heritage, then join us to make America once again conscious of and respectful of those liberty-loving and -winning people who went before us so long ago.

PS: By a curious twist of history, back in Egypt, it was the poorer level of society that carried the burden; today, the poorer level can take a vacation, and watch and enjoy “their betters” as they bear all the burden…

I was lucky recently to be an instructor at the Project April 19th, 1775 Appleseed in Harvard, MA.

Lucky not only for the usual reasons (which are many) but because it put me a few miles from where it all begin - Lexington and Concord.

Coming into town Friday PM, I had just enough time to revisit the National Minuteman Center, and stop at the North Bridge.

Sat was Appleseed instructing, so I missed the renactments set for that day, but Sunday morning, April 19th, before dawn, some of us Appleseeders met at Lexington Green, to be there to mark the occasion, and to fill our minds with the “murky half-light” of pre-dawn described as Capt John Parker assembled his men that long-ago morning.

We were the only ones there.

If only Elton John had been there, or some other music star…

But it was only us.

To be honest, I can see how it would have been a very scary morning - drums beating, the alarm bell pealing, people running to and fro, papable tension humming in the air. Clearly, the immediate future, if the redcoats showed, could be fraught with grave consequences for everyone there.

After the sun was well up, we partook of another growing Appleseed tradition - to stop at the North Bridge and collect a sample of river water - AFTER it flowed under the bridge - it’s heavier, and more sparkly-like, then.

Yep, we’ll take that water all over the US, and sprinkle some of the magic everywhere there’s an Appleseed.

Then it was back to teaching Appleseeders for the rest of the day.

Monday, before dawn, I was back at Lex Green for the reenactment - and what a difference! Could hardly get next to the Green, as maybe a thousand people jammed to watch the redcoats arrive, Parker’s men forming up and answering the roll-call, and then the first shots of what turned out to be a fateful day in world history.

As interesting was to hang around afterwards, and listen to the redcoat reenactors answer questions. Seems if you want to be a Rev War reenactor, being a redcoat has it’s advantages. The guy who was talking was in real life a lawyer, but as a redcoat he’d been to England, paraded before the Queen, and traveled to Bermuda and other places, just to do his stuff.

He mentioned that when the redcoats formed on Lexington Green to do their “fix bayonets” advance, the script called for someone to fire a shot from Buckman Tavern on their third step of the advance as a cue to start firing. One year, no one fired the shot - so on the fifth step, he fired his musket and, as he said, “I started the War, that day - I fired the first shot!”

From there it was steps to the graveyard where Capt John Parker is buried under a modest headstone, and I was able to witness a wreath-laying ceremony at his grave, followed by a musket volley - and a subsequent wreath-laying at the grave of an unknown British soldier. A representative of the British consulate in Boston was the ceremonial wreath-layer.

From there, quickly over to the North Bridge, for a ceremony by a redcoat unit rendering honors to both the American memorial, and the British graves on the near side of the bridge. They have an impressive ceremony called “Mourn Arms” where, lined up at attention facing the memorial, they slowly reverse their muskets until the muzzle in on their toe, then slowly bow their heads.

Just prior to that, they marched down the road to the bridge, and I have to give credit to the “British officer” leading the unit, as he had the swagger down so well you kinda wanted to throw something at him - in fact, someone watching yelled, “You’ll get yours!” - prob another Appleseeder…

One amusing aspect: When the British unit marched down and crossed the North Bridge, fifes and drums going, there was a group of uniformed navy people clustered on the far side of the American monument. When it looked like the British were going to march into them, they scattered like chickens - or school kids. Of course, the British at the last second turned to march around the monument, but still…I doubt John Paul Jones would have approved.

Later came the Concord parade, heavy with reactment units marching with fife and drum, some very professional, others more home-spun. All of it colorful and entertaining.

Of interest was the number of females dressed as men in the units - maybe there’s not enough Mass men to fill out the units? T’wouldn’t be much of a surprise…

One women spectator had a UN flag - maybe she wanted to show where her real loyalties lie?

On a prior visit to Lexington, a banner was draped across the front of a house only steps off the Green: “UN Save US!”

Guess someone really needs to come to an Appleseed, bad, and find out how we save ourselves?

Lunch at the Colonial Inn, existent on 4/19/75, just across the street from the hasty grave of a British soldier shot at the North Bridge - prob a member of the 4th, 10th, or 43rd Light Infantry - now and forever lying between the curb and the sidewalk in Concord town.

From there to Harwell Tavern on the restored Battle Road, a place that will make you think you’ve gone back in time two hundred years. Shots were fired at the Redcoats by at least one militiaman from behind the Hartwell barn - exciting times, indeed!

There we ran into a ranger who was 100% Appleseed - maybe we’ll have a special “rangers” Appleseed in nearby Harvard, some time!

A trip to where it all began is a trip every American should make at least once in his life. It would be hard to see everything in one weekend; plan on a week if you can - and read up on April 19th before you go, so it has more meaning to you, to actually be there.

I doubt there’s any place in this country with more concentrated history - heck, just touring the sites relating to one day - April 19th - trying to understand and picture what it was like - seeing muskets which were present - and fired - on Lexington Green at sunrise on April 19th - it’s more than you can deal with, if you care about your history and your heritage.

Let’s assume, just for the moment, that recent events in this country have left you with the feeling things are spinning rapidly out of control.

Let’s go a bit further, and assume - just for the moment - that you feel you are on the deck of a ship - and the ship is sinking.

Now, for the big question: What are you gonna do about it?

Oops, bad question, jumping the gun.

The first question is, “are you going to do anything about it?” Never mind the “what”, yet - just “what are your intentions?”

If you chose to do nothing, under the momentary assumption we asked you to make, you are on the deck of the sinking ship, and are planning to do nothing about it.

Nothing to stop the sinking. Nothing to save yourself, or any family that may be important to you.

After all, if the ship goes under, you’re in the water - not a positive prognosis for your future, to be sure.

So, let’s assume “doing nothing” is out as an option.

And let’s assume you know what to do - something like grabbing a bucket and starting to bail - and maybe yelling at the others standing around on the deck to grab a bucket and get to bailing!

Now that image is great - it’s even noble. Noble, to refuse to go under without a fight.

Heroic, even.

But that’s in your imagination.

In real life, you’re not on the deck of a sinking ship. No sir, you’re at home, or at work, or en route between the two.

In real life, you’re probably not lifting a finger to help save the sinking ship.

Mainly because, the water not being in front of your nose, and hypothetical to boot, it’s easy to ignore doing anything about it.

It’s also easy to ignore because, having lived over a decade (or nearly) in 21st-century America, you don’t really know how to ‘do anything’, any more (more correctly, you never knew - not you forgot ‘how to’, or that you are ‘rusty’ - simply that you never learned).

Plus, you simply don’t have time to do anything (and may not have the energy, either!).

Between work and family, there doesn’t seem to be much spare time to bail any hypothetical ship.

Man, life’s a beach, ain’t it?

Just when you want get concerned about the future - really concerned - everything conspires to keep you from doing anything.

No time. No clue as to ‘how to’. No energy.

Yet the ship is sinking, and you know it.

Maybe even feel bad about it - and even worse (is that possible?) you aren’t lifting a finger.

At Appleseeds (www.rwva.org), when I tell the story of April 19th, 1775, and mention the fact 14,000 armed Americans turned out on six-hours’ notice to defend their liberty - and question whether we could repeat that in today’s America, I raise another question: “How do you measure the value of liberty to a society? Would you measure it by the number of people willing to turn out to defend it?

“In that case, what does it tell us if 14,000 of our ancestors were willing to turn out on a few hours’ notice a couple of hundred years ago - without cell phones, internet, fax, etc - and most of us doubt that could ever be repeated today?”

If you look on liberty as being one of the things under attack in current affairs - in other words, as one aspect leading to the “sinking ship” conclusion - then you have to also (it seems to me) look at what you are doing - or not doing - to defend it.

Let’s suppose you can donate two hours a week to defending liberty - whether it’s writing your congress people, talking to people to try and wake them up to the threat, or something else (we at Appleseed can show you how a couple of hours on your computer a week can have a measurable impact on the battle to save this country - or the ship, if you prefer) - are you doing it?

Are you spending two hours a week to help save the ship?

I’m willing to bet the answer is “No” - and I’m willing to bet it’s for one of the reasons mentioned earlier - you don’t know what to do, you don’t have the time, etc.

The average American, we are told, spends 40 hours a week in front of his TV.

Ouch! That’s about all the time you have, when you’re not at work, or sleeping.

Some family life - huh?

Now, I’m willing to bet your grass (should you have a yard) is nicely mown.

And it prob takes a couple of hours a week to keep it that way.

If you don’t have time for saving the ship, and yet your yard is nicely mown, what does that say?

Does it say you value a fresh-mown yard - over liberty?

You have a choice of what to do with two hours of your time each week. The choice is 1) mow the grass, or 2) work to save the ship.

You don’t have to answer what your choice is - I can see the fresh-cut yard.

Now, how does the fact that, when given the choice between cutting your grass and saving the ship, you choose to cut the grass - what does that say about you?

That you’re short-sighted, putting a fresh-cut lawn as more important than liberty?

That you’re too stupid (remember, I’m simply asking this, hypothetically) to know what’s more important, and what’s not?

That you’re ignorant, not being aware of what’s happening to our liberty, while you mow your yard?

So we can change the old saying, “fiddling while Rome burns”, to “mowing, while liberty fades…”?

Maybe it’s possible you can do both - have a fresh-cut lawn AND donate a couple of hours a week for liberty? Maybe by cutting - gasp! - a couple of hours of TV-time?

If you truly understand and believe how close the ship is to sinking, and believe that us Americans should do something about it because 1) it’s the only ship we have - there are no others, and 2) it’s a fine ship, built with old-world craftsmanship, and t’would be a shame to let it sink, then you must realize most of your fellow Americans treasure laziness (if we can be so bold as to say laying on the couch in front of the tube consitutes same) over liberty, and ignorance over all.

If you understand that, you understand what we few who are concerned for the future face.

So maybe the choice in life comes down to this, if you are really pinched for time: a fresh-cut lawn, or some time devoted to keeping the ship from sinking?

Ask yourself: “How would the founders of this country answer that question?”

Which option would they want you to take?

If Project Applesseed is successful, is it possible uncut scraggly lawns could become a new status symbol?

Or, if the future continues on its present course, would all those clean-cut lawns out there reflect, in a concrete fashion, the death of liberty?

There’s a choice to be made - and the choice is yours to make.

Choose wisely.

All of us - me, the founders, other patriotic Americans fighting the good fight - hope you will.

Picasso had his “Blue period”.

Fred has had his “macho period” - that time when he was young, ignorant (uninformed) and foolish, and interpreted the 2nd Amendment to be about using your rifles and other firearms to defend your freedom.

He’s since learned, through reading the Founders, that a prerequisite to do it is an educated, informed, alert, liberty-loving, American people.

Not only a desirable “prerequisite”, but mandatory “requirement”.

In fact, if you have the hearts and minds of the American people with you, you’ll never need the guns.

Likewise, if you don’t have their “hearts and minds”, all the guns in the world won’t help.

Let’s brifly review progress we’ve made as a country in the last 50 years - the last three generations:

Every new babe born in this country has a number assigned - this is so “deductions for children on tax records can be checked.”

Every citizen in this country has a file on those big gov computers - this is to “perform background checks for gun purchases.”

Soon there will be a DNA database, so that “missing children can be more easily found/identified.”

Soon every vehicle will be tracked thru GPS, so that stolen vehicles can be located, and people who run their vehicle off into a ravine will be easily located.

“Appeasement” - which after Neville Chamberlain was thoroughly discredited - is now the policy of the land, both in high councils and low.

Any notion of the “sovereignty of the citizen” (that is what libery is about, folks - in fact, that IS liberty) and “limited government” has simply disappeared from American public life. No one seemingly cares, anymore.

Gee, that’s real progress in America, right?

And not a one of those steps in our progress has ANY implications for our liberty and freedom, right? (Actually, there were a lot of liberal sqwakers back in the 60’s fussing about alleged concerns over big gov computers having files on everyone, but as soon as they understood “it’s for gun control” they quickly shut up - no longer are gov files on every man woman and child an issue - “it’s for the guns…”)

Understand clearly. If you don’t have the heart and souls of Americans into valuing liberty, all the guns in the world won’t help you.

That’s what Project Appleseed is about.

Teaching Americans their history and heritage of April 19th, 1775, and letting that wake them up to the debt we owe the Founders, plus the realization that the Rev War was “a close-run thing” - and that liberty is always “close run” in the sense that it can disappear on you.

Wasn’t the reason the Founders divided up the government into branches to prevent the gov from taking those freedoms?

And wasn’t one of the functions of the first amendment to protect the vital function of the Fourth Estate - the press - to do its watchdog function?

Anyone believe the media is “watching the government” - any more?

Anyone believe the gov “checks and balances” are working - any more?

Anyone believe the American people cares about either possibility - any more?

So, what do we do?

There’s an answer: wake up your fellow Americans. If you can’t figure a way to do it, get them to come to an Appleseed, and we’ll do the waking up.

Because that “waking up” is real important.

For a very good reason, a secret even some of the Founders may not have been aware of (but some assuredly were): if you have the hearts and souls of Americans swelling with the joy of Liberty, you won’t have the kind of media we have today, or the kind of government. Most important, if you have the hearts and souls, you won’t need the guns to protect liberty - at least, you won’t need to use them against an over-bearing, tyrannical government - as such a government cannot exist in an American where the people really value and love liberty. Trust me.

So, Fred, years ago, relatively young and unsophisticated, did not understand that basic fact, because he had not read the founders:

But YOU can come to an Appleseed, and learn that basic fact - along with a traditional American skill, along with hearing the unvarnished Story of April 19th, 1775, the one you never heard in school - and never will - unless we save this country.

Because that Story needs to be in the hearts and minds of every American…

Armed with that spirit of Liberty, you never need to worry about being ‘macho’…