“But O, good Lord! What strange phenomenon is this? What name shall we give it? What is the nature of this misfortune? What vice is it, or, rather, what degradation? To see an endless multitude of people not merely obeying, but driven to servility? Not ruled, but tyrannized over? These wretches have no wealth, no kin, nor wife nor children, not even life itself that they can call their own.” ~ Etienne de la Boetie
If you want your home to last, one of the first things you need to do is to build a strong foundation for it to sit upon. If that foundation is weak, or if it becomes eroded over time, the house will eventually suffer; possibly to the point of collapsing. If you’ve been reading my essays for any length of time, you should, by now, recognize that I’m speaking metaphorically; that there is a point to all this.
Before I get to the meat and potatoes of this essay, there is a quote I’d like for you to ponder, “A house divided cannot stand.” I believe that quote originates from the Bible, the Book of Mark, Chapter 3, Verse 25 if I’m not mistaken. Now, let’s get started…
What are we? Are we a country, a nation, or simply a people occupying a geographical location on a map? When the first European (British) settlers came to this land, did they constitute a nation; a country? No, they were merely a handful of Colonists who had sought an existence in a land that was separated geographically from their home country, but bound politically to that country. Continue reading →