State of Grace

It's not that I am not grateful;
For the graceful ways that we be today,
When you came our way we were of simpler minds
and even more simpler ways.
We dreamt of coffee fields on mountainous hills,
Of colorful mornings and wondrous sights.
We looked forward to the sounds of nature's abide
welcoming us into La Isla Del Encanto;
yes,  paradise.

It's not that I am not grateful;
For the learnt way we be today.
You brought with you fine institutions of wisdom
and established them in our small little island.
And our knowledge grew of the things you knew
For before you came
We knew only of our Mother Spain and of
our African and Taino ways.
Of 500 years, of the Old Lady's pain
and of becoming masters of healing
and music, and dance, while still appearing
humble and compliant.
Of dancing ballads from all three nations
and graceful names throughout creation.
A thousand years of Moor influence
propelled our task masters; and maritime
conquests abounded.
Of Don Quijote and fine composers,
of fine wines, architecture and fine perfumes.

Oh, what?  That is not what you heard?

You were told we were a population of illiterate peasants?
That poverty and disease ran rapid?
That we were unsophisticated and uncouth?
Void of any true culture and therefore, in need of total
revamping and Americanization?
It is true what they say,
"Don't believe everything you read".

It's not that I am not grateful;
That our agricultural lands were paved over
and industrial buildings where erected
in place of our sugar cane, coffee and tobacco crops.
And over a century of one way trading
has left Puerto Rico totally dependent on
the United States' unilateral trading practices.
Cultivating trade with other countries is
forbidden.  Reminds me of that saying;
"First you make thieves and then you punish
them for stealing?"

It's not that I am not grateful;
For allowing us the opportunity to fight in all
your wars.
Yet be seen as solely a mestizo race
and given our own little special place
called segregation and isolation.
That our beautiful, strong, lovely women
were chosen in medical experimentations
and thanks to them, we now have contraception.
Political prisoners where given radiation
and mental patients cancer cells.
If you believe we were the only ones;
And that that could not happen here?
You need to open your eyes and recognize.
The drug infestation in major cities
like New York, Chicago and California, of the
1930's, were orchestrated by vile men who wanted
to exterminate spics and niggers.

Yes, you and me.

It's not that I am not grateful,
I still believe in our forefathers' vision and still believe in
their promise.
That in this land, over here, things were
going to be different, better, and all inclusive.
That race, language, sexual preference, religious ideology
and theology, mental capacity and/or monetary deficiency
or abundance;
none of it,
none of it would matter.
You could still have a chance at the pursuit of happiness,
only if you are brave enough to chase it.
I believe in this country enough to hand over my only two sons
and say, "Now go fight for our Nation".
I tell them, "No matter where you are; Remember who you are" and
sleep soundly knowing,
that they take those words to heart.


Dedicated to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, "Good looking out Girl!"

The Pursuit of Happiness

The United States Declaration of Independence has one of the most famous and influential phrases in the English language which is:  "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness."

I must remind my readers what our founding fathers where attempting to accomplish in the creation of the democratic government that was to exist in our future country, the United States of America.

For nearly 300 years the colonies had been under the domination of England and the many Kings that ascended the English throne from the 1600's, Virginia, Jamestown Colony, until the late 18th century.  The contemporary King during Revolutionary times was George III (The Mad King).

Many great men risked their lives by signing the Declaration of Independence, if the American Revolution had failed, their own signature would have condemned them to death.  Mind you, I can not list all these great men, my deciphering skills have failed me.  Yet, among the signatures I was able to read were; John Hancock, Jim Hooper, Joseph Herves, John Penn, John Adams, Sam Adams, Robert Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

The Declaration of Independence, drafted primarily by Jefferson, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.  The text of the second section of the Declaration of Independence reads:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, 

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator 

with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are Life, Liberty 

and the pursuit of Happiness."

I have often wondered why Jefferson would include the very specific, yet very broadly interpreted phrase "pursuit of Happiness" in his draft of the Declaration of Independence.  Happiness is such a personal subject matter.  Can it ever be generalize, interjected and applied to the masses?  Perhaps not.  Maybe that was the point, after all.  Perhaps, we are all suppose to figure out for ourselves what our own individualized happiness is suppose to be.  Perhaps, the enlighten men of that era considered this country's future citizenry and envisioned us spending our lives pursuing and achieving that happiness without government interference.  And in that pursuit, become a self-reliant, self-defining creature; the self-made individual.  A person not dependent on an authoritative figure head nor body of government to establish who they are, but a person that is fully capable of thinking and acting on his own beliefs and merits.

We may never know, Jefferson did not leave any clear evidence of why he used such a phrase.  We have some evidence that other writers at the time were expressing thoughts in that general direction, such as, some great thinkers like; John Locke, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, William Wollaston, Jean Jacques Burlamaqui and George Mason.  But with all their brilliant writings, nothing specific was written to declare the "pursuit of Happiness" as an "unalienable", "sovereign", or "natural" right of man.

I tend to believe that Jefferson's reasoning might come from his public struggles in a society where he had to live as a slave holding plantation owner; while living a private life as a common-law husband to his slave woman Sally Hemings, with whom he had six children.  Jefferson's pursuit of happiness forced him to live two very different, separate lives.  And there is ample evidence of his attempts to emancipate the slave population within the constrains of his society.   This might have been the life source which drove him to insert such a life altering, influential phrase into perhaps the most popularly recognized document in early revolutionary period Americana.  

Advisory Warning: May Cause Unpleasantness To Conservatives

What exactly is being a middle aged conservative?  Can someone please explain this concept to me?  What is it's importance in the grand scheme of life?  And why on earth would this vast population of the human race refuse to evolve and leave the cave already.  Because the way I see it middle aged conservatism is fast approaching extinction and the saddest part is, their refusal to see that our social environment has changed in such fundamental ways, that simply reminding themselves that they are conservatives doesn't quite bring about the same comfort as it did in the past.  Does this remind anyone else of the ostrich with it's head in the sand?

Part of the problem is that people have infused so much religion into our daily lives that its hard to figure out what ideas and beliefs are actually ours and which were pounded into our subconscious by well intentioned parents and other adults during our formative years.  Another part might be just doing business as usual.  For a long time there was no other acceptable way of living your life but collectively conservative.  Anyone acting or speaking out of the norm were labeled as rebels, hippies, communist, anarchist; whichever label that threaten their lively hood sufficiently enough to get them back in line.

This anal conservatism would permeate all aspects of life.  From deciding what professional field your female child should pursue to deciding if she should bother to dream of pursuing any professional field at all.  It even intrudes in the bedroom.  It would be impossible to estimate how many relationships have been affected by the puritan conservative notions of what constitutes acceptable sexual behavior between two consenting adults.   If anyone believes that I am spewing nonsense, just ask any military personnel what would happen to them if their superiors found out that they are engaging in any type of sex with their legally married spouses other than in the missionary position.  For those that are not familiar with the term, missionary position refers to the man being on top of the female.   That is all that is allowed.  Anything else, could land a soldier in jail.

I am of a more liberal mind.  I believe in the freedom that comes from the expression of thought.  In the live and let live, philosophy.  In the pursuit of happiness but not at the detriment of others.  In the let's enjoy love while we are lucky enough to have it.   In the, oh my gosh, let's see what surprises are in store for us tomorrow.  In the, "All that I'm saying is give Peace a Chance."

And yet, as a cruel test of fate, but well within the roller coaster that is my life, I must find a way to reconcile the two colliding worlds that is that of Liberal and Conservative, because as luck would have it, I am in love with a Midwestern Conservative.