Ya know what, being alive in these days is a great thing, but what I still feel missing is any kind of personal history. I mean I have no knowledge of any cultural traditions, or even my family, on either side. Aside from my mother’s maiden name; a name descendent from Commodore Perry, the guy who came over to Japan and basically forced them into opening their ports and strong-arming them into trade with western societies. That’s it. The only cultural reference I have in my heritage, that I know about, is a bully. I know being an American is great, but it also kills any kind of cultural understanding. My father’s side is blank, and my mother’s side has just that little nugget. I mean, there is great history in places like Rome, The British isles, Japan, Native America, China, India, Egypt, Mexico and central America (Aztec and Incan), Nomadic tribes from the Africas, Aboriginal Australia, Polynesians. The list goes on and on. And American history is all but an adopted off-shoot of many of these. Yet is only a pale comparison. Usually a cast-off or discard of the great societies. It’s also short when stacked up against them. Just over 500 years of recorded, tangible history. I would have loved that the first travelers here weren’t religious and societal exiles, because they might have seen the native civilizations to be more than godless heathens that needed to be “corrected”. Rather, as humans with a rich culture that could possibly have something to give. Maybe that’s one of the reasons that I admire such places as Japan, very deep roots with more than just anecdotal stories. Cultures with more than military and technological greatness. Places and people that created great forms of art, not just great pieces. Cultures that gave to the world more than acquired for themselves. I know I’m gonna catch some hell for this, but American history has all happened in the era of the coward. Instead of standing up in their homeland they fled to places of which they possessed little knowledge. Even more to my point, it all happened well into the era of firearms. Guns allowed those of little training to become overwhelmingly lethal with almost no discipline. Being able to be up to hundreds of yards away from another human being and ending their existence is pure cowardice. But to have to feel the target of your aggressions body heat right near your hand, to feel the blood you have spilled, to hear the last breath of another sentient being, and still be able to justify your actions. That takes either bravery , or psychosis to live with. But pressing a button hundreds of miles away takes nothing but the most basic motor skills. Don’t get me wrong, if a coward one must fight, often a brave man may need to use the cowards tools. Technological superiority does not engender moral or ethical superiority, only a greater fear of equality. Don’t misunderstand, I am proud of the achievements of American society, and am glad to be a part of it, I just wish there was much more I could call upon.
