A Great Big Lack
June 6, 2018
ALAN writes:
“What did I have that I don’t have? What have I got a great big lack of….?”
Eydie Gorme asked those questions in her classic 1966 recording of What Did I Have that I Don’t Have? Keep them in mind as you read the following.
Did you hear about the 12-year-old boy who rode his bicycle from his home in Utah to his grandparents’ home in Massachusetts…..alone?
His parents gave him permission to do so, provided that he phone them every night so that they could keep track of his whereabouts and safety. He did, and they did. There were no problems. He arrived safe and sound. He was not harmed, robbed, molested, kidnapped, or killed.
Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing: He did that in the early 1960s.
That was the kind of culture and country Americans had built for themselves by the late 1950s-early 1960s.
That is one proof among many that Americans in those years had the strength of character to uphold a framework of rules, laws, and standards wherein boys could do such things.
That is an example of why Lawrence Auster said (and why I say, too) that those years were a high point in American civilization. Those of us who express that judgment are commonly accused of remembering those years through rose-colored filters. That is Folderol typical of young know-nothings.
Afterward, the boy appeared on the TV show I’ve Got A Secret to tell about his cross-country bicycle ride.
[Barbara Courtright, “Utah to Mass. or Bust!”, Reminisce Extra, June 2006, p. 15 ]
Can’t you just hear people saying in response: Oh, parents could not permit a 12-year-old boy to do that in today’s America. And then what will they say? Nothing. Blank out.
Why is that so? Why can a 12-year-old boy today not do what a 12-year-old boy could do in 1960? Because it is not safe? Who made it not safe? Who made it safe in 1960? What caliber of men and women made it possible then? What caliber of men and women are too weak or too stupid or too decadent to make it possible today? Blank out to all of these.
Blanking out is easy: All it requires is evasion, excuses, and hatred of responsibility. Modern Americans prove daily that they are undisputed World Champions in those endeavors.
Now recall those two questions from above: What did Americans have in 1960 that they don’t have now? What do Americans today have a great big lack of? I know the answer. It lies in four words. But stating them would be too easy. You figure it out.
— Comments —
Charles writes:
Four word answer? How about “The Fear of God.”
Michael writes:
Four words: The rule of law.
Laura writes:
The true Catholic Mass.
James H. writes:
I’d say, ‘Faithful, Christian European Civilization,’ which has been cynically and actively undermined by diabolic Satanic forces bent on our destruction. Until I appreciated that it does NOT make sense, until I appreciated the larger picture of Good vs. Evil – only then was I able to make sense of the spiritual destruction and desolation that is taking place.
