What Happened?

We tread upon the grounds that the very first rebellious colonists marched, conspired, ambushed and eventually triumphed on over 200 years ago. We live but a crows flight from the very harbor that once masqueraded as the worlds largest cup of tea.

We, if only by geographical association, are offspring of this nations original freedom fighters. Tonight I watched a show on PBS where some Concord Militia stole a brass cannon from the British and hid it over on Colonel Barrett's farm, provoking the Shot Heard Round the World, the kickoff for the Revolutionary War. It's said that the armory guard from whom the cannon was stolen proclaimed upon finding the armory empty "These people'll steal the teeth out of your head while you're there to watch!" He was talking about us. What happened to our fire since then?

Let's start at the top. There used to be a time when honor was payment enough for the position of statesman. Now the leaders of the nation are so rich and well paid by taxes they're virtually parliament. We all know the percentage we pay in taxes today is higher than the percentage of taxes that fueled the fires of the American Militia.

Maybe our lazy attitude comes from low stakes. We're paying for the Big Dig over and over and over again. There's scandal. Some guys get fired, new ones get hired, we all shake our heads and call it a days work. But what if we took a cue from Early America and set the embezzlers in stocks on the Zakum Bridge? I wonder how much embezzling would get done then? Now, before you call the union presidents and organize a strike, I don't really mean that. But lack of consequences could be a motivating factor in greed. And for bad manners. What if the punishment for road rage was wearing a 17" Goodyear around your neck for a month? Or overdue library books resulted in the wearing of a scarlet capital L? (I'd have a freaking scarlet tattoo BTW)

Back to my original question. What happened to that irrepressible American spirit? Maybe it got a house and cable and a drive-thru burger. Maybe it's settled, content, with no reason to protest because it has a roof and food and clothes. Maybe the risk of revolution is to great to take American Spirit off the path of least resistance.

With the gross balance of the world's resources resting on American soil, I doubt if this'll change. The need to grow has to be bigger than the comfort of staying the same.