Country Justice

I recall a story which was told to me a long time ago over a few beers at a local "lounge" near Rumford, Maine. It sounded like one of those "urban legends" but actually not taking place in an urban setting. It stuck with me all these years like some profound life lesson absorbed.

"There were two single middle-aged men who lived across the road from each other in the sparsely populated woods of Maine. Abe and Bob would wave and say hello to each other almost every day. As was the norm, each neighbor heated his home by use of a wood burning stove. The winters get to be very snowy and bitterly cold up in Maine and as such provisions have to be made, early enough in the fall, to have sufficient fuel to burn. This is important because it is not very enjoyable to have to cut, split and stack wood when the temperature hovers way below the freezing mark. Wood tends to have the consistency of concrete when very cold.
Abe was very conscientious and spent several week-ends of hard labor to make sure he had plenty of firewood. Neighbor Bob, however, spent much less time and thought he could get by with a minimum supply hoping it would be a mild winter.
By February, Abe realized that for some strange reason, his supply was disappearing faster than he had planned. He immediately called the local supply house and at great expense had several cords delivered to ensure a sufficient supply. By the end of February, Abe was shocked to find that once again his supply was disappearing faster than should have been possible and came to the realization that there must be thievery in play.
Justice is hard to come by in the woods especially when it involves "petty" crime. The local constabulary would be insufficient to identify and stop this outrageous violation of property rights.
Abe would have to resolve this problem himself.
He went and retrieved a piece of firewood, shaved a piece off the surface and set it aside on his workbench. He then hollowed out a space inside the wood and cut a stick of dynamite , taking great care to insure that only a quarter of it was used. He placed the segment of dynamite into the wood and glued the surface shaving back into place. To ID this piece of firewood he rubbed one end into the dirt and re-positioned it on his stack.
A week later, sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Abe was awakened suddenly by a loud explosion from across the street which was followed by sirens from the local volunteer fire department.
Abe smiled, fluffed his pillow a couple of times with his fist, rolled over in his warm bed and went to sleep."

Do we need Philosophy?

Is it necessary? I don't think so.
It cannot even be properly and accurately defined. The term comes to us from the ancient Greek and means "love of wisdom". The thing is, however, that wisdom comes to us gradually and naturally whether we "love" it or not. Some say it is a method of rational critical thinking in a systematic and logical way. I think that people are born with this method already hardwired and in place. They may not be able to define it so succinctly but the method is "in use" whether we are exposed to Philosophy or not. Yes, it is interesting to learn and read about how the great "thinkers" of our past viewed their existence. It's fun to "connect" on fundamental levels with someone who existed thousands of years ago.
It's purely optional, IMHO, and should not be taken so seriously. Countless many have lived full and satisfying lives without being exposed to this academic interpretation for rational thought.
Can it help? It can if one finds joy in arguing and criticizing fundamental beliefs held "on faith" (on trust) by many.
Yes, enjoy the option but don't loose any sleep over it. Keep in mind that Philosophy's goal of discovering the absolutely fundamental reason of everything is a mirage. The closer you get, the more it fades away.

Enslaved by Ignorance?

Spinoza said "If men may become enslaved by their ignorance, uninformed freedom of choice may take the road to disaster".
The government of the USA is described as a Democratic Republic. What do those two words really mean? Well, as most of us, I have not dwelt on this question much since those civic classes in high school.
Democracy is the "rule" by the majority of adults governed and a Republic is when the titular head of state did not acquire his position by heredity. Very simple concepts to remember. I wonder, though, if we really examined these concepts against what the reality is, can we still hold fast to our political identity? I am sure these two concepts have been debated ad infinitum on many academic levels. To what degree can each concept be held before it looses its true meaning or essence?
A Democracy requires good stewardship by "adults". An adult is someone who is of a legal age. That requirement seems skimpy to me. I know many adults who have reached maturity and have never voted and could not care less who is in charge of our government. So maybe we need to be "informed" adults to be good stewards of Democracy. Unfortunately, it is in our nature to be comfortable and as such we are creatures of habit. We tend to congregate towards like-minded friends, associates and even our sources of news media. We love to have our beliefs reinforced. It's comfortable and sometimes even pleasurable. "Birds of a feather flock together." Consensus is the mind magnet that blinds us to reality. Why upset this comfortable zone we're in by listening to opposing viewpoints? Because it is our duty as informed thinking adults to be open to all possibilities. To be good stewards of Democracy we need to break out of our comfort zone and actually consider "other" ideas. It takes effort.
Are our votes shaped by informed unbiased ideas or are we being "herded" by our own comfortable consensus and just "going along" because all our friends are of one mind?
If we dwell only on our side of the idea fence, is this not a self-imposed enslavement to ignorance? Thank you Benedictus. Point taken.
Do we have a Democracy? Hmmm.
How about the word "Republic".
Do we qualify?
Saddam and Uday? That definitely was no Republic.
No way, not here, not that kind of "all in the family" politics.
Can it be that we have an identity crisis going on? It is starting to look more like a modified monarchy when we examine the actual reality.
First it was Bush #1 and now it's Bush #2. Bill first and now, possibly, Hillary?
What's going on here?
I can't imagine that out of a possible three hundred million, we have to settle for sons and wives of past presidents.
It's just not logical to me that these are the best qualified candidates for the job.
I like the term Modified Democratic Republic, it has a nice modern ring to it.

Constructive criticism?

When I read this piece in the Boston Globe this morning, I wondered whose agenda such statements advance. Democratic Rep. John Murtha being interviewed on "Nightline" said he would not join the armed forces of our country today because of our involvement in Iraq. Murtha, being a decorated Vietnam era Marine, commands great respect and gratitude for his noble service to our country. It struck me, however, that his remarks carry a lot of weight and will more than likely have some effect on this country's ability to attract enlistment in our armed forces.
It is troubling when considering that we are in the midst of fighting a war on terror. Have some of us already forgotten the devastating attack on our soil on 9/11? Is this just another anti-war critique that is designed to speed our exit out of Iraq? If that is the intent, why take this course of criticism which will undoubtedly have the effect of weakening not just our country's resolve but actually undermine our nation's initiatives and our ability to carry out our military options? I can't help but think that this is not helpful to our soldiers or our country's efforts worlwide, not just in Iraq. Rep. Murtha and some leading Democrats have recently been accused of having a "defeatist" attitude and for promoting failure in our country's efforts to stop terrorists from setting up safe havens.
Statements like these are apt to lend credence to those accusations.