I came across this quote a couple of days ago. I repeated it to myself, and I thought about this great nation in which we live, the United States of America. The man accredited with this quotation was the poet Stephen Vincent Benet, the son of an American officer of the armed forces. Mr. Benet was born in 1898, making him about fourteen years old when World War I was fought, meaning that he was a young man during the Great Depression, and that he read the news or saw the news reels portraying the horrors of World War II. He died in 1943, at the age of forty-four, after suffering a heart attack. Mr. Benet, like many other Americans, witnessed the greatness and the tragedy that was the American saga.
Mr. Benet observed a great truth, and put it succinctly into one strong and poignant sentence. It is difficult to know exactly what was on Mr. Benet's mind when he made this statement, but so many events of his day could have inspired the thought, as so many events of our day make this quote so appropriate to current events unfolding in and around this nation. For me, the idea of power seemingly endowing "the powerful" with "wisdom" relates to this nation's impact on the world. It seems that as our nation, the United States of America, developed into a world power, the ordinary citizen began dreaming, and then realizing the American dream. Even more than that, minorities have, over the past fifty years, become full participants in the American dream, culminating with the election of our first Black president. It seems that almost any dream is actually an unrealized possibility.
Unfortunately, even as we aspired to greatness here in America, it appears that our "Government" aspired to something less noble. Over the years, our nation has become a "maker of nations." As the United States became more powerful, particularly after War War II (and I believe our men and women who fought that war were truly the Greatest Generation) this nation involved itself in nation-building through aid to this or that military faction, through international political intrigue and even assassination, to covert and overt military operations to either remove "dangerous opponents" from power or to implant "friendly leaders" as the heads of "strategic ally" nations. Now, after years of this "nation-building" we see that there is war of varying magnitudes on almost every continent, whether actual armed conflict or in the form of the various "Wars On (INSERT YOUR WAR HERE)." Our armed forces (and I do support our soldiers whole-heartedly, not so much the "leaders") are stretched to the breaking point as we "bring democracy" to distant nations, whether or not these nations (They The People) want or can even exist under democracy.
Now, in the "Post-9/11 Era" our Government is now turning its power inward, that is Government is, and has been for some time now, imposing its "Wisdom" onto the people, the citizens of this great nation. In the wake of the Terrorist Attacks, our government has imposed upon us the most radical laws robbing us of our inalienable constitutional rights. Many of the contents of the USA PATRIOT Act were formulated prior to that terrible day in 2001, but were not enacted because, until then, no self-respecting congressman would have supported such clearly tyrannical powers, and no citizen would have allowed the government to impose such on the people. Now, a decade later, We, The People, are subject to the most humiliating treatment while attempting to board airplanes and other mass transportation, are subject to warrantless search, property seizure, and arrest in police operations not supervised or overseen by courts, and subject to being arrested and placed in unknown prison facilities without being charged with any crime.
Through all the nation-building, through all the international intrigue, and intermingled with the loss of our civil rights and the eroding of the United States Constitution, that quote by Stephen Vincent Benet is only softly heard in the din of the growing chaos. "We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom." The United States Government has grown to monstrous proportions, and the national debt has grown to monstrous proportions as well. Instead of reigning in and restraining our Government, the People are at the mercy of this creation that is almost omnipotent and omniscient. The Government feeds on itself, and the People pay the price. Our politicians won't themselves rein in the Government, and we, the People, are powerless, it seems, to do it ourselves. The citizens of many nations around the world have been effected by our Government's actions abroad, and United States citizens in our own free nation are finding that freedom is coming with more and more restrictions as our powerful government guards and protects our lives with its great wisdom. How terrible will be that whisper one day, when we are so "protected" that we can't even leave our homes without a government escort, and we can only hear those words, "We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom."
Mr. Benet observed a great truth, and put it succinctly into one strong and poignant sentence. It is difficult to know exactly what was on Mr. Benet's mind when he made this statement, but so many events of his day could have inspired the thought, as so many events of our day make this quote so appropriate to current events unfolding in and around this nation. For me, the idea of power seemingly endowing "the powerful" with "wisdom" relates to this nation's impact on the world. It seems that as our nation, the United States of America, developed into a world power, the ordinary citizen began dreaming, and then realizing the American dream. Even more than that, minorities have, over the past fifty years, become full participants in the American dream, culminating with the election of our first Black president. It seems that almost any dream is actually an unrealized possibility.
Unfortunately, even as we aspired to greatness here in America, it appears that our "Government" aspired to something less noble. Over the years, our nation has become a "maker of nations." As the United States became more powerful, particularly after War War II (and I believe our men and women who fought that war were truly the Greatest Generation) this nation involved itself in nation-building through aid to this or that military faction, through international political intrigue and even assassination, to covert and overt military operations to either remove "dangerous opponents" from power or to implant "friendly leaders" as the heads of "strategic ally" nations. Now, after years of this "nation-building" we see that there is war of varying magnitudes on almost every continent, whether actual armed conflict or in the form of the various "Wars On (INSERT YOUR WAR HERE)." Our armed forces (and I do support our soldiers whole-heartedly, not so much the "leaders") are stretched to the breaking point as we "bring democracy" to distant nations, whether or not these nations (They The People) want or can even exist under democracy.
Now, in the "Post-9/11 Era" our Government is now turning its power inward, that is Government is, and has been for some time now, imposing its "Wisdom" onto the people, the citizens of this great nation. In the wake of the Terrorist Attacks, our government has imposed upon us the most radical laws robbing us of our inalienable constitutional rights. Many of the contents of the USA PATRIOT Act were formulated prior to that terrible day in 2001, but were not enacted because, until then, no self-respecting congressman would have supported such clearly tyrannical powers, and no citizen would have allowed the government to impose such on the people. Now, a decade later, We, The People, are subject to the most humiliating treatment while attempting to board airplanes and other mass transportation, are subject to warrantless search, property seizure, and arrest in police operations not supervised or overseen by courts, and subject to being arrested and placed in unknown prison facilities without being charged with any crime.
Through all the nation-building, through all the international intrigue, and intermingled with the loss of our civil rights and the eroding of the United States Constitution, that quote by Stephen Vincent Benet is only softly heard in the din of the growing chaos. "We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom." The United States Government has grown to monstrous proportions, and the national debt has grown to monstrous proportions as well. Instead of reigning in and restraining our Government, the People are at the mercy of this creation that is almost omnipotent and omniscient. The Government feeds on itself, and the People pay the price. Our politicians won't themselves rein in the Government, and we, the People, are powerless, it seems, to do it ourselves. The citizens of many nations around the world have been effected by our Government's actions abroad, and United States citizens in our own free nation are finding that freedom is coming with more and more restrictions as our powerful government guards and protects our lives with its great wisdom. How terrible will be that whisper one day, when we are so "protected" that we can't even leave our homes without a government escort, and we can only hear those words, "We thought, because we had power, we had wisdom."
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