privilege

Perspective

Posted on by backuphill

man in brown leather jacket using binoculars

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

There is an astounding lack of perspective in the United States these days.

The lack of understanding of history is a perspective that continues to grow.

A former student who posted on Instagram that her celebrating the 4th of July without a care in the world was “privilege” because it doesn’t represent everyone…is missing that perspective and it kind of surprised me.

Well, it does and it doesn’t. She, of course, is a college graduate who has been subjected to liberal brainwashing that demonizes everything American in our higher ed institutions these days. Wanna talk about a pandemic? How about the one in our nation’s colleges and the fact that there is no room for open discussion about different perspectives?

I am seeing this kind of stuff from a lot of my former students. I can safely say they came from a rather liberal, small community, but one that is not unpatriotic. These students weren’t that way when they were in high school.

When these kids were in my class, we did cover Frederick Douglass’s “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. We read it, analyzed it. Discussed it. Drew some perspective from it and to it.

Douglass’s words rang true in 1852. There were many people still in the bonds of slavery and were not given the opportunities and freedoms that the Declaration of Independence and Constitution guaranteed to Americans. However, that is not the case in 2020. There is not slavery in the US (at least not the kind that Douglass was talking about) and opportunity is open to all. Freedom is given to all. Blessings of those historical documents are available and enjoyed by all.

Have we formed that “more perfect union” yet? Nope.

Are we striving still, to get there? Of course.

But to say that your “privilege” to celebrate the 4th of July negates what our Founding Fathers and those all along the history of our country have done for us is rather short sighted. Progress, moving forward, celebrating success, and contemplating failure (and learning from it) is the American way.

Historical knowledge is important. There are a lot of people who are getting it wrong these days.

Ownership

Posted on by backuphill

blue and gray concrete house with attic during twilight

Photo by Benji Mellish on Pexels.com

There used to be some advertising out there that said, “Ownership has its privileges.” It was something to that effect. I think it was American Express that used to say “Membership has its privileges.” It doesn’t really matter who said what though.

As I sit here on Labor Day and ponder the long list of “To Do” items I have I am starting to wonder if ownership really has its privileges. The “to do” list that needs to be completed before the Fall weather begins to set in is rather daunting and the house seemingly is in constant need of something – repair, upkeep, upgrade…

It’s tiring. It’s costly. It’s annoying.

I have experience all the living situations. Growing up, of course, and living with my parents we were always asked to do chores and we did them. After moving out, I have had apartments that had virtually no upkeep on my part. The apartment life eventually led to the desire to “have my own place” instead of paying someone for their ownership. I have owned my own home and I really like the yard work. There was something different about it when it was my own yard rather than my parents’ yard. I didn’t mind the work, at least for a while. I have owned a condo where the yard work was all done by the HOA and really there was veery little that needed to be done as far as maintenance goes. But, eventually, that feeling of wanting a yard of my own came back again. Well, I once again own a home and I have tired of work that has to go into it. Just the every day upkeep can get overwhelming but then add the looming big expenses like roof replacement, house painting, crawl space cleanup, landscaping…the list never ends!

Is it really a perk to own your own place when, after all, you still face stupid regulations from the city and county about what you can do with your own property? You may not be able to do what you really want to do, so is it really a perk?

I am starting to question the ownership thing and I am also beginning to yearn for the condo days again.

Some days “adulting” can be a real bummer. I am about to labor all day in the yard and on or around the house on Labor Day.

Happy not really a day off because life keeps up.