Fiat Lux

As I puttered around on the Internet this afternoon I had iTunes going, with the full MP3 collection in rotation. All of a sudden something jumped out at me:

John Dickinson: … Be careful, sir. History will brand him [John Adams] and his followers as traitors!

John Hancock: Traitors to what, Mr. Dickinson — the British Crown, or the British half-crown? Fortunately there are not enough men of property in America to dictate policy.

Dickinson: Perhaps not, but don’t forget that most men with nothing would rather protect the possibility of becoming rich than face the reality of being poor. And that is why they will follow us …

Chorus of Conservatives:
… to the right
ever to the right
Never to the left
Forever to the right.

“Cool Cool Considerate Men” is a song I’ve heard many times in the almost 30 years since I first saw 1776 but hearing it today gave me goosebumps and made me realize something.

This isn’t a new battle we fight in America today. Some of the terms of engagement have changed, but it’s been going on some 230 years already, and I suspect it will continue long after today’s actors have exited the stage and themselves entered history.

That’s the frustrating part. Nobody wants to think that they won’t get to see the fruit of their labors. Even Moses complained when G-d told him that he would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Especially today, when so much has speeded up, we expect that we’ll get everything faster than we have before, including social change. It took roughly 100 years to go from the Declaration of Independence to the Emancipation Proclamation, and then another 100 years to get to the Civil Rights Act. And we can see how far we still have to go on issues of racial equality.

But if you think about it, although the pace of change has been painfully slow, over the long haul movement has definitely been in our favor. Things may look dark now, but history is on our side. The regressive set that wants nothing more than to preserve their own property and a way of life that only existed in their minds will not win. It’s just a matter of time.

In other words, all this is not to say that we shouldn’t keep fighting for the things we care about. We just need to keep in mind that this is a long struggle we’re engaged in. We owe it to those who’ve come before, as well as those who will follow us, to play our part. If history is any guide, we’re not going to get everything we want in our own lifetimes. This is real life, not a stage play where everything gets neatly resolved inside of three hours.But over the long haul, change will come.

History is on our side.

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And while I have my copy of 1776 out, I thought I’d share a favorite funny bit as well:

Stephen Hopkins: Ben, I want y’to see some cards I’ve gone ‘n had printed up that ought t’save everybody here a whole lot of time ‘n effort, considering the epidemic of bad disposition that’s been going around lately. [He reads:] “Dear Sir: You are without any doubt a rogue, a rascal, a villain, a thief, a scoundrel, and a mean, dirty, stinking, sniveling, sneaking, pimping, pocket-picking, thrice double-damned, no good son-of-a-bitch” — and y’sign y’r name. What do you think?

Ben Franklin: Stephen, I’ll take a dozen right now!

Me too.