The Little Man: A Perspective
In pre-civil war days many arguments took place in Congress between the Northern and Southern representatives, including states rights, slavery, and (believe it or not) money. Back then, our representation, for the South and its ways, existed mostly in the gentry’s hands and word of mouth was the axiom for which all things conveyed from the Federal level made its way to the locals within the south. A man’s word was his bond, so, to the local citizen, most things relayed was the absolute truth and was taken as such.
Power is part greed, part wealth, and part standing. In the south most power rested in the hands of a few, our representatives, the gentry among us. Some estimates placed the gentry at less than five percent of the total population of vote eligible people, but, they controlled all, especially the information flow to the southern people. The gentry knew this and used it to their advantage. They lied, omitted parts of the truth, and misdirected information to the typical, every day southerner, all in the name of retaining their way of life, their wealth and standing. The Civil War was the result. More people died in this war, all in the name of a greedy few liars, than any other war ever fought by the States.
Can this ever happen again? If the internet, TV, Radio and all other forms of communication available today had existed in the 1850’s would a Civil War in our nation ever come to being? Food for thought. Where is the truth today?
One man’s garbage is another man’s gold. Ever heard this statement? What is conservatism and who represents it the best; another word, who can we believe, by words and deeds, represents a conservative view point most of us every day people instinctively live on a day-to-day basis? When do we know that truth has been represented by the people we believe represents our conservative philosophy?
All of us judge others both directly and indirectly through words, actions, and deeds. No matter what we say or do our character is also judged by the company we keep, those who we surround ourselves with, for they also reflect the truth in our perceived character. Poor judgment breeds unwanted contention and deflects from our message we try to convey to those we wish to hear our message of truth.
To preach a conservative philosophy on the one hand, then, do an about face, urging the lay person to vote in liberalism on the other, flies in the face of all standing. Thank God for today’s information flow! The little man can’t be lied to as easily anymore and can readily tell the path that causes less harm if a little attention is paid to what is going on around them.
Mississippi isn’t a liberal state, as evidenced by the overwhelming representation we have in the form of the vote we take each and every time we go to the polls.
Our republican representatives are begging for a lesson in conservatism, however. WE are the most conservative State in the Union, but, we are not fools! If our republican representatives will not represent our values, our beliefs and stand on these principles, well then, they should be replaced with those that will. If the current mood all of my friends have is representative of the nation at large our “fake” representatives are quickly reaching the end of their shelf life. The ‘little man’ will speak!