Cowardice

What is cowardice?  What causes it?

It is certainly a lack of courage.  But it must be more.

Cowardice has always been around.  It is more than caution, for many brave people forsake such to accomplish goals.

Fear is a key.  Some are scared to try.  Fear of success or failure propels them into a 'safe' place neither ho nor cold.

Greed can work to bribe some into inaction.  Whether it's money, houses, car etc or position, some would 'sell their own mother' for such things.

Many are evil.  They cover up their deeds for fear of exposure.  Thus, blackmail might play a part. 

I chose to title this in a negative way.  I'm not jaded and I'm not afraid as it were to talk about such qualities.  For courage awaits us.  It beckons and cowardice though powerful, cannot stop it.

The price for courage may be great or small.  It is an intangible factor in life and may not be recognized nor cowardice confronted til a tipping point.

Sometimes, it can be contemplated as here and now.  I hope it gets folks thinking.

But often there comes the time to leap, to forge, to make a statement.  We fly away from the nest of comfort and reach something greater than any of us.

Through all time in all places we can see/feel cowardice.  In all stations /circumstances of life it exists.  It is probably most self evident, aside from military and other physically dangerous jobs, in politics.  Just look to government to see it on full display.

Freedom is dangerous.  We risk it all to ascertain and maintain it.

I speak broadly as a palette for a portrait for you the reader, for us as a country.

Do we lose what we have, too afraid to speak/act?  Or do we slap cowardice in the face or punch it in the nose and step out into that curious place of risk?

Don't let the thieves of Liberty stop us.

I will be speaking out in the weeks to come and I suggest you all do the same.

Show the perfidy afoot.

Be cautious only in this: If you have evidence that will stop our enemies, secure it and learn who to trust with it.  Do not say you will do something.  Like courage, just do it.

Books

I remember a trip to the doctor's office years ago.

Our then family doc had a children's waiting area, with books to while away the time.

We were waiting our turn when a sweet little girl came in with her Mom.  She spied the kid's area and declared 'Books!' so joyously that we smiled.  It warmed the heart.

Even in these electronic times, books are the gateway to knowledge.

I still prefer ink and paper.  Besides, during a power failure, we whiled away our time reading.

It led me to remember old independent bookstores, which existed a long time and now gone.

Long before discount chains and bargain bins, I used to go to three places.

One was in Broad Ripple, north of the canal.  It was in a converted old house, large with several rooms.  It was almost labyrinthian and books were everywhere, even on the stairs.  Reminded me of my friend and teacher Robert Easton's house.

It was owned by a heavy set woman who was one of the most erudite people I've known.  She seemed to have an answer for practically everything.  And if she didn't, she knew how to research/reference.

Fair prices and a few rare finds rounded out the place and added greatly to my collection.

The second store was east, right at the city limits in Cumberland.  The store was a converted Masonic hall, thus it was quite large and chock full of books.

The owner was likewise heavy set and just as resourceful.

The third was in an old five and dime building in Fountain Square.

It was the largest of all and had a wide stairway to what was the bargain basement.  Rows and rows of books greeted one, like a small town.

The owner was yet another heavyset lady, who evidenced a similar knowledge seemingly boundless.

BTW, the fact they were heavyset was simply a fact, a description, lest I be accused of some silly fat shaming tirade.  Ah how times have changed since these ladies graced the scene.  I think they would tilt their heads and smile amusedly.

It was a time of knowledge and acceptance.  There was more of that than the sjws would even guess.

Though most personality places like the above are gone, we still have knowledge.  Boundless, limited only by time and space, we can reach new generations who can still be thrilled to see 'Books!'

Acting.

Not my profession.  It is in acting after thinking and even on instinct that defines a man.

I have committed random acts of kindness.  There was no reward save for the act itself.

Helping  someone in some way, speaking up for others, giving.  This is at least part of the measure of a man.

Ruthie and I both taught our kids these things, both son and daughter, for it's the mark of a person of humanity.

We would be robbed of these simple acts.  There is an attempt to make society an automaton, a soulless miasma where reward is supposedly for the state, which rewards its citizens with membership.

The reality is in our Republic, in a human world, we individuals help one another.  These acts are central.  They build piece by piece love, regard for one another and a caring that may sacrifice, but for others to carry on in kind.

There is a Tribute to Men rally in DC March 1.  It celebrates masculinity and the wonderful men in our lives.

That's wonderful, but we must carry on each day and celebrate each day.

We must do things for one another both men and women, boys and girls, for as said, the building blocks lead to a foundation.  The foundation leads to restoration and that leads to a strong Republic.

Together we act!

Unconditional.

It's the 183rd anniversary of the siege/battle of the Alamo.  I always honor it.

If for some reason you don't know, please look it up, especially if the collectivists erase/rewrite history.

The dictator of Mexico, Santa Anna, had a policy he'd enact when an enemy was surrounded.  They either surrendered, at discretion, or would be annihilated.  The Alamo defenders chose to die at their posts, taking many casualties with them.

Surrender would have resulted in disarming then summary execution.  It happened at Goliad.  The men of the Alamo died fighting.

Unconditional surrender is what collectivists are working toward for these united States.  They want us to accept their collectivist terms or else.  They can't 'or else' definitively until we are disarmed.  Then absolute tyranny will clutch us.

"Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. ... Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country'', so said the President. I, and all who are working to Restore the Republic, agree.

That is how we must be unconditional ourselves.  We must work unswervingly to not just undo the evils perpetrated by collectivists, we must abolish it altogether.

Will we die fighting?  Time will tell.  Many have crossed over before.

We have an opportunity to live for Liberty.

We do not so much pass a torch, as we teach Freedom.  Then our descendants have a chance.