I think I have heard the question, “How did we get to this place?”more in the last few months than ever before in my life. Daughter, Sarah’s, link on the history of the far right movement and a wonderful Sunday School lesson yesterday by a young college student on the history of genocide in the world’s history, of course, sent me back in time to my own history.
Much of the present unrest lies in the belief of government overreach which you will hear from the far right movement. They label any program that tax dollars are used for everyone, socialism! A dirty word to them.
I am not going to provoke that idea except to point out that social security, medicare, public schools, highways, fire departments are paid for by our tax dollars, so decide how your life would be without them
You know me, I’ve got to tell you a story about this! So here it is. After the Great Depression this country was reeling with a bleak outlook on the future…much like today. FDR and his administration put in a social program to aid recovery, one of which was social security, and I won’t list all the other, but one called the Rural Electrical Administration, which brought electricity to rural, isolated parts of America.
I remember what it meant to our family and how my Dad reacted to it. In our community some people rose up in protest over having electric poles put on their property. The government could have seized them with Eminent Domain, but at the hearing for this, my Dad said, “put the poles on me.” Now we had a big farm of about 400 acres, so the powers that were jumped on that agreement. Down through the breadth of our farm, power poles sprang up.
What got interesting about this was what ensued from all those people who wouldn’t let them put poles on them. As time went by, one by one they came to realize they could not get electricity without getting permission from Dad to put more poles on our farm to run lines to them. Dad with his infinite wisdom worked out something with the power company that allowed, I believe, two spur lines out to the highway so the people who refused to cooperate could connect.
But not before Dad had his chance to tell a few of them that sometimes we have to make individual sacrifice for the benefit of all. One of these was one older gentleman who refused everything new and was pretty much the grouch of the neighborhood. I remember the day he came driving up our lane in his pony cart (cars were on his list of things to avoid) to ask Dad about letting him put poles on our farm to get electricity. Dad calmly told him that he was working out things with REA that would allow everyone who wanted power to get it. My Dad was the most benevolent person I ever knew growing up, and I am sure what he told the grouch was delivered with a firm but kind message
I think about this story when I hear stories of divisions among people of diverse ideas of the role of government in our lives. We need to help each other however we can…..government programs, self help promotions, and our individual need to reach out to our brothers. God bless us, everyone.
R
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