A parable for July 4th

The people were grumbling.

The cost of food was going up and many of them felt it was because of a faraway war.

“Why is it any of our business?” some asked.

The leaders of the country said, “We have freedom and they are fighting for theirs.”

The people were not convinced. “We have nothing in common with them. We have no treaty with them. Why should it be our problem?”

One of the opposition leaders sneered, “Most people can’t even find it on a map. Why should we care?”

The leaders said it was the right thing to do.

“You are sending them weapons we need to protect ourselves. Some of our people are going to fight on their side, against a very powerful enemy who might decide to start a war with us. It is too dangerous,” some of the people said.

“It is the right thing to do,” said the leaders, and many agreed.

Those who didn’t said, “That war could go on for years. How long can we be expected to support them in a battle they are sure to lose?”

The leaders said, “We will help them for as long as it takes.”

Which France did, supporting the fledgling United States, keeping it from being killed in its crib.

14 thoughts on “A parable for July 4th”

  1. HAPPY SATURDAY !!!
    pallie,
    On point as always, or the newer say’n’, ‘spot on’.
    That parable works throughout our history and dare I say, throughout the world. We are supposed to be all united for the common good. Be it here in the U.S. of A. or worldwide.
    We don’t like wars, but we had our share. As you point out. Wars are fought with support of the nation, as we have the opposite – the doves – very much against. Fact is and history always shows that the aggressor had to be stopped. Most of us alive today only heard about the Big War. WW II. Those that actually fought against the tyranny would tell you that they would do it again. A 100 year old Marine just celebrated his birthday. Those are his words.
    Tony

  2. If memory serves, France was at war with Great Britain at the time of our revolution, which makes their aid to us all the more generous.

  3. Stu, People don’t seem to care unless it affects them personally. Then half the time they will blame someone or something else. We basically do not appreciate our freedom as we take it for granted. Our cities have not been decimated by a foreign power. 911 was the closest happening for us. Even that while the country mourned and was horrified how such a thing could happen here . Most cities I am assuming said it was terrible and went on with their lives. Could you just imagine the difference in attitude if It happened to one of our great cities here. On a much less scale of importance, I had a friend that I was driving home one night and the power failed on all the properties on the left side of the highway. He said “I don’t care it doesn’t affect me The next week there was a power failure on the other side of the highway. His home was on that side. You can just imagine how put out he was for his inconvenience. Up here in Vermont, foreign stuff rarely gets reported. It’s more like who put the overalls in Mrs Murphy’s chowder

  4. The fight against tyranny, religious extremism and authoritarianism continues to this very day.

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