The American Spirit:

People, politicans like to try and define what the American spirit is for what ever reason. Whether it is to try and move people to action, or to define America, to give clear vision, of what they beleive it is.

It dawned on me while I was at work what the American spirit. So here's my take on it. The American spirit is based on the earliest day's of America. It hearkens back to the pioneering day's of this country. When America was young, the land had yet to be tamed, there was a breed of people who ventured out to new places, and new spaces. It required an indvidual that could make it on their own. This led to a people that had the rugged indivualsim to survive on their own when they had almost no one to depend on. This rugged individualsim survived for deacades after the west had been tamed. It survived until this modern age whare there are few places that require such charateristic.

When people struggled to live off the land they had freedom to do as they want. When you have that freedom to do as you please without the worries and cares of any type of society, it become rather hard to give up that freedom of choice.

What we have today is a country largly civilized, that has all the modern comforts of our time. We do not live off the land like in the pioneering day's. We have retail stores, we have jobs that don't require us to work the land. In a way we have lost our rugged individualism, such a lost has also equaled a gradual loss of our freedom, as we have gradualy civilized and moderized this country we have gradualy lost our freedom.

But there are times when this spirit reemerges again as some disaster strikes the nation. After hurricanes, blizzards, terrorist attacks, etc. We see this unify spirit come out and lift America up and allows us to take pride in our heritage as American's. It also becomes a time when we rediscover our freedom from the bonds of an over bearing government. It's at time's like those that makes American's wish for an age when we felt freer from the intrusiveness of Government.

The Economics of Haveing Children:

I recently got engaged to a wonderful woman whom I love dearly. We are both on our thirties, neither one of us has been married before, nor do either one of us have children of our own. We are both practiceing Catholics. So in our discussions of the marriage life after we get married we naturaly talked about haveing children. We are both hard working individuals, she's white collar, and I'm blue collar. I have an uneven scheduale, she works Monday through Friday. We both love kids, we love being around them and haveing them around, so it's only natural to think that we might like to have our own. Sounds reasonable right? Sure until you start the pro's and con's of haveing children. One of the con's is cost, both terms of time and money. Do we realy want to spend the type of money that haveing children requires us to spend? Do we want to be tied down by when we can go to bed or have to stay up beacasue Jr. is crying? It can be argued that the sacrifice we make for our children is worth it when we feel with pride the way they turn out. But that in it's self is a risk. We could be like everyone else who has a rebellious child, that is eager to go their own way, do things their way.

Perhaps the biggest con of haveing children is cost. The cost for food, diapers, food, medince, doctors bills, daycare, education, etc. When you add it all up haveing kids is a pricy, and sometimes risky propostion. We are not rich, we have modest incomes, we work hard for what we have, and every penny counts. It seem's nowaday's that you allmost have to be rich to have children. In terms of daycare alone you are looking at about 200 dollars a week. Now when you make 400 a week that's half your check, that does'nt leave much on the table. Now I get paid by the hour, and my boss is salery, in terms of pay he does'nt make too much more than me, yet he has children, and has those expenses, if his wife did'nt have the type of job that she does, they would be poor because of the cost that the children occur. do you think I want to have those cost's? Excuse me for being a bit selfish, but no I dont want those cost's hanging over my head. As it is, it's tough at times not being rich, and knowing that I'm one misstep from being poor.

Thus you have to wonder if the new morality in this century is not to have children, because people are better off without hveing them. Thus there are two sacrfices to the same issue. If you have children you are makeing a sacrifice with time and mony. If you don't have children then you are makeing the reverse sacrifice of not haveing children, so that others might continue to live a better life. The economics of haveing children no longer make much sence, because children are no longer a cheap soaurce of anything, in fact they are an expensive source of life. Thus the cost vs. value favor is weighted for cost. Now if children were cheap to have, then their value would be different, as they would be valued more in that they are cheap to have, thus of more value to exsist.

The Greatness of Dr. King:

The greatness of Dr. King lies in the legacy of his vision. It is a vision long rememberd for what it said to people. Dr. King had vision that not only inspired but united people of all races, and all creeds. Dr. Kings vision worth studying in the context not of the time that he spoke of it, but how, and whare, and to whom.

Dr. King spoke to a people who were oppressed, who were thought of as being less than, people who did'nt have much in the way of material goods, but who had great spiritual faith, that they could over come their oppessers, and gain respect and dignity. Dr. King's vision carried a sence of hope, it came from a man who beleived in his ideas and was willing to fight for those ideas. His vision was so timely comeing when it did. What change in history might have there been if it had'nt been for people like Dr. King? Historic moments have a way of creating historic people, who become giant's in a historic sence to people that come after.

Dr. King is remember for his speech that spoke of his vision, but it is the man behind that vision that stands like a giant amoung the great leaders of history. Dr. Kings vision, his legacy is likely to stretch into the decades yet to come since everyone who is oppressed can access his ideas, and relate them to their own oppression. I know that is not what Dr. King ever intended, rather he spoke to the moment and not to the future, for it was at that moment that he was trying to say something very important. But that is the way with people who are great leader's. Their word's, their ideas reach down through the decades and through the centuries becasue they say something that all people's can relate to, and understand.

Thus it will be that Dr. King will forever be remembered long after his decendants have passed away, becasue history has a way of remembering things that great leader's have to say.