First, my thoughts are directed toward the posted piece, not the old
fart who posted it.
On first reading, posts such as this seem innocent enough. They speak
to that Never-Never-Land, the Once Upon A time America, where all of
our finest values are the Law of the Land, and badness does not exist.
It is the Norman Rockwell World, the one that we all dream of, but it
never existed. Well, all of us White, Working Class Americans dream.
If you look around Norman's world, it is the Land of the White Man.
This composite of the perfect American Elder sets forth our most
cherished image of who we believe we Old Farts are.
Yet it was the old fart generation that brought us to where we are
today. That old fart and the old fart who went before him. All the
way back to those old farts who, as young farts cleansed the Land that
God had promised, and built this great, White, Christian Land, where
old farts can saunter down clean, prosperous sidewalks tipping their
hats to the ladies. And on Sunday mornings we can hear them singing,
"Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to War"...
No, we old farts have dirt and blood on our hands. But so long as we
deny it, we do nothing to resolve our growing crisis. The end of
civilization. And if this be civilization, perhaps it is better that
the world...or what will be left of it, be given over to some new life
form.
Our great experiment, our so called civilization is like a deep wound
that has scabbed over. We look at the scab and say, "It is good", but
the infection and pus continue festering and growing beneath that
protective cover. Until we deal with that deep infection within our
civilization we will continue on this death march. Since the first
Europeans set foot on the "New World", our progress has moved us
further and further away from a civilization where we live within our
world, to one that must expand at the expense of the Planet's limited
resources. So we go along playing this game of denial, absolving
ourselves and our Forefathers of any blame, ignoring the growing rot
within our misconceived Land of Plenty, and pretending that there
really is a Santa Claus and an Easter Bunny.
And all the while we pretend that we are Blessed because God is on Our Side.
If I were God, I'd be rethinking that one.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/18/15, R. E. Driscoll Sr <llocsirdsr@xxxxxxx> wrote:
All:
May I comment to the effect that my contribution is not to be modified
in any manner, shape or form!
R. E. (Dick) Driscoll, Sr.
On 8/18/2015 7:59 PM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
Actually, Dick's message got it's heading mixed with the one that
goes: Definition of a confused gentleman.
While us Old Pharts do many of the same gentlemanly things described
in Dick's post, we honest and true old Pharts are not the
soppy-brained, slack-jawed, mindless Casper Milktoast's portrayed in
the tribute.
Real Old Pharts are crusty, out spoken fellows who have been awake
enough years to know when the Bullshit is being fed to them.
These sentimental bits of prose are fine for Mother's Day cards, or
for grandpa's 100th birthday, but they do no real justice to their
topic by glossing over, "The Rest of the Story".
Carl Jarvis
On 8/17/15, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I thought I was an old fart until I read this. Looks like I would be
excluded.
On 8/17/2015 10:49 AM, R. E. Driscoll Sr wrote:
Good Morning Monday! Hope this helps start the day with a smile.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Subject:* Old Farts
I never really liked the terminology "Old Farts"but this makes me feel
better about it.
And if you ain't one, I bet ya you know one!
I got this from an "Old Fart" friend of mine!
*_OLD FART PRIDE_*
I'm passing this on as I did not want to be the only old fart
receiving it. Actually, it's not a bad thing to be called, as you will
see.
* Old Farts are easy to spot at sporting events; during the playing
of the National Anthem. Old Farts remove their caps and stand at
attention and sing without embarrassment. They know the words and
believe in them.
* Old Farts remember World War II, Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal ,
Normandy and Hitler. They remember the Atomic Age, the Korean War,
The Cold War, the Jet Age and the Moon Landing. They remember the
50 plus Peacekeeping Missions from 1945 to 2005, not to mention
Vietnam .
* If you bump into an Old Fart on the sidewalk he will apologize. If
you pass an Old Fart on the street, he will nod or tip his cap to
a lady. Old Farts trust strangers and are courtly to women.
* Old Farts hold the door for the next person and always, when
walking, make certain the lady is on the inside for protection.
* Old Farts get embarrassed if someone curses in front of women and
children and they don't like any filth or dirty language on TV or
in movies.
* Old Farts have moral courage and personal integrity. They seldom
brag unless it's about their children or grandchildren.
* It's the Old Farts who know our great country is protected, not by
politicians, but by the young men and women in the military
serving their country.
This country needs Old Farts with their work ethic, sense of
responsibility, pride in their country and decent values.
We need them now more than ever.
*Thank God for Old Farts!
*
Pass this on to all the "Old Farts" you know.
I was taught to respect my elders. It's just getting harder to find
them.
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