Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Responsibility

9/11 Then & Now A Call For Unity

9/11 is about the last thing to make anyone nostalgic. But at least in 2001 we still lived in a society in which national tragedy brought us together rather than divided us. That is, until the scapegoating began. Now it’s gotten to the point where I dread not what the next 24 years will bring, but rather the next 24 hours. No dona nobis pacems, please. The way to “peace” and a better world is in every one of us. Alas, so are the impediments. If we love our country and our families and value anything good we ever experienced here, thanks to our great good fortune in having lived in a comparatively free, safe, and sane United States, it’s time to grow up and take responsibility for fixing what’s broken, in ourselves and in the world. I realize about five people read this page, and everyone is here to talk about music, but I beg your indulgence for just a few sentences. We must rise above our baser instincts. Reject fomenters. Embrace compassion. Be humane. Can I myself live up to these ideals? Probably not. I get angry when somebody sits in their car checking their cell phone while I’m waiting for a parking space. But I can try harder, and you can too. Because if we don’t, there’s a greater chance of us imploding in suspicion, fear, hatred, and violence than there ever was of our crumbling from external forces like those that, ironically, brought unity in suffering on 9/11.

September 11, 2025
Freedom’s Responsibility: Reclaiming Patriotism

“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

It is frustrating to log on to the internet every day and find the concepts of “patriotism” and “liberty” being so perverted. “Freedom,” or the children’s book version, is used as a cudgel by the selfish and self-righteous, and insecurity and division are sewn by unscrupulous politicians, who wave “America” like a red cape in a bull ring.

So many have sacrificed so much for this country and the living dream of how great America can be. Now, it seems, we can’t even manage to be decent, compassionate, and respectful of our neighbors. Clearly, the important lessons need to be re-learned. The question is, why have they not been handed down?

The bravery and sacrifice of the soldier at war is unfathomable. I think especially of those souls who were called up in the days of the draft, or who volunteered. What horrors were thrust upon them, and how well they acquitted themselves. I am thankful to those, like my grandfather, who did the heavy lifting, so that the rest of us wouldn’t have to.

The least we can do now is assume responsibility as a nation, pull ourselves together, and ensure that their sacrifices continue to resonate.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

“In Flanders Fields” remembered:
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm?fbclid=IwAR2R5bVThWh1_p1CADTCNnzZ5RDSXiWGKbqxlnuDiPtMq0rIwtk9V74nT9o

Charles Ives’ setting:

Ives’ “Tom Sails Away”

Ives’ “He Is There!”

Germany’s perception of the American soldier in World War I:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57121/42-quotes-germans-about-american-troops-after-world-war-i?fbclid=IwAR0enSmw2rP_N6QaFNn5vqK-cHTMd_hgURbzcPPaG9mQq-0Vk4a5yZBKlu8

May 25, 2020

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