What's on my mind…

“It’s Armistice Day, Veterans Day, on Sunday the 11th of November, honoring our veterans going back over history, and when the fifth graders memorize the poem, ‘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.’ A poem that has that terrible idea in it that the living are obliged to carry on the wars of the dead. Which simply is not true. Robert E. Lee, when he decided that enough people had died for his cause and he rode off to Appomattox Courthouse to meet General Grant, that was a noble moment, when he decided to spare the lives of the rest of his men. World War One, of which they’ve only got four veterans remaining in this country, one of the worst wars ever fought in the history of man’s cruelty to other men. Millions died in that war, commanded by generals who were far to the rear who were looking at maps without any idea of the terrain that men were attacking across, men rose up out of trenches and charged machine guns, they were fighting using 19th century tactics against 20th century weaponry. It was a war that nobody should have died in and it never did end. It then led to World War 2, they were continuing the war they had fought before, they were picking up the torch from those who had fallen. And perhaps World War Two continues on today in these countries that were created by World War 2. One could on Veterans Day, I think, wish for peace and pray for peace and hope that this all soon comes to an end.”

–Garrison Keillor, The News from Lake Wobegon, 11/11/07

——————–

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

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

I was reading an interesting article in The Economist yesterday about a site called Wikivote. Wikivote is an online forum where citizens can debate referenda, rewrite bills and perhaps even vote. It’s very much in its infancy, but according to the article it has found some early success in Russia. It was used in Russia to re-write a fisheries bill. It is currently being used for an education bill.

There have been other attempts at communal law-making. They have either been ignored by law makers or have run into other issues (lack of interest, lack of transparency, etc).

Could something like this work in America? Citizens can read bills online and you could, theoretically, contact your Congressmember and tell them if you have an issue. Have you ever read a bill? My goodness they are tedious to get through. Would an online forum work in Congress? Or do you think Congress would just ignore it? Could they claim to represent the people if this were the case?

People who take to the internet for social change tend to be on the fringe of whatever society they inhabit. Either hyper-right or hyper-left. If you doubt me, look at the comments section of any article online. Or even something like Digg. You’ll get someone calling for the end of the tax code and someone calling for some form of communism. You know it’s true.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Wikivote is something brought up in the article: an end to government stupidity. Vasiliy Burov, one of the project’s creators is quoted saying:

“The goal of the state is to get higher-quality laws,” Mr Burov says. “It’s not about being more democratic. So much of what’s idiotic in Russia happens not because somebody wants it that way, but because there’s nobody to prevent idiocy from happening.”

So perhaps it’s not really a way to enact change, more just a way to keep an eye on the people we elect and make sure they aren’t using our money on silly things. Like the vote to re-affirm that our motto is “In God we trust.” A vote they said existed because the president said the motto is “E. pluribus unum” and they wanted to remind him that it isn’t. Oy. It’s clear that we should be keeping a closer eye on these people. Is this how?

Most people who know me know that I am the easiest person in the world to scare. I’m very jumpy. If you say something and I didn’t know you were there, I jump. If there’s a noise, I jump. If I see something I wasn’t expecting, I jump. You get the point. The only person who might be easier to scare and be more vocal about being scared is my big brother (who ran from the room, shrieking, while we tried to watch Pet Semetary).

In spite of knowing that I’m a big sissy, I love watching scary movies, reading about scary things and watching shows about ghosts. I’m obsessed with ghost stories. I love them. I love reading about them and hearing them. I like to imagine where they started. I think that today’s legends have a grain of truth somewhere in their history, but like the telephone game, it gets distorted and blown up.

I’ve never seen a ghost. I’m not entirely sure I believe they exist, though I believe other people when they say they’ve seen them (in other words, I believe they believe). I love hearing ghost stories, though. I even watch the tv shows with other people telling their ghost stories (A Haunting, Celebrity Ghost Stories, etc). And some of those shows scare me. Big time. Like, I turn off the lights and sprint upstairs before a ghost gets me. So why do I watch them? Why do we all watch them? I know I’m not alone in this, look at how many people saw the Paranormal Activity movies.

I’ve heard theories that people find comfort in ghost stories. They find the idea that spirits go on after death comforting. I personally don’t find that idea comforting, but I guess I understand the thinking behind it. Some people use ghost stories as morality type stories, like A Christmas Carol. Some people tell the stories to be scared, just for the sake of being scared. To feel that adrenaline rush, but in a safe environment.

According to the History Channel’s Web site, one of the first notable ghost stories was recorded in the first century A.D. by Pliny the Younger, a Roman author and statesman. He wrote about the ghost of an old man with a beard and chains (like Dickens) haunting about his house. Other Greeks wrote ghost stories, too.

Also according to history.com, the first poltergeist was reported in 856 A.D. in a farmhouse in Germany. Clearly, we have enjoyed hearing and telling ghost stories for a long time.

Whether we do it for comfort, for the rush or out of curiosity I guess depends on the person. But tomorrow, we’ll be dressing up in costumes, getting candy, watching scary movies and telling ghost stories. A day where we celebrate life by acknowledging death and speculate that perhaps the dead are still here, not just in our hearts and minds.

Have you ever seen a ghost? What’s your favorite ghost story? Does your town have a famous ghost?

I grew up in a small town called Montross in Virginia. Population 300 or so. There’s a road in Montross called Wild Sally Road and there was a ghost story attached to that road. Like most small town legends, there were about three versions of the ghost story. In one version, Wild Sally was an escaped slave, in another story she was a hermit who lived alone in the woods and was tormented by the townsfolk and in another version she was a high school student who died in a car crash on that road on her way to the prom. My best friend told that story the best, at the end, she would lower her voice and say, “If you’re driving down Wild Sally Road at night and you’re going too quickly, she’ll try to stop you and if you’re going to slowly, she’ll try to get in the car with you.” Of course, there’s no telling what the optimum “Wild Sally speed” would be. I would usually hear the story while we were walking through the woods off of the road named for the legend. I was always the first one to suggest that we head home : ).

So, share your stories! I’m dying to hear them.

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