Posted on 08/03/2008 9:30:59 AM PDT by WesternCulture
The building of true civilization has always been exposed to various difficulties.
But in the end, periods of unemployment, war and political turboil is nothing but small potatoes.
Personally speaking, I'll turn 39 years old soon and one of the things that make me get out of bed and drive off to work each morning - a part from the luxury of driving a wonderful Volvo V70 to the place - is the magnificence of toiling in the company of certain younger Swedish work mates who I daily encounter there; people in their 20s who believe in hard work and who strive to buy a house of their own, a nice Volvo/SAAB/Audi/BMW/MB and raise a family.
I would give my life up for these sons and daughters of my nation - and furthermore, they would themselves do so on a battlefield defending their country.
Instead of bashig each other, the Western nations ought to unite against the evil of people like Chavez, Islamism and other forms of barbarianism.
We bear a great responsibility, because without the prescence of Western unity, mankind is lost.
Life on Earth has never been a rose garden. Evil exists.
Yet, great Westerners like, for instance, Beethoven and Chuck Berry(!) have dared to compose wonderful, optimistic sounding pieces of music like these - and while cruising down a broad Autobahn/an American freeway in a fully equipped 200 hp car, words like these, when sung in the right spirit, are sometimes like a testament to your heart:
(In any totalitarian society, expressions of true love of life and true love of freedom like this isn't tolerated, because love of freedom is the greatest threat to tyrants existing on Earth)
SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN
They're really rockin Boston In Pittsburgh, P. A. Deep in the heart of Texas And 'round the Frisco Bay All over St. Louis Way down in New Orleans All the Cats wanna dance with Sweet Little Sixteen
Sweet Little Sixteen She's just got to have About half a million Framed autographs Her wallet's filled with pictures She gets 'em one by one She gets so excited Watch her look at her run
Oh mommy mommy Please may I go It's such a sight to see Somebody steal the show Oh daddy daddy I beg of you Whisper to mommy It's all right with you
Cause they'll be rockin on bandstand In Philadelphia P.A. Deep in the heart of Texas And 'round the Frisco Bay All over St. Louis Way Down in New Orleans All the Cats wanna dance with Sweet Little Sixteen
Sweet Little Sixteen She's got the grown up blues Tight dress and lipstick She's sportin' high heal shoes Oh, but tomorrow morning She'll have to chang her trend And be sweet sixteen And back in class again
Cause they'll be rockin on bandstand In Philadelphia P.A. Deep in the heart of Texas And 'round the Frisco Bay All over St. Louis Way Down in New Orleans All the Cats wanna dance with Sweet Little Sixteen
and Ode an die Freude (the lyrics are by the famous German poet of Friedrich Schiller though):
(Translation from German into English of)
AN DIE FREUDE:
Joy, beautiful sparkle of the gods, Daughter of Elysium,
We enter, fire-drunk, Heavenly one, your shrine.
Your magics bind again What custom has strictly parted. (1785 version: What custom's sword has parted.)
All people will be brothers (1785 version: Beggars become princes' brothers.) Where your tender wing lingers.
Chorus
Be embraced, millions! This kiss for the entire world!
Brothers, above the starry canopy Must a loving Father reside.
Whoever has succeeded in the great attempt To be a friend's friend;
Whoever has won a lovely woman Add in his jubilation!
Yes, who calls even one soul His own on the earth's sphere!
And whoever never could achieve this, Let him steal away crying from this gathering!
Chorus
Those who occupy the great circle, Pay homage to sympathy!
It leads to the stars Where the unknown one reigns.
All creatures drink joy At the breasts of nature,
All good, all evil Follow her trail of roses.
Kisses she gave us, and the vine, A friend, proven in death.
Pleasure was given to the worm, And the cherub stands before God.
Chorus
Do you fall down, you millions? Do you sense the creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy, Above the stars he must live.
Joy is the name of the strong spring In eternal nature.
Joy, joy drives the wheels In the great clock of worlds.
She lures flowers from the buds, Suns out of the firmament,
She rolls spheres in the spaces That the seer's telescope does not know.
Chorus
Happy, as his suns fly Through the heaven’s magnificent plain
Run, brothers, your track Joyfully, as a hero to victory.
From the fiery mirror of truth She smiles upon the researcher,
Towards virtue’s steep hill She guides the endurer’s path.
Upon faith’s sunlit mountain One sees her banners in the wind,
Through the opening of burst coffins One sees her standing in the chorus of angels.
Chorus
Endure courageously, millions! Endure for the better world!
There above the starry canopy A great God will reward.
Gods one cannot repay Beautiful it is, to be like them.
Grief and poverty, acquaint yourselves With the joyful ones rejoice.
Anger and revenge be forgotten, Our deadly enemy be forgiven,
No tears shall he shed No remorse shall gnaw at him
Chorus
Our debt registers be abolished
Reconcile the entire world! Brothers, over the starry canopy
God judges, as we judged. Joy bubbles in the cup,
In the grape’s golden blood Cannibals drink gentleness
The fearful, courage -- Brothers, fly from your perches,
When the full cup is passed, Let the foam spray to the heavens - This glass to the good spirit
Chorus
He whom the spirals of stars praise, He whom the seraphim’s hymn glorifies - This glass to the good spirit
Above the starry canopy!
Courage firm in great suffering,
Help there, where innocence weeps,
Eternally sworn oaths,
Truth towards friend and foe,
Mens’ pride before kings’ thrones --
Brothers, even if it costs property and blood, -- The crowns to those who earn them,
Defeat to the lying brood!
Chorus
Close the holy circle tighter, Swear by this golden vine: Remain true to the vows, Swear by the judge above the stars!
(The 1803 version ends here; the 1785 version continues with the following.)
Escape the tyrants’ chains, Generosity also to the villain,
Hope upon the deathbeds, Mercy from the high court!
The dead, too, shall live! Brothers, drink and chime in,
All sinners shall be forgiven, And hell shall be no more.
Chorus
A serene departing hour!
Sweet sleep in the shroud! Brothers—a mild sentence From the final judge!"
There is no stopping Western Civilization.
After Chirac, there will be Sarkozy.
Ask me, I'm European.
Greetings to everyone who is a true believer in freedom from Europe
- and long live rock'n'roll,
WesternCulture!
I always love your posts, Wes. And I am alarmed and ashamed when boors argue with you. But of course there are people liek that everywhere, and it’s pleasing that you don’t take offense.
Can you help me with this? I had learned the modern words to the Ode to Joy; (was die Mode streng geteilt); what is the 1785 passage exactly? I would rather sing the original.
Nice one!
Great post, thanks for the words of hope and, yes, joy. Now there’s another Chuck Berry song that deserves to be remembered in this context.........
Roll Over Beethoven
Im gonna write a little letter,
Gonna mail it to my local dj.
Its a rockin rhythm record
I want my jockey to play.
Roll over beethoven, I gotta hear it again today.
You know, my temperatures risin
And the jukebox blows a fuse.
My hearts beatin rhythm
And my soul keeps on singin the blues.
Roll over beethoven and tell tschaikowsky the news.
I got the rockin pneumonia,
I need a shot of rhythm and blues.
I think Im rollin arthiritis
Sittin down by the rhythm review.
Roll over beethoven rockin in two by two.
Well, if you feel you like it
Go get your lover, then reel and rock it.
Roll it over and move on up just
A trifle further and reel and rock it,
Roll it over,
Roll over beethoven rockin in two by two.
Well, early in the mornin Im a-givin you a warnin
Dont you step on my blue suede shoes.
Hey diddle diddle, I am playin my fiddle,
Aint got nothin to lose.
Roll over beethoven and tell tschaikowsky the news.
You know she wiggles like a glow worm,
Dance like a spinnin top.
She got a crazy partner,
Oughta see em reel and rock.
Long as she got a dime the music will never stop.
Roll over beethoven,
Roll over beethoven,
Roll over beethoven,
Roll over beethoven,
Roll over beethoven and dig these rhythm and blues.
I wish this resonated better with me. The first song seems quintessentially, existentially juvenile and hormonal. The second is semi-Lennonesque, semi-Leninesque (”Imagine”, “Unite”), with Mother Earth as Judge, saying, “Or Else!”. I’m just not there. These God-dismissive strains of thought will more likely wreck Western Civilization than preserve it, IMO.
Glad I’m not the only one that thinks so. I grow weary of the intelligentsia of our culture, on both sides, dismissing any notion of God and eschewing their relativistic humanistic philosophy of life. I pray everyday that God opens their eyes to their need of Him. In the meanwhile I’ll let them wander around in their self-imposed, albeit insufficient bliss.
The difference is, that now, too many in power deny such troubles or dangers exist. They refuse to identify or name such things. Or if they do, they get it absolutely wrong. Yes, optimism is good. But awareness and action is even better.
A civilization has to do more than just oppose the most horrible cultures. It has to continually improve its own.
You improve a culture, western culture, by comparing, contrasting, and arguing the benefits and downsides of different approaches to to problems.
You will always have the whiners who say that everything is going to “hell in a handbasket” and “...these kids; in my day I had to walk five miles a day to school in three feet of snow up hill both ways.”
I work with young USN sailors most every day. They are good kids and they inspire this tired old guy. Even the boys with those Hispanic sounding names that some are so afraid of are just as American as anybody could be.
So smarmy, so sanctimonious, so condescending, you say this just like a leftist would.
Thank you for the inspiration and above all:
Keep the good work up!
“There has never been a point in history when Western civilization was not in danger. It’s the nature of existence. You may still be optimistic. But you must also be aware.”
- Very well put.
“Great post, thanks for the words of hope and, yes, joy. Now there’s another Chuck Berry song that deserves to be remembered in this context.........”
- Beethoven would’ve appreciated good ol’ Chuck and his music.
Beethoven was very much of a guy who every now and then went down the local bar/pub/bierstube for a good beer.
Just like Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams, Beethoven would’ve agreed this is every man’s right.
“Was der Mode Schwert geteilt” I believe to be the original words of Schiller.
This translation might interest you:
http://www.raptusassociation.org/ode1785.html
A totally and completly ignorant statement. Those boys, (Hispanic illegals) are not as American as anybody could be. They are mostly mexican, they see themselves only as mexicans, or salvadorans, etc. Hate this country(love the milk, hate the cow) and it's laws, history, symbols; they like the gringo's money but despise the "gringo".
Wearing the same clothes, playing the same video games, etc. as our kids, does not make them American(U.S.).
Have you ever bothered to see the statistics about the high percentage of crime, rape, identity theft, killed American citizens, hospitals and clinics going broke; over crowed schools, and busted budgets, all because of the nice "Hispanic sounding names "?
And last, before you throw the racist card at me; I am a proud American citizen, so-called hispanic.
“I am a proud American citizen, so-called hispanic”
- I’m not Hispanic myself and neither am I an American, but just like anyone who’s understood what people like Leonardo da Vinci and Pico della Mirandola were trying to communicate some 500 years ago during the Renaissance, I hold these words (of the very same Pico della Mirandola) to be great truths:
``We have given you, O Adam, no visage proper to yourself, nor endowment properly your own, in order that whatever place, whatever form, whatever gifts you may, with premeditation, select, these same you may have and possess through your own judgement and decision. The nature of all other creatures is defined and restricted within laws which We have laid down; you, by contrast, impeded by no such restrictions, may, by your own free will, to whose custody We have assigned you, trace for yourself the lineaments of your own nature. I have placed you at the very center of the world, so that from that vantage point you may with greater ease glance round about you on all that the world contains. We have made you a creature neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, in order that you may, as the free and proud shaper of your own being, fashion yourself in the form you may prefer. It will be in your power to descend to the lower, brutish forms of life; you will be able, through your own decision, to rise again to the superior orders whose life is divine.’’
These divine words of insight is the true foundation of everything of positive nature that sprung forth from the great marvel of the Florentine Renaissance and today, all of us who believe in a new birth of civilization must unite and pledge them our wholehearted support instead of squabbling around on the Internet and elsewhere like little children.
My nephew has one of those Hispanic sounding names too. He did his time in Iraq just like a lot of others and he volunteered to do it.
He didn’t need to do it for any other reason than his belief in America. He didn’t need to do it for citizenship or anything else. He did it because he saw what happened on 9/11 and he is a patriot.
You won’t find a whole lot of gang bangers and gringo haters in the military.
“My nephew has one of those Hispanic sounding names too. He did his time in Iraq just like a lot of others and he volunteered to do it.
He didn’t need to do it for any other reason than his belief in America. He didn’t need to do it for citizenship or anything else. He did it because he saw what happened on 9/11 and he is a patriot.
You won’t find a whole lot of gang bangers and gringo haters in the military.”
- As an impartial judge (I’m Swedish/European);
All people who do their time in Iraq defending civilization and all people who respect the rights of USA as a nation and US citizens are honorable.
Stupid Hispanic movements who claim certain parts of the US to be “theirs” and not US territory are deeply immoral people and they do not have the international support of, for instance, Europeans like me.
“You won’t find a whole lot of gang bangers and gringo haters in the military.”
Nor will you find many Freepers, if any, who have a problem with hispanics in the military. The vast majority of Freepers go to great lengths to distinguish between those here legally and illegally, and have no issues with who are earning their right to stay here by putting themselves in harm’s way. Quite the contrary.
You undermine your entire argument, making it look like nothing more than a gratuitous, unjustified slap at your fellow Freepers, when you paint with so broad a brush.
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