Jon Stewart seems to be a sincere person who wants to make the world a better place. He demonstrates courage when he takes on the powerful Israeli lobby headed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He does seem to be less biased than most people are. His rally to restore sanity to be held this Saturday in Washington, however, seems to miss the point as to what is needed to bring about real change and progress.
When Stewart was on David Letterman's show on September 29th he said his rally was for all those people who "have things to do." In other words, it's for people who are too busy with their lives to get involved with politics. This clearly shows that Jon Stewart doesn't understand that it is because of people not caring enough about the real American dream of liberty and freedom, but about the shallow false American dream of owning lots of material things such as a huge house and multiple cars, that we're in this mess. People need to be driven to take action in an effort to keep the real American dream alive. Because of people being too focused on their little worlds of career, home and family, the larger world of politics was corrupted beyond repair and the real American dream is now on its death bed.
Thomas Jefferson made it clear that this was a danger to guard against. He wrote in his Notes on Virginia, "They (the people) will forget (about their rights) themselves but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights."
It seems like Stewart is appealing to these people described by Jefferson. They may respond and attend the rally as a type of party and a fun time, but, based on their past behavior, it's not likely they will do anything meaningful.
The American Revolution offers us an insight into just what is demanded for us to create a truly naturally progressive society. The insight comes from a lady named Mrs. Davis. She was from Concord, Massachusetts. Her husband, Isaac, was a Minuteman. When they received word on April 19, 1775 that government troops were marching to Concord to confiscate the weapons from the people, the Minutemen prepared to do battle.
Mrs. Davis recorded what happened and her writings are found in the book from National Geographic, The Revolutionary War by Bart McDowell. She wrote...
"Isaac Davis was my husband. He was then thirty years of age. We had four children; the youngest about fifteen months old. They were all unwell when he left me, in the morning; some of them with the canker-rash.Isaac Davis was a young family man and worked as a blacksmith. I'm sure he "had things to do" besides actually fighting for liberty, justice and progress. He had reasons not to put his life in danger. He had a loving wife and four little children. When he received word the troops were marching on Concord he could have easily said, "I'd love to help but I need to get some work done and then spend some time with my kids and wife. Good luck, though!"
"The alarm was given early in the morning, and my husband lost no time in making ready to go to Concord with his company. My husband said but little that morning. He seemed serious and thoughtful; but never seemed to hesitate. He only said, 'Take good care of the children,' and was soon out of sight.
'In the afternoon he was brought home a corpse. He was placed in my bedroom till the funeral."
Thankfully, for all of us and for progress itself, Isaac Davis did put his personal life behind him and took a stand to push the world forward. He did "have things to do" -- profound world-changing "things to do."
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