An Counterpoison for Hate - Will William Penn Adair Rogers
June 17th, 2008I picked up the intelligence of the frightening 1998 murder of the University of Equality State
educatee, Levi Sam Shepard, with shock and mental rejection. Its natural hate took back
rememberings of my Sooner State Urban center visit the old Springtime.
Once again I saw that chain-linked fence circumferent the Murrah Federal Edifice bomb
site. There was the raiment of wax crayon draftings, little playthings, twigs of blossoms, each in
remembering of dupes of hate. I idea, excessively, of Oklahoma’s favorite boy, Will William Penn Adair Rogers,
and called up his language, “A feller should not have to defeat anybody simply to turn up
they are right.”The McVeigh test in Capital of Colorado was all over. Justness held been functioned, but it
went away a disturbing enquiry. Even with justice functioned, the hate tainting the res publica
stayed. So how nowadays do we react?
For my answer I off to Bequeath William Penn Adair Rogers. That is, I sour to my realizing of him,
derived through various months of perusal and depicting him in my living-history
public presentations.
I’ve attempted to beat extinct wherefore people endowed William Penn Adair Rogers with such potency. He missed
the modification certification. He was neither an adult male of manufacture nor of government. He
went through himself off as untutored, a position the people pronto recognised. Even so one
American capital percipient notable, “This res publica could never go to war unless Will William Penn Adair Rogers
was for it.”
The human relationship betwixt William Penn Adair Rogers and the American people is dissimilar any early in the
nation’s story. I off to analyse it once again, but with fresh design. Since
much all doings and activity can be silent in footing of self interest, I
distinct to see the human relationship from this standpoint. As I made, Will Rogers came up to
correspond the following of self interest in slipways that made trust. Trust is an
counterpoison for hate!
Trust stuck to Rogers and the people. The people occupied him to bosom because of what
he was as a person. He was so refreshfully echt, so honorable, an ally,
not a famous person, even though he was the best cognized person in . This bond
was so potent some state he aided forestall a gyration in the hours of the Outstanding
Economic crisis.
This trust caulescent from the ingrained human desire to be oneself. Will Rogers was
fabled as an adult male who was himself. He down pat this fine art about as good as was
humanly possible. He made it with such ease, such unconscious endeavor, as though it
was the most natural matter in the creation. Being your self was a patrimony. You just
arrogated what was already yours.
In being himself, Rogers attained the ultimate in self interest. The adult male was at
repose. Being subject matter with himself released him from the Caesarism of enviousness, eyed monster and
rapacity. He held no desire or interest to utilise people to fulfill serving demands. He
came in human relationships, absent only to cognize others and to savour them for their own
interest. This interpreted into a smile, rope-spinning cowherd, raying joy, schoolboyish
ebullience, bravery, friendliness and trust
Envisage populating free from negatives, free from wracking to command others, to command
cases, to command life. You are free from simulation, sham and fraudulence, free from the
bullying of position, rank or place. That’s what people in the 1920s and ’30s made.
They could look in a mirror and more nigh understand themselves as Will Will Rogers than as
any former person in The States. What then was there to do but radiate hope, joy, trust,
and chance gratification in the instant simply as Will William Penn Adair Rogers made.
One could trust an adult male like this, and trust him they made. It was a reliance he never
profaned. He in turn sure them, considerring everyone to be honorable until they proven
otherwise. In trustful him, they sure what he stood up for. He got the nation’s
conscience and odd thought compositor because people as well sure his wiseness.
He had got them riant about thing that weighed, about human public assistance and the
wellness of republic.
In their laugh they were expression, “He’s right about that.” In this laugh they
in agreement that all shared out mutual idiosyncrasies. Strip fashion the societal frontage and furnishing
and indeed all the people held a great deal in mutual. This commonalty should yield
exemption, equivalence and justice to all. There should be exemption for the chase of
felicity and self fulfilment, the par of an chance for succeeder, and the
justice of an government portion all the people.
For William Penn Adair Rogers these values were critical and live. He was what he defended. Being
himself and dwelling these values were one and the like. These were fictional character values
that got him the person he was, making trust up and down a party street.
They were values he wrapped as a Cherokee brocaded in the Indian District months
earlier Sooner State was a province.
Will William Penn Adair Rogers brought out to a land what interiorising these values will do to an person.
They are the atmospheric condition in that human life flourishes and trust bristles,
atmospheric condition that support the desire to be oneself.
This is the challenge today: Weaving them into our nation’s societal, political and
economical textile, showing and realising them continually in the surroundings of daily
mercantilism. No more to be trivialised, corrupt or kinky into fatuous shibboleths by
politicos, slick promotional transcript by admen, or beating up cries for affected
activity. These values will be so permeant that any conduct going against them will
atrophy from lack of reenforcement.
This is possible when we realise that all of our establishments, formal and
loose, are part and parcel of an the speculation the human
endeavour. This endeavor broadens from home life to home fabrications; from
neighbourhood assemblages to federal government insurances; from resort areas to
professional amusement; from good endeavours to embodied plank room
thoughtfulness.
With this realizing, is it a short step to take a firm stand that all actions, ends and
objects get implemental to the promotional material and aspect of the fictitious character
values inbuilt in American republic.
Can it fall out? Yes, if we want it to. It will be hard. William Penn Adair Rogers himself articulated,
“Beastliness has ever been better unionised and dealt than righteousness.”
It’s easygoing for us to go through “tough” Pentateuch than work to modify the par. But unless
the par is modified the mental image of a bombarded extinct Federal Edifice and a young
adult male passing away as a bird will shortly be mislaid from sight, inhumed under of all time fresh
views of hate.
(c) Cy Eberhart 1998