Does Liberty Require a Moral Society?

[SuburbanFarmer]

Tribal identity is the key to human civilization. Without it, there is no such thing.

We are learning this the hard way.

[Viktorthepirate]

So you guys are saying that Option 2 is the only answer?

Cause no matter how high falutin your jargon gets there is still a couple billion morons who will be unable to comprehend your morality index and decide that playing third string just ain't worth going to practice anymore because there is no higher calling.

I played football at a Catholic HS. 3 time state champions including my frosh and sr years during the 90s.

This school, like many of "traditional" schools, indoctrinate their student body to be proud of the tradition the HS stands for. Before the school year, all students were forced to attend walk-through days. It was a shortened school day where everyone was able to learn where their classes were and meet their teachers.

At the end of the day, the incoming freshman all walked out to the football field and got in the stands where a 67 year old man came out screaming like a drill sergeant to instruct us how to cheer properly. We learned the same chants they used in the 50s and by the end of the day nearly everyone had the fight song memorized.

This all give a great deal of meaning to being a part of something. The school had great success in academics and athletics over the years being tied to that history made all of us feel like we were part of something special. Going to school at a place like that is something special.

This brings me to the third string reference...

The freshman football team started the pre-season in early August. By that time in the summer the Gulf has had long enough to spew its humidity far enough inland so that the Ohio Valley is layered in a constant haze of 80%+ humidity. The late summer sun would just be peering over the knob hills to the east by the time we arrived for the first session of 2-a-days. In a grassy field, outside the old locker room which was built in the late 1950s after the school moved from downtown, we'd lay in the dew soaked grass like sleeping cattle while we waited for the blow of the Conditioning Coach's whistle. Then two hours of full pads before the heat index would have time to break 95, and then a lighter session after noon which was always ended with team gassers. A gasser is a 200 yard sprint. A team gasser is when your position group has to finish in a certain time or else the whole group went again. In comparison, my dad who served in the Navy in the 70s and is an alumnus of the same school said the practices appeared harder than any PT he ever endured.

By the end of Summer, after the first depth chart was posted we still had 86 kids in the team picture, not including the dozen trainers or so who helped with the equipment.

I could't believe it. 86 kids went through the most rigorous football conditioning you could imagine and even though we platooned which ensured at least 22 players would see the field in meaningful minutes that left 64 with nothing but being part of something greater than their own personal glory. Something they were willing to fight and bleed for. They were willing to be the human blocking sleds for a line full of All-District + All-State meat heads. They lined up to run a gimmick offense they'd never ran before to let the stingiest defense in the state take turns knocking their dicks in the dirt. I wouldn't have done it.

At the end of the year, everyone got a ring and even the 3rd string punter got his picture forever hung on the wall of champions and everyone felt the bruised hips, sprained ankles and concussed heads were better for what they had earned through nothing but self sacrifice.

Good story, and I’m not being sarcastic.

Seems like a good story to teach an individual about their contributions leading to a stronger whole, and a bit of humility.

But what exactly are you proposing? Those who didn’t want to be third string be forced to play?

[kybkh]

The main takeaway I see is that we have to convince the 3rd stringers to tough it out. We have to convince individuals who may be on the outside of the main group that they are still vital to adding to a great tradition which they are part of.

At the moment if you were to go to that same school I referenced earlier, you will see they have state championship banners for every male varsity sport ever played in Kentucky.

There is only on sport they have not won a championship in since the 50’s and that’s basketball...

Right now we are effectively taking down our pre-integration banners across the globe. Chipping away at the tradition that we all longed to be a part of.

The US, with all its imperfections, is the greatest nation the world has known and never would have came into existence if there was any variation in the behavior of our forefathers.

What is human nature? Is it purely survival and self interest? I remember there was a BLM activist who said that the BLM movement gave her life meaning.

Humans, men in particular, yearn to be part of something greater than themselves. For a long time the church and the state were deemed worthy of self sacrifice. Now, it appears as both those institutions are wholly unworthy of such considerations.

My favorite story of all time from DC HCH is about how wealthy Roman villas would have whole rooms designated as memorials to their ancestors and the elaborate funeral processions which were held to honor all the great deeds done by all members of the family not just the deceased because all the acts in the past had a cumulative affect.

We are being asked to tear down those rooms or at least put an asterisk at the bottom to indicate we are all decedents from Nazis.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Exactly what I was saying. Without our tribal identities, we simply have no reason to care about anything larger than our families.