THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XI

Why Limit Ourselves to Ten Ideas?

The 'other' weekly news magazine [1.] is out with 'ten ideas for the next decade.' Here I would like to depart from the notion that the brilliant ideas for the next period in our history are even here yet. Consider our Republic's early days when George Washington observed: "No well informed mind need be told, that the flanks and rear of the United territory are possessed by other powers, and formitable ones too -- nor how necessary it is to apply the cement of interest to bind all parts of it together... open wide door, and make a smooth way for the produce of that country to pass to our markets..."

Washington looked to the best technology available in his day and built canals. The beautiful stonework of the locks shows a committment to a lasting transportation system to bind the nation together. In 1830 that same craftsmanship is evident in the fine railroad bridges that were constructed for our nation's first railroads. Washington's observation was correct even as new methodology came to be to implement his vision in ways he could not possibly imagine.

Today we live in a smaller world. It is still true that... "the flanks and rear of the United territory are possessed by other powers, and formitable ones too..." so we need to put our best current technology to its full use to bind us together. Energy independence is a basic requirement. Nuclear plants, domestic production of oil, gas, coal and hydroelectric resources must be carried out. Failure is not an option. We cannot outsource our prosperity. It must be made in the USA from now on.

This is the environment in which newer and better ways of doing things will come to be.

The United States carries in its unique character the seeds of its own reinvention. [Legal]Immigration has always provided us with the best and brightest minds in the world. Freedom is a nurturing element for the vision of these people. We do well to remember that the immigrants of the late 19th Century were feared and ridiculed, but they assimilated and gave us even more creative energy as a nation. The light skinned caucasian race may become minorities but the ranks of AMERICANS need NEVER shrink! There is a reason so many want to come to these shores and it isn't that they think we need to apologize for the nation we've built here.

In fact, it is a sacred duty to the rest of the world to maintain the vision of America. What if Albert Einstein had had no America to come to? Arguably the most brilliant mind in history might have ended up in a mass grave in Germany. The great innovator for our next period of history may be cradled in the arms of a refugee Mother as I speak. America needs to be there for the generations to come as well.


Caribou browse contently under the pipeline near Prudhoe Bay.