Introduction

Many would find pointless the decision to record my thoughts and impressions as coming from a source less than learned, by many standards...perhaps even my own, and possibly justly described as rife with naivete and an idealism more appropriate to a college freshman. To this I can only answer that I find a certain satisfaction in thinking I may have retained enough faith in humanity, in the face of past and current events, to remain idealistic. Whether this be due to continually reading about many educated and intelligent people working hard to improve the state of the world, to an unadulterated bull-headedness, or to some combination thereof, I can only make an inaccurate estimate.

The former paragraph would be devoted to the world at large. As to those of the population, severely limited in number, who actually know my background, the common complaint might be in defining myself as a farm boy. None could challenge the fact of living my first four years on a tiny Iowa farm, but may bridle at the idea that, having then moved into the metropolis of Grand River (pop. ~300), my point of view may have become tainted by city life.

As the son of the postmaster, I escaped not only our outdoor toilet, but slopping the hogs, shearing the sheep, pulling the heads from chickens, endless rounds of the fields on a tractor, and many other of the countless joys of country life, retaining only the light exercise of hauling bales of hay to be placed in the barn or in outdoor stacks...one possible avenue for young men desiring monetary gain during the summer months and, in my case, the means of paying college expenses through graduation...this having the added advantage, in my mind, of granting a certain freedom and individualism in not working for some outside employer though, of course, there were many as we traveled from farm to farm. Odd...and telling, how we tell ourselves what we most want to hear.

To keep this introduction within the scope of modern attention spans, I'll wrap it up with a brief warning. Though small town life might seem more a breeding ground of conservatism, it seems to have, in more than a few cases, been equally capable of spawning a certain amount of liberalism...perhaps my own. Some will accuse me of this, socialism, communism, anti-capitalism, class prejudice, and idiocy. I only hope to escape that which I see as the greatest evil...the inability to try to see another point of view. You are certainly free to judge, hopefully not too harshly.