George B. Dorr overlooking the land he loved
I've always had a naive side to me in spite of the great desire I have had to be worldly and sophisticated. So it always comes as a surprise when I discover that something I thought I knew is all wrong or a bit like a Disney Movie. The desire to be great lies in all of us. The desire to accomplish great things lies only in a few. The passion, persistence and refusal to accept defeat is in but a handful.
Part of the reason for the sophomoric view of greatness in my case is the requirement that whatever I propose to be great about has to meet certain criterion. Some but not all of the criteria are honesty, the common good, adherence to a Christian ethic. But here is where the difficulty begins. Who that we as a culture list as the great leaders of mankind can claim even those three aforementioned qualities as a basis for their greatness? For that matter, what institution can make such a claim?
I have been lied to by so many for so long that I find it miraculous that I have any faith in truth. I have been sold the idea of the common good by self serving snake oil salesmen in the suits of public servants and the Christian ethic, beautiful as it is in theory is rarely if ever practiced by any of the leaders and but a few of the most sincerely converted. It turns out that in most cases honesty and truth are nothing more than a tool by which the dishonest milk the naive of their hard earned money.
But George B. Dorr is one of the few who truly had a dream and backed it with his own money and the wealth of his well to do friends. That is a story worth knowing.
It begins with his love of Mount Desert Island, the death of Charles Eliot at the age of 38 and Charles' father, Charles W. Eliot reading an article his son had written proposing the formation of a trust to protect the island from being controlled by a few wealthy landholders and made available to the public. The result was Acadia National Park. It started with one man's deep love for a part of the earth and a desire to share it with his fellow man.
So, naive or not. don't give up on your dreams.
Herb Ratliff, January 23, 2011, All Rights Reserved
I swing between naive and cynical as I observe the actions of many who are chosen to lead us. But I always try to give someone the benefit of the doubt for being honest and having good intentions - until proven otherwise. At my age I should be far more cynical, but I've just come to accept human nature for what it is. Still, I love the occasional story of true good intent without the element of what's-in-it-for-me.
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