The Precipice

The year was 1936. A behemoth of a sports stadium is completed. Like an earth-anchored death star, this gargantuan compound would sweep the galaxy clean of any who dared resist its omnipotence. Larger than the University of Michigan Big House in Ann Arbor. A proud national leader ordered its construction, aided by media groups, filmmakers and other ambitious few. The vision was to broadcast the Olympic Games to world. A neighboring village would house world athletes in the most exquisite, state of the art facilities. Amazed by the luxury, the occupants would refer to this place as a paradise.

Jesse Owens was the grandson of a slave. This African American Big Ten champion was still aware of his context—he expected to be placed in a black only facility. To his amazement and refreshment, the United States Olympic team would be treated as equals in this regard, and Jesse was given the same privileges in this paradise.

Scarcity of Freedom

An estimated 100 billion people have walked this earth. And only a measly 4.5% have ever lived under conditions relatively free. The other 95.5B missed the "draft". These sorry souls were made into sport by monarchs and crusaders—invading nations was their play, and plundering the weak was our human pastime. You would be lucky to die of a plague, than find the end of Genghis Khan’s sword. And if you made the cut, you wouldn’t kick a ball, or throw a pigskin for $80M—you’d be forced the join their army, swing a sickle or wield an excavating tool rest of your productive years.

We know the chances of playing professional sports are slim to none—but contrast this, with the chances of living in freedom. Today, fewer than 12 of Earths 193 countries have a democracy older than fifty years. Are we not therefore better off than the billions who lived before us? To swing a sledgehammer, or throw a bale of hay for real wages—few have been so privileged. So how lucky are we today, to have the opportunity for unpaid extra-curricular amusement? The joy of sports—to swing bats and clubs in our free time with our spare change; to run for pleasure and not from invaders; to scan the sky for a pop-fly, instead of sighting a bombing raid or a nuclear explosion. Throwing passes and assisting teammates, instead of loading mortars into bipods, or bags of potatoes into a railcar. Our ancestors mined for coal, and got black lung disease. Today, we mine cryptocurrency on supercomputers. 

Critical Race Theory- it has communities in an uproar. Instead of attacking the alleged doctrine of "Critical Race Theory", we explore two themes that we all can understand: civil rights and survival. As we continue on our sports theme, we compare a modern athlete, Russell Westbrook with a recently deceased American fighter pilot, Shelby Westbrook. We throw the "critical race" grenade back, and begin to look at the bigger picture.

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty" 

- Edward Murrow

We continue with Trevor Loudon. The nature of sports demonstrates that neutrality has no purpose. There are only two valid positions: offence and defense. There is no virtue in teams that uphold the doctrine of middle ground.

This truth carries into all aspects of life—laying back, or allowing others rot in their own delusions, destroys not just teams, but nations. Great athletes and leaders refuse to feed the cultural monster, which Winston Churchill dubbed, “the crocodile”.

“Everyone can see how Communism rots the soul of a nation; how it makes it abject and hungry in peace, and proves it base and abominable in war… If the light of freedom which still burns so brightly in the frozen North should be finally quenched, it might well herald a return to the Dark Ages, when every vestige of human progress during two thousand years would be engulfed.” 

– Winston Churchill, “House of Many Mansions” 1/20/1940

After The Great War (World War I), the British people were despondent both physically and psychologically. Despite the neighboring danger of Germany, they fell into a deadly trap. An estimated 80M human lives ended, many by genocide, disease and famine, as a result of this avoidable blunder.  

Trevor Loudon is a subject matter expert, bolding declaring to us all, just how close we are to total annihilation. 

What does an American Military General and a Virginia football coach have in common? Listen in to find out.

"Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory."

- Douglas MacArthur

“…I am a strong believer that a team is a group of people with one vision, with one objective, and by God one heartbeat; and if I hear two hearts beatin on this team, or in this room…I am gonna kill that sucka so fast, that Lord won’t find out about it till next week…”

- Herman Boone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ge0B0-5ncQ

The "Patdown" series is geared towards current and aspiring public servants. We ask them two basic questions. 

1. Why did you enter public service? 

2. Are you for sale? 

Today, we converse with Curt Nisly, an Indiana State representative. 

Curt refused to get sucked into the black hole of the establishment politics. We learn his struggles and relate them back to American History.