A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn’t easy. You may ask, why do we stay here if it’s so dangerous? We stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in a word—tradition!
With these words, a Jewish Peasant named Tevye opens the play “Fiddler on the Roof.”
His culture hangs in the balance…dangerous pitfalls on both sides. How do they keep the balance? How do they maintain their cultural distinctives in such a precarious situation? Tevye says balance is key! Balance, like a fiddler on a roof! (Balance is key…and how does he keep the balance? Tradition!)
My culture is involved in a similar struggle. My extended kinsmen are being tossed about by a wave of concentrated attack, and we are dangerously close to tumbling down one side of the roof. Progressivism is threatening to systematically irradicate all cultural distinctives inherent in my race…and it is being done purposfully.
When the Scotch-Irish and other cousin races like Anglo-Saxons are completely miscegenated into the surrounding culture, then America will no longer be the land of our fathers.
The banjo is a culturally distinctive instrument, and as such, I’ve chosen to name this category of blogs “picker on the roof.” It is a furious song that I’m playing…a song meant to counteract the force of “change” by adhering strongly to tradition while strategically allowing healthy doses of change.
Such is the balance…between culture and change.
Enjoy my commentary on these issues, and perhaps it will help you maintain your own balance as we raise our collective tunes in harmony…like pickers on the roof!
http://shotgunwildatheart.wordpress.com/category/pickings-from-the-roof/
March 20, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
WELL MY GOOD MAN, I GREATLY ENJOYED PICKER ON THE ROOF. AT A MOMENTS NOTICE I WOULD FORGO THE GROUND FOR THE ROOF AS A LOCATION FOR PLAYING THE BANJO. AND ONE MORE THING PERU IS NICE THIS YEAR. THE RUINS ARE A SUPURB PLACE TO CONTEMPLATE THE MYSTERYS OF LIFE.
March 20, 2009 at 7:51 pm |
In my haste and ignorance, I’m afraid I meant “Chile” instead of Peru.
The two are not at all interchangeable I’m sure…though I do appreciate your willingness to contemplate the mysteries of life.
Chile’ has often served as a generous location for those whose ideas prove unpopular and seek a strategic get-a-way where they can live out their lives in peace.