Anyone who says the world is too nuanced for Cowboys, meet me under the clock tower at high noon! I know that's what some of you are thinking...

 

So were Jerry Lewis movies.

I know you'll probably accuse me of being a liberal, but some of the ways that we are viewed in the world came about because we never really believed in the virtues of your cowboy.

Yes, the foreign despots stole the donations that American generosity sent to benefit the poor and the hungry, but it was us who put that despot into power and kept him there. It was us who looked the other way when the despot stole. No, our cowboy rode off into the sunset when he should have been guarding the main street.

The lack of faith in our country and in our way of life has less to do with our standing in the world and more to do with our own politicians, right, left or center. Your honest cowboy wasn't watching when our political leaders, all of our political leaders lied to us, mislead us and allowed us to be manipulated by special interests. Now we find ourselves in a bureaucratic mess, with a selfserving congress ruled by special interests, and devoted to self preservation.

Something happened when we heard, "Greed is Good". We thought that meant, "Win at all costs, no matter who gets hurt". Fairplay went out the window, people started getting shot in the back.

If your cowboy rode into town today I'm afraid that he'd be laughed at, bushwacked, ambushed, beaten, and sent away with his head between his legs. I imagine he'd even be blamed for some of the mess he'd find. I'm afraid that it's going to take a lot more than a Saturday morning cowboy to get us back to the values and virtues you and I want.

I'm sorry that I swerved off topic, but I'm a bit worried about your cowboy. If he did ride into town these days he'd probably be arrested for loitering. Worse still, nobody would understand what he was talking about.

 

I've just read the recent exchanges and find them very informative, but troubling in a number of ways. Maybe I'm a little jaded b/c I built a successful business from scratch and then had it stolen from me by an unscrupulous partner. Nevertheless, I'm still pretty liberal...

I wonder how many successful entrepreneurs like flts and cordy also seek ways to 'give something back'? Or is it all for Number 1?

 

Me too. That's my story too. I even figured out how to cope with the imports, but the unscrupulous partner was a bit too much.

I wonder how many of us entrepreneurs are no longer in business because of that? More than any of us realize.

Still, like you Jerry, I remain a liberal.

 

So I hope flts, that you are not implying that George W. Bush is a cowboy. I don't think you are, but just checking.

One of the themes of cowboy movies that was done over and over and over was the one where the rich, powerful rancher tried to run all the little guys off their land. All of them were cowboys but I never once saw the rich, bullying, guy portrayed as the good guy. In fact, Mr Big always loses in cowboy movies and the little guy wins.

The moral of that story seems to be, you can't take whatever you want just because you're big and powerful.

 

The simple days of cowboys are gone, along with the generally poor acting, poor sets, and poor stories. The fact is we were very naive. Some might say that was a good thing. From the stand point of remaining a child longer, it probably helped. But those no brainer stories simply will not work with today's kids. They are light years ahead of us at the same age.

 

Well in the end. It is like the line from the movie "True Lies" when Arnold is asked by Jamie Lee Curtis if he has ever killed anyone? And he answers: "Yes, but they were all bad!"

 

I just have to rent Blazing Saddles now.

 

PAS2K,

You're missing the point! Having the wide-open opportunity to achieve, and actually keep some of what you've earned is what we could call the Wild West Spirit. Having the cojones to try, and doing it with a moral code is the Cowboy spirit!

As for giving back, I do. But that's not something that should really concern anyone but me, right?

Edit--Smokee, the Cartwrights were rich AND good, weren't they?

Yep, I could see a good cowboy flick right about now.

 

Thank you, well said.

fltsfshr