From Little House on the Prairie to Coronavirus Panic … Quite a Fall!

I’m rereading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic books on the settlement of the American West. Wow. Imagine if today’s snowflakes who duck and cover during a virus had been confronted with wild Indians, killer wolves, crop-destroying weather, bouts of scarlet fever that cause blindness, constant food shortages and brutal months-long winters holed up in a log cabin.

They had no stimulus bills, no Medicare for all, and no shelter-in-place orders to give them a false sense of security. I am not suggesting material progress is a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s a beautiful thing. But the character and mental health of the individuals who live in an advanced society have to be up to the job. Rationality, responsibility and independence matter in ALL eras. We can learn so much from these pioneers of long ago.

 

 

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