Washington D.C.

On our return trip to Lesotho in August we stopped in Washington D.C. to visit Wendy’s sister and brother-in-law.  It was my first visit to the U.S. capital city.  What I saw left me both fascinated and unsettled.

The U.S. Capital

Washington Monument

My first impression was amazement at the size of some of the monuments.  The massive pillars and huge stone blocks caused me to wonder if America sought to imitate the grandeur of empire that was Rome.  

Jefferson Memorial

Library of Congress

A tour guide at the Capital building later commented that the American founding fathers had been purposeful in pursuing this Roman link in establishing the American “republic”.  The founding fathers purposed to follow the republican model of Rome and that vision came to be reflected in the grandeur of buildings and monuments and the many quotations in and on those building, monuments, and elsewhere.

Interior of the Capital

Quotations and references - drawn from enlightenment thinkers, biblical authors, ancient Greece and Rome, as well as more modern figures – adorned the architecture and statues; quotations extolling freedom, equality, liberty, and reason.

I paused and wondered. Is there today a similar commitment to the lofty ideals expressed?  Are these same ideals revered today, even thought about?  The stairs of the Lincoln memorial were strewn with joggers running its stairs, and other exercisers doing push-ups or step-ups. Not really an environment conducive to reflecting on “government of the people by the people for the people”.  Traffic roared past a quiet little park honoring a poet’s work reflecting on life.  The wealth of accumulated wisdom reflected in monuments and building seemed lost on even Washington legislators, caught up in partisan politics, who daily walk under and past great thoughts and ideals but seem incapable of acting on them.  Or, maybe likes hordes of others, they no longer bother to notice them.

Lincoln Memorial (early morning before the hordes)

Great and noble thoughts that inspired a nation have become ordinary.  Just as we too often take for granted our material blessing in the west, it seems we may also taking for granted our various heritages of freedom and commitment to human liberty, equality and dignity.  Our heritages risk becoming lost amidst the din of populations preoccupied with the pursuit of excitement, spectacle and excess, … if not happiness.  We, in the west, are wealthy in so many ways, yet seem oblivious to what we risk losing if we lose connection with our roots. 

~ Benno ~