Patrick Pearse

I just finished reading My Father Left Me Ireland by Michael Brendan Dougherty. Interesting little book made up of letters by a son in America to his father in Ireland. While it's mostly the history of their relationship, there's a lot of history of Ireland in the book. I learned quite a bit of Irish history last year when I was there and this filled in some of the blanks with the author comparing his personal history with the history of the Irish people.

One of the people that figured prominently in The Rising was Patrick Pearse. Dougherty mentions him a few times in the book, including this quote:

We must accustom ourselves to the thought of arms, to the sight of arms, to the use of arms. We may make mistakes in the beginning and shoot the wrong people, but bloodshed is a cleansing and satisfying thing, and the nation which regards it as the final horror has lost its manhood. There are many things more horrible than bloodshed; and slavery is one of them.

When you read history you wonder what could have possibly lead people to take up arms against its own government, or why didn't they take up arms to prevent the take-over of their country by some totalitarian regime. I look around at what's occurring in my country right now and I don't see anything good coming our way. I don't know who all is pulling the strings or what the end game is but I see us moving in the direction of losing many of our personal freedoms, Constitution be damned, and runaway inflation.

Maybe Patrick Pearse was on to something. Of course it didn't turn out too well for him. Not much I can do to change the course of history, but I'm hoping to be able to take care of me and mine regardless of what comes along.