Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Deal or No Deal...how about a New Deal?

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" spoken during the period of the first New Deal has carried on and is spoken so frequently it almost isn't a quote anymore so much as just an accepted truth. Rather ironic that it is nothing more than a recursive reference to our own inadequacies and need to justify everything. He made this statement as a prelude to changes to come that were dramatic, liberal and meant to drive community based responsibility for the economic revival so desperately needed.

This particular post could get more lengthy than would be intellectually valuable, so I will bullet point some of the things that FDR implemented, received or instigated, as the case may be:
* Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA)
* Repeal of Prohibition
* Silver Buffalo Award
* Guillain-Barre Syndrome (not polio)
* Fireside Chats (Radio Commentaries)
* Securities and Exchange Commission
* 21st Amendment
* Social Security
* Withholding Taxes
* Good Neighbor Policy
* Fair Labor Standards Act (Minimum Wage)
* Served 4 terms in office
* Tennessee Valley Authority
* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

There are more but I only need to demonstrate a point of effect on every aspect of what may be termed governmental controls but is more like leadership guiding community or some may say more the likes of Balanced Socialism. I do not argue either position, I only demonstrate accomplishment and under what could be considered the most personal and politically tumultuous time of the previous century.

Human as well, he had indiscretions and warlike vengeance at times. Would he be ashamed of what we have become or proud of our accomplishments...whatever we each may think they are or are not.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

An aphoristic philosopher (and one of the few that by definition remains true) whose tenacity and audacity inspired and yet still inspires to this day many who think of themselves as intellectuals. Defining truth was an infinitely questionable journey in the mind of Nietzsche and any acceptance of such was a true prize to those who had presented anything to him. Nietzsche determined himself to be of no home for a long period of his intellectual development, which lends itself to his personality of challenging status quo. He did not need a definition or an origin for himself, only a journey in seeking greater things.

Health issues followed Nietzsche throughout his life, creating a pessimistic and readily critical individual that was not afraid (constant pain seems to give one internal fortitude) to speak against the "accepted" at any time and also any place. Nietzsche traveled extensively throughout the seasons and whether this was just for his own internal need to experience more or analyze it as well...or just a need to speak to a greater audience and find oneself...I cannot and will not surmise. In his earlier days, when he transitioned from accepted methodologies to analyze and critique things to a more speculative and challenging perspective, he found himself ousted by many of the "standard" brains of the time. Even furthered throughout his life, he would get close to someone only to alienate them in turn as he could challenge that which was right in front of him and do it without fail or question often.

He created his isolation, but hated it. This furthers my notion that social or communal input is required to thrive as a species. His writing style, being so heavily laden with what we would be considered profanity at that time, left few people with a clear vision of his philosophy. Tainted by what was deemed as anger, it was often dismissed or lacked what is necessary to aquire a cultural embrace. His tendency to be psychoanalytical in a philosophical debate has given many people today the ability to endorse his efforts a moral, even though Nietzsche by no means considered himself nor anyone else moral.

I ask but one question...Could Nietzsche have had a muse or was his search his only muse?

Next: Franklin Delano Roosvelt