At war's end and freed from fascism Europe breathed with American optimism Barbarism had been thoroughly defeated And a brave new world was timidly greeted
The Marshall Plan was the discovery That would lead to economic recovery It was a masterstroke of economic strategy It would restore Europe to liberty and dignity
After an era of hellish and savage destruction America reseeded Europe with tools of construction The goal was Christian moral order as the law And the rights of mankind was the dutybound call
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of disunity Europe created NATO and founded economic community It was not just a matter of convenience but duty But this time seems to have past irresolutely
Europe has sunk to a technocratic apostasy That has long shunted our commonality of society It might be that one day we might emerge again as friends But for now, this common path has its temporal end
Post-national and godlessly secular in its worldview Our moral grammar no longer finds it passage through Universalist humanism has strained the welfare state Until the allies we had seem destined to an unkind fate
Culturally leftward, the EU become also mercantilist Disadvantaging America, our allies have become protectionist In treated agreement after agreement, there are costs All of which comes at America's lost until alliance is lost
Despite Germanic Zeitenwende, inertia has had consequence Europe continues to be a strategic free rider without recompense Our so called allies have maintained their soft-power diplomacy While America's hard power continues to underwrite the security
In terms of game theory, there has been a loss of equilibrium The moral-political vision is lost to the point of absurd-ium An ally who continuously stabs one is the back is not an ally There is a heavy dose of dysfunction in our once family
America's choices are now conditionality, restructuring or an out Europe's duplicity has left the US cautious and in doubt America's security requires shifting eastward for it defense And requiring old partners to do more than live in pretense
These points made are not the abandonment of solidarity But a cry into the winds of change and of truest clarity The spiritual bond has frayed into quiet hostility Mutual interest and shared assumption are needed for civility
(c) April 19, 2025 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
Looking back on all the miles I've driven Over lands other believed they were given I find a lot is needed to be forgiven Were it not for being too busy living
I remember coming to Indiana at my ex's request Feeling as though it was maybe some sort of test I learned that it was once Indian territory Finding few around made me curious of the story
After all, there was a hint or two in my lineage That made me proud of this part of my heritage Curious to learn I thought I'd look and photograph I found as many tears as paradoxical reasons to laugh
One of my idols, Thomas Jefferson sought expansion Looking out on the horizon from his Monticello mansion He thought it was honorable to wipe a people out From my 21st century perspective, I have my doubts
At Prophetstown, I learned of Tenskwatawa's decision To a attempt a protective circle united in his vision It was a last stand for unity and cultural revival At stake was the essence of Native American survival
Trail of Tears, Trail of death A native people scream to their last breath Fighting for their way of life against fracture For harmony and against brutal erasure
The betrayal of broken promises led to dispossession As acre by forced acre, native land faced aggression Called callous savages by those seeking their portrayal To be one of honor instead of stark naked betrayal
Despair played its savage hand with brutality's assistance A flood wave of 'civilization' stole despite resistance Sacred rivers, forests, and prairies were desecrated By civilized, troubled brothers who wished to be segregated
There would be no attempt at sharing this magnificent land As long as there were flint locks and armies to command Unlike the wider trail blazed by the oppressed Cherokee The Trail of Death was through wetlands for the Potawatomi
Despite many attempts to silence the outcry of oral history As treaties were broken and people crushed in living memory Time traveled on and Pow Wows taught me of my people's resilience As they struggle in sacred defiance for our renaissance
The drumbeats faded in the distance as the dying cried out But quiet adaptation is the way of the warrior without doubt And in this modern day, ghostly children remind of broken circles A disrupted community revives and is reborn in our sacred cycle
(c) March 17, 2025 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
“Religion, in its purity, is not so much a pursuit as a temper; or rather it is a temper, leading to the pursuit of all that is high and holy. Its foundation is faith; its action, works; its temper, holiness; its aim, obedience to God in improvement of self, and benevolence to men.” – Jonathan Edwards
Chronicling the rise of American exceptionalism Rides on the back of rugged individualism A laissez-faire approach, not excessive regulation Freedom and ingenuity are what built this nation
Yet others claim that Hamilton inspired activism Has been the leading spur of financial optimism I would make the case that it's only in the haze Looking back, we sloppily forget the passing days
By doing this, we lose our way, becoming sentimental And forget that, for the most part, tariffs are detrimental America's takeoff began in the 1840s as tariffs went down Consumers could buy more when the free market wore the crown
The argument for high tariffs is pure Keynesian at best Such interventionism has often failed history's test This isn't just a matter of half-baked ideology The evidence rests on the chronology of financial history
Practical wisdom empirically evidences the foundation That built the spectacular greatness of our nation Obama's ignorant claims that the government built this Is nothing but folly that the lemmings assuredly miss
Flying over the cliff, we find too much for too little value Wall Street finds that manufacturing tends to devalue The easy money of speculation is hard and fast, not concrete Perhaps a little or a lot of both is needed to be complete
It's not an either/or proposition where either prevails And the example of Japan proves the monumental fail To the contrary, when China allowed private property For that period, the economy became financial history
It seems that each of these work hand in hand And it doesn't seem hard or problematic to understand That the push and pull of government and private society Are a combination that must be worked for our prosperity
(c) April 16, 2025 Michael Doyle All Rights Reserved
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 