…..he, unlike the overwhelming majority of his brethren, instinctively understood there are causes bigger than life itself, and that those causes transcend the importance of valiantly fighting to preserve the existence of just one puny individual on Earth’s forever surface. And I’m not referring exclusively to blind nationalism here either and irrationally defending some piece of ageless land against perceived invaders at the cost of one’s own life when the transience of life itself is so frighteningly short and therefore disproportionately valuable relative to dubious “national” crusades. No, I’m referring instead to lofty, ethereal causes which have nothing whatsoever to do with material ownership of anything, let alone outlandish claims of “ownership” over something as permanent and preternatural as cosmic dust temporarily masquerading as Earth’s soil. These causes I speak of are grounded in figurative bedrock considerably more powerful than mere oxygen and topsoil, namely human exceptionalism and nobility and allegiance …..
Fred's Soapbox 