I figured this covered some interests of my fellow bloggers.
Manliness and bacon are 2 things Breda and Brigid, and a whole buncha us, kinda likes, if I'm not mistaken. I think the only thing missing is beer. (Well, I'm not saying that I like Manliness the exact same way as Breda or Brigid...)
This is what touched me the most:
“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give.” -Thomas Jefferson
Well TJ, I GOT that. I'm wealthy enough to have the cottage, bacon, and books, and I choose which friends to spend time with, with few outside demands on my time. It's not that bad, Tommy. Not at all.
It might make a body a touch complacent at times, but so would needing to work 12 hours a day to get the crop in and the cows milked. At least complacent on what happens apart from your immediate vicinity.
Reading accounts of rations in the US War of Rebellion, the Confederates were reduced to "parched corn and fat back" during lean times, and this was considered a bad thing. Bacon and cornbread to eat? That couldn't have been an issue. Maybe they just didn't have ENOUGH? More likely.
Gun Content? Near zero. Reference to a war... the survival value of cured pig meat and cornmeal... self-reliant manliness... Forgive me, I was out late after work.
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Ooo, another bit of trivia about Tho. Jefferson? His second vice president was George Clinton.
Of course, though I heartily agree with Mr. Jefferson's sentiments, he wasn't actually stuck in a Log Cabin in Appalachia to live such a lifestyle for most of his life. Realistically, from the end of the Revolution onward, he was a member of the Political Elite Class, and could afford to make such statements. Even though he was in Debt for most of Adult life, there was never any fear of his being Foreclosed upon and sent to the Poorhouse. But I'm glad we had him as a Founder, and Pissed that the Modern Demi-Commie Party claims him as one of their Role Models.
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