I was born into a feudal society. That may sound strange, but it was true. Its not really surprising, since those who settled the area around Rogersville, TN came primarily from the British Isles. The governmental system was, of course, different, but the the SOCIETY that emerged was very much based on the one back home. We didnt have a King or Queen but we certainly had our Nobles: they were the old-money elite, who dwelled in the big houses on Main Street and pretty much controlled what went on in the town. If they wanted something to happen, it happened. If they didnt want something to happen, it was DOA. If a crime was committed against them or their property, it was rapidly punished; if one of their own strayed from the straight and narrow, it was apt to be ignored, for they controlled law enforcement and the court system, as well. They controlled the big churches in town, too, so the message that our town is good was routinely preached from the pulpit. We had our Merchant Class (some of whom were also Nobles) who owned the businesses that provided the basics of life and some luxuries. And we had the Serfs: those individuals, both black and white, without property, who provided the labor for the businesses and the farms that surrounded the town. That was the class into which I was born and where I would have been expected to stay. It was pretty much a closed caste system; the groups rarely intermarried and the society endured, unchanged, from Revolutionary times until about the time I was born. (Not that I had anything to do with changing things; I was just lucky enough to be born when I was.) Two things happened that spurred the changes from which I would benefit. First, there was World War II. The war got a sizable number of men (and a few women) up and out of the community and let them see that people did things differently elsewhere. It got many of the women out of the home and into the work force, where they not only discovered their own capabilities, but it also gave them an economic boost. After the War, many of the men also took advantage of their G.I Bill benefits to get a better education or start businesses of thir own or enter the professional class. With their new economic power, came the ability to influence society in a (slightly) different direction. The second major change, very much derived from the first, was that education improved. The schools got better and, for the first time, education became universal; the veil of ignorance was lifted, filling the children with knowledge and ambtitions undreamed of in the past. Democracy is a wonderful thing, when its allowed to work. Its a shame it took a war to make it so.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 11:35:39 +0000
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