In a message dated 97-11-18 14:33:28 EST, a ham wrote the following to me:
<< I think things are pretty damn good. That's despite the bashing we are
getting from certain politicians for not being "Politically Correct" these
days. If you want to leave, my XYL and I will stick around and look after the
place for you >>
Nope....I ain't saying that!
I cannot imagine being anything other than the proud American citizen I
am...ever.
I am 42 years old and I feel that what I have seen happen during the course
of my lifetime is not all positive....advances in technology are incredible -
want a laugh, several years ago my youngest daughter was baffled when her Mom
said - "yeah I used to like the soap-operas on TV but I lost track of them
while you kids were growing up, I was just to busy with the five of
you"....she asked her Mom, "why didn't you just tape them and watch them when
we went to bed, then?" A lot of things we take for granted these days were
"from the future" not so long ago!
It seems that lately we are so busy trying not to offend anyone, and so busy
trying not to "hurt" our kids by giving them bad grades that the standards of
excellence that competition brings out are on the way out....everybody seems
quite content with our being a nation of average people....and that is a BIG
problem!
The great discoveries of the world are made by the hard workers, the
scientists / inventors etc. who are driven to go a little further...had they
been students who were never pushed a little bit while in school - like I did
NOT see my kids are pushed, nope no homework again and a B or an A in class
(it wasn't that way when I was a kid :-)) - those un-challenged students
probably wouldn't have ever became the scientists/inventors....contesters?
I welcome you to what I firmly believe is THE best country on the Earth, but
I don't think we will continue to be so great if we stay on the course we are
on. Making everybody fit in somewhere is so damned important these days that
the sight has been lost of true goals....in contesting, everybody has to have
their own category to be happy - THIS IS WRONG!
You can take this kind of attitude to the extreme, a famous ham (my father)
once said many years ago in jest that he needed a seperate category to
compete in because he had a noisy volume control pot on his receiver....that
said it all 25 or 30 years ago and it says it all today!
Competition is a good thing, it pushes us - if you do not think this is true
how do you explain our universal love of the Olympic Games? Contesting is
competition and competition can bring out the best in everyone...when you
push yourself you can be very proud at what you have achieved...when you
operate a contest for a few hours and then decide you would rather watch TV,
don't tell me you are a contester!
I have enjoyed success to a mild degree in contesting because I have put
effort into having a bigger signal, not by buying a commercial broadcast
linear - but by spending time on a tower twisting wrenches, straining usually
unused muscles, and by reading and digesting everything I can about
contesting, learning what others have used successfully and implementing
their ideas...I compete to satisfy myself...to feel good at the end of the
contest about having pushed myself, seeing a big QSO total which is not just
the result of sitting in front of a radio for the alloted time....but by
intelligently (sometimes, not!) selecting bands at the right times of day
which allow me to maximize my potential score....it is hard work, and hard
work and competition can be very satisfying.
This a human theme, mediocrity has been proven to be a losing strategy - look
at the fall of communism - where everyone is supposed to be equal, didn't
work!
The point I am trying to make, other than proving I do not have spell check
on my e-mail software, is that contesting IS a version of America...and
America and Contesting both work best when there is competition for
excellence....not when we are content with mediocrity.
Loud and Proud!
K4OJ
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