Summary: Reform of America’s political system seems impossible. To fight despair we can gain inspiration by looking at our national animal, the Bald Eagle. Like America, they are majestic yet had fallen to near extinction — yet with determined effort we brought them back to thrive across the continental USA (49 States). The Federal government listed them as “endangered” in 1967, and reduced their risk level to “threatened” in 2007. Together we can do the same for the Republic.
Trivia note: the old English word “balde” means white, referring to white feathers on the eagle’s head.
He’s wet, cold, and angry at us.
Either we act stronger or we should get a new national animal.
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How were they brought back? Through hard work and prudent government action: prohibition on use of DDT, restrictions on hunting, regulation of water pollution, captive breeding programs, protection of nesting sites, nd other programs. A people working together can accomplish amazing things.
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For More Information.
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Status report by the Center for Population Diversity (8 August 2007); the Bald Eagle’s population exceeds 11,000 breeding pairs. It shows the graph of the long-term trend in your State. Also see the fact sheets about the Bald Eagle by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
See all posts about Reforming America: steps to political change.
Other posts about sources of inspiration:
- A great artist died today. We can gain inspiration from his words.
- Why the Turkey is not our national bird, and a reminder that America belongs to us.
- Forgotten what political reform looks like? See this reminder by Taylor Swift.
- See all posts about inspiration.
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Watch and learn.
We can learn much about citizenship by watching them.
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Are there any left?
I thought the Watermelons’ preoccupation with the criminally insane wind turbines and solar panels had practically finished them off, along with condors, golden eagles and bats.
Cat,
Is this spam? I don’t understand it as having content.
There are coo-coos left,obviously…
New national animal, obviously.
I would recommend the tapeworm. It’s spineless, parasitic, helpless, yet deadly to those it ecnounters — thus as excellent fit for your average Americano in 2014.
Thomas,
You desire to surrender, abandoning our past and future, is interesting but sad. People have the ability to rise above what they are. To ignore that is to ignore what is more interesting in humanity. Substituting cheap cynicism for wisdom.
I always found it strange that many countries choose national animals which are not found in their domain. Or do those countries include (former) colonies as part of their domain?
For example many countries have the lion as their national animal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_animals
But then there are also many countries with mythical national animals like dragons or mythical birds, usually resembling an eagle. Interestingly the official national animal of Scotland is a unicorn.
So in the end what does it matter what happens to the actual animal population of some national animal? Of course from an ecological perspective it matters.
However from the perspective of national identity it should not have to matter one bit.
***It only matters if you choose to let it matter.***
Just think about the countries with zero national animals in their domain, except in zoos. Or countries with mythical animals.
Also I was under the impression that the eagle was chosen because it resembled the nation animal of the Romans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_eagle#National_bird_of_the_United_States
Would the founders have chosen the eagle even if there would be no eagles native to the U.S.A.? Looking at the choices of other nations it would seem plausible.
My point is that it is not necessary to symbolically link future aspirations to worldly factors as some form of good luck charm, which has the risk of becoming a bad luck omen.
Of course sometimes some parts of nature mirror some of our human conditions and we can learn from it. And if it is done with this intention, like I assume FM is doing here, there is no harm in it.
Saif,
Thank you for the info on national animals! I learned a lot from that.
The eagle was chosen by the Founders — over the dove and turkey — for its ability to inspire us, rather than as a symbol of who were are (an identity badge). The Founders saw experiment against the odds, and were uncertain if we could maintain it.
Franklin was asked “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?” He replied “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Inspiration is a vital tool to help us keep it.