DEFIANCE
by Adam J. Kovitz
My wife and I share a fond appreciation of history and encourage it with our children as its study teaches us so many things about perspective and the human condition.
I've been thinking recently about acts of defiance in history and how such brave and revolutionary tactics helped to change the status quo within their respective societies at the time.
When most people think of the term "defiance", they might envision an action hero-type character with "guns a blazin'", loud explosions or other violent means, but I am more intrigued by the less obvious means of defiance.
I look at the United States around the turn of the last century. After over 100 years of trying to establish itself as a viable nation by the original English, French and Dutch settlers, the U.S. was poised to become a world power. At the same time and for varied reasons, a new type of settler would come to the U.S. to establish themselves...folks from Ireland, Italy and Jews from Eastern Europe.
Whereas the "old guard" - descendants of the "original" settlers ("native Americans", sadly, didn't count at the time) were resentful of this influx of people with different ways and customs who now wanted to capitalize on years of hard work, they began to develop establishments and clubs setting them apart from other "common rabble".
These new immigrants worked hard to integrate into society, learn the customs of their new home while still preserving their traditions from the "old country" and set up their own clubs. In time, these would become as prestigious and respectable as their old guard counterparts. This was a quiet defiance, but one that gave birth to burgeoning garment and entertainment industries as new entrepreneurs were born.
Another example of such defiance is in the inspiration of such historical figures as Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr., who showed us that overcoming the forces of ignorance, arrogance and abuse of power can be met just as powerfully through passive resistance. The results of such defiance led to the birth of a nation (India, and subsequently, Pakistan) and the beginning of equal rights amongst races.
As I continue to post my own thoughts, read the articles of some of our authors in The National Networker Newsletter and other respectable sources through our National Newspicker widget, I can help but notice the following trends:
- Our economic system continues to malfunction despite attempts to fix it
- Our political system continues to malfunction despite attempts to fix it
- Our healthcare system continues to malfunction despite attempts to fix it
- Our environmental system continues to malfunction despite attempts to fix it
At TNNWC, we may not have all the answers to such questions and we certainly acknowledge the growing scarcity of capital, jobs and other resources, but as a business-to-business publication, here's what you can count on from us:
- We will continue to serve the emerging enterprise community as we believe that entrepreneurs are the life blood of any successful economy
- We will continue to build a community of such entrepreneurs on a global level
- We will continue to leverage our growing community for the benefit of all of our members
- We will continue to develop products and services that will benefit our members
- We will continue to develop the means by which the members of our growing community will have opportunities to become owners and share in its success
- We will continue to question and at times, challenge the status quo if it does not serve our members' needs.
All my best,
The National Networker Companies
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