By Sam Burnham
​@C_SamBurnham

​Going back too our earlier topic of the small Southern towns:

It struck me the other day as I was a passenger sitting in traffic and looking at the meaningless blobs of crime against aesthetics that line the sides of that particular road as I looked at that five lane river of cars in this small town, I thought about all those rat racers and realized that this is a daily ritual. It gave me that same empty feeling in my gut that I get on those occasions I am sitting in traffic on 75 in Cobb looking at that crazy skyway thing they are building.

And I asked myself the same question the Cobb phenomenon begs of me: "What are we doing to Georgia?"

We're packing ourselves into fewer larger towns because we can get better jobs, make more money, live in more comfortable houses, and have more plentiful entertainment options. In exchange we sit in traffic, work jobs that may or may not fulfill us, and vacate a thousand quaint towns that could offer us community, a fulfilling life, and the kind of homes our forebears provided for us, our parents, and grandparents.

If we aren't rats, what in Sam Hill are we doing in a rat race? More importantly, is our culture, along with all those stories we claim inspire nostalgia for better times in us all, decaying along with those small towns? Are we selling our birthright for a bill of goods?

Go listen to Jerry Reed sing "Lord, Mr. Ford" while you think about it.

By Sam Burnham

There is so much unpleasantness in the back and forth political rhetoric. It is hard to determine who is and is not on our side. In such an age it is important for us to stay grounded in our principles and know who we are. If we understand who we are, it gets easier to recognize our interests in the rhetoric.


When I look at this fight, I see no dog of mine. I see Republicans fighting for power. I see Democrats fighting for power. But the Constitution says that power belongs to me. I don't see either party fighting to empower states, communities, or the populace. I just see fighting.


There is no end in sight for the fighting. I don't recommend that we withdraw from the discussion. On the contrary, we need a dog in the fight. We need people who are like us. And we need. To recognize when someone is on our side, not just in rhetoric, but in action. And when we do have a dog in the fight, we must support it.


But before we recognize that dog, we have to know who we are. Search yourself, find your principles, know how to recognize the in others. Then and only then can we hold our government responsible for defending our principles.

By Sam Burnham
@C_SamBurnham

​It is Georgia Day! Happy 284th birthday to the Peach State!

On this date in 1733, James Oglethorpe and 114 colonists landed at Yamacraw Bluff (modern day River Street in Savannah) and officially established the colony that had been granted a charter by King George II the previous year. The colony of Georgia waste tout to be different than its predecessors. It was to be a colony that offered a new start to persecuted and indebted people. The colony did not permit slavery and did not issue large tracts of property. It was intended to be a home more for smaller operations,more of what we would describe as a middle class society.

Other Southern colonies had been dedicated to establishing a gentry of large landowners who used slavelabor to produce resources en masse. Georgia was planned to be different.