“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of
the past.”
This quote, written by Thomas Jefferson to John Adams in the
summer of 1816, defines what I like most about Jefferson’s goal, reflected
through his gardening—thinking of what is best for the future of his
country. I thought it was
interesting that Jefferson spent so much time “observing, experimenting, and
recording” his work. The book
noted that the foundational motivation for Jefferson’s work was to find the
best varieties of sustainable horticulture that were practical and applicable
to the area’s culture and climate.
It’s obvious that he had the best interests of the United States in mind
as he maintained his garden.
Jefferson described his work best when he said, “One service of this
kind rendered to a nation is worth more to them than all the victories of the
most splendid pages of their history.”
I believe Americans today could learn a lot from Jefferson’s
perspective. Often, we make
decisions that we know will benefit us either in the present or immediate
future, and we often discredit or completely ignore the possible long term
consequences that our country and its people could face due to our course of
action. I don’t believe this done
with malicious intent; rather, we have grown accustomed to a society that
demands a quick fix and easy solutions.
When thinking about the differences in Jefferson’s attitude
and our country’s today, I immediately think of the financial decisions at both
individual and group levels. On an
individual level, it seems that a vast majority of Americans struggle with
making financial decisions that will benefit themselves or their families in
the long term. We often confuse
our wants with our needs, and think that the satisfaction found in immediate
gratification far outweighs the satisfaction founds in decisions that give us a
stable, dependable future—even if it requires a sacrifice today.
In a more general and applicable sense, it seems that our
country’s leaders often don’t understand the value in thinking of the future
when making decisions today. I’m
not trying to make a political statement or say that one political party is
more right than the other—there are certainly aspects of every decision that I
am not aware of and do not fully comprehend. But, I sometimes fear that many of our decisions depend on the
ever-changing public opinion of the day and do not consider its long-term
affects.
Our Founding Fathers seemed to be extremely gifted at
maintaining this wise perspective. Maybe our status as a “fledging nation”
required each decision to be carefully weighed in terms of our future as a
united people, but it seems that each decision was made out of a dutiful sense
of right and wrong for our country, and not off of public opinion polls that
sway with the times.
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