[VΩiD] SoKAftH
kiwifarms.net
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- 4 de Feb, 2026
The historic cultural impact of this monument is not contested. What is in question is the ongoing worth of this foreign gift to our American culture. In my humble opinion, it represents a 19th-century ideal, of passive liberty in an oppressive world. That is what made it true and attractive as an icon to represent such an imagined ideal as a free America. As things are, however, passive liberty is insufficient. Our culture is changing. Our government is as well. Our place in the world is only going to be challenged further as time goes on. We need something more representative of what makes us, the people of the United States, unique.
Europe as well is in a position requiring change. It is illiberal. It is not copying after the successful American way. It is half of what it could be, what it should be allowed to be: a free continent. The Statue of Liberty does nothing positive for America any more. It is a neutral icon. It is meek and uncontested. It represents outmoded ideals and nothing special. It is fully utilized historically: it is used up. On this continent, there is no more need for there to be such an icon. It should be gifted back to France to challenge them to copy. It should be a beacon of hope to peoples everywhere that the whole world can be brought together as one in freedom.
Mount Rushmore is similar. It is half as useful in memorializing American greatness as it could be. It bears the imprint of Theodore Roosevelt, in that it represents his era's esteem of its own time and history. As it stands, however, it is also outdated. Theodore Roosevelt is not the icon he used to be. People don't identify with him. People don't care about his place in American developments, abroad and domestic. This is an essential missing piece of modern America.
If we removed the Statue of Liberty to Europe, it would imprint a cultural artifact of the U.S. on that continent forever. If we replaced it with a colossus original to our own cultural development, it would double the value of the place in our national image. I recommend that Theodore Roosevelt be chosen to represent active American progress, and especially our liberal convictions, which are not merely passive, and whose strong assertion is a necessity for the world to be coerced to follow the right path.
Taking his place on Mt. Rushmore should be Franklin Roosevelt. The Mt. Rushmore monument is already a great icon, so it being further increased by featuring a more recent great statesman, and especially such a one as who firmly established the national foundation in excellence for the time to our present day, would only cement it.
If America is going to increase and expand its role as defender of the fundamental human freedoms of the world into the future, it needs imagery and icons that represent its most durable ethic. It cannot afford to wax old: it must continually reinvent itself to meet the age it finds itself participant in.
