For my own anger management, the travel I’ve done around America so far in 2021 has been very redeeming; I’d recommend it to anybody who has found themselves stressed out over the election of 2020 to put things in perspective. My travel certainly did it for me, especially after spending one of my travel days at Mt. Rushmore and Deadwood on the same day. All of my kids have been significantly harmed by Covid. I have personally been hurt by it, just as everyone has. I took Covid very personally. The government was anti-Constitutional, and I see nothing in life that is worth violating those laws. Then when you add the election fraud and the reality of having the most progressive administration in the history of America inserted in our government, ruining all our lives even further, I was either ready to blow up and become the character from the movie, Falling Down. Or I was going to figure out something that has eluded civilization so far and bring back the boons of it for the benefit of all. So I picked the latter and hit the road with my entire family in our RV, and we had a marvelous time discovering America and seeing many things that I had only read about. To say that any of the places were my favorite places would be disingenuous. Everything was wonderful. But I found at Mt. Rushmore an itch I had been trying to scratch for years, and I can only tell you that it eased my mind considerably. A combination of that travel day, reading all the books I bought along the way, and reading them nightly at our campsites in my favorite chair set up next to my portable traveling office gave me a fresh perspective that I did not think possible. But it was possible, and I would like to share the results with others out there, such as you, dear reader who might find comfort in those results.
After our last trip to Europe, my wife and I decided that we didn’t want to visit overseas anywhere again until we saw almost everything in our own country. It took us a few years to build up to it, but we bought an RV and committed ourselves to the task. At the time, we didn’t know the world would be turned upside down, but that it did only elevated the urgency to travel more. After the massive letdown of our government with Covid and the obvious disappointment on Election Day 2020, where people went to bed thinking Trump won, then waking up seeing that Biden had, we accelerated our plans. We hit the road so I could think things through. I needed to go out into the deserts of our country away from everyone and think. To stop by gas stations and not use their dirty bathrooms, but those in our RV. To get our drinks out of the refrigerator and climb off the grid for a while. Also, to read lots of books without hotel staff bothering me or even bothering to go out to dinner. I wanted everything to be with me and to have my home with me at all times, even as the scenery outside that home changed by the hour. I think a culmination of all those elements made Mt. Rushmore much more potent for me.
As we visited Mt. Rushmore, I was thinking of the British Museum in London, and the Louvre in Paris, even some of the temples and monuments I had visited in Japan and I have to say, it was my favorite place of all, so far in my life. I’ve been to many exotic locations worldwide, even most exquisitely, the temples and pyramids of the Mayan culture, and Mt. Rushmore was the best. It far exceeded my expectations. It was not because of the fine stonework and the viewing platforms they had erected but because the entire place was dedicated to intelligence and philosophy. It was the perfect place for me at the ideal time for my thoughts, and I came away with some authentically fresh perspective. It was that itch I had always been trying to scratch, and I felt a tremendous amount of relief after visiting there. At that same time as I was at that monument, my publisher was putting the final touches of my Gunfighter’s Guide to Business out for my last review, which I had been structuring as a strategy guide for making businesses successful, but countries as well. So, I was in the perfect place, and this is a feeling that will stay with me for a long time.
We often take it for granted that our country can handle anything. We’ve allowed our people to become corrupt, sexually obsessed, drug-influenced, and, through our public education system, turned into absolute idiots. We weren’t born that way, but we have allowed many jealous outside influences to harm our intellects as a country, and we have now seen the result. We have seen the attacks on our culture culminate into the mass calamity of our times. But still, I saw in people during that trip, all day there at Mt. Rushmore, then up in Deadwood, Americans are so resilient. Even with all the devastation, these were not conquered people. The system of American freedom had proven that even with all the pitfalls we have experienced, our nation could withstand it all. But to indeed have a great country, we needed places of intelligence to raise our intellects to where a great country should expect to be. If we wanted to save America from the attackers worldwide who wanted to bring it down, many of who are now acting as domestic enemies, we would have to get smarter as a culture.
As usual for me, books and time to read them helped my anxieties tremendously, and they would do the same for you. For anybody. And to truly save this country, that is the key to not just saving it but keeping it that way. Mt. Rushmore was built to remind people, such as in times like these, why we tried to create a country in the first place. It worked so well, we have taken it for granted, and many people have allowed themselves to be seduced by the antics of the world. They have been seduced by stupidity and told that it was a virtue. Well, stupidity is not a virtue. We were told that we should lower our defenses and allow insurgents to raid us through our schools, through our businesses, and corrupt our politics so that there would be no sign of a republic for which we could hope to stand. If we want to keep our country great, we must get more intelligent as a culture; we have to return to the times of readers like Lincoln and Roosevelt. Of Jefferson, who started the Library of Congress with his collection of books. America was built on philosophy and intelligence. It was a divorce from the stupidity of the world, not in adoration of it. And even in our own family, my wife and I have traveled the world only to realize that the best things were always around us. Yet we did not see those places because the world was saying that everything else was great. Well, I’ve been to those places, and nothing was better than Mt. Rushmore. And there has been no more satisfying experience than in reading the books I brought from there. If I seem content in my thoughts these days, it’s because of this minor boon, which I think has the power to change the world.
Rich Hoffman
The Gunfighter's Guide: 