
Long before BARNUM was
known for anything else he was known for being…
_ _ A
PATRIOT_ _
A man who did not shirk
his self imposed obligation to LIFE at a more intense and satisfying
level, LIBERTY in more liberal terms and THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS in
accordance with his own interpretation of what happiness consists of and
he counseled others to do the same.
Ever determined to
educate the public to a more open minded approach to things and ever
anxious to dismantle the organized structures of repression, he garnered
fully as many enemies as he did admirers inevitably inheriting the dire
consequences and fateful repercussions which are most often the legacy
of free thinkers and political activists who dare to go against the tide
of public opinion.
It has been said that
reasonable men accommodate themselves to the world in which they find
themselves where-as unreasonable men try to change the world to
accommodate themselves. Thus ALL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE BY UN-REASONABLE
MEN.
BARNUM was nothing if
not an unreasonable man. He defied convention, broke the rules and
sought THE ODD and THE UNUSUAL – THE UGLY as well as THE BEAUTIFUL.

THE ABNORMAL as well as THE PARANORMAL if only to highlight the
difference between them. But very often his willingness to celebrate all
of the peculiarities and disturbing aspects of the human form or psychic
dimensions of life on the planet provoked fear and suspicion and was met
with retaliation. He believed in the freedom of the individual to be
who, and what they were even if who and what they were was disturbing or
discomforting to others.
He defended a persons right to differentiate,
be it physically, psychologically, socially or in any other way a person
finds free expression. Not a popular concept during an era where in
conformity was considered a virtue and individuals were expected to mold
themselves to societies expectations. The proof of his ability to incur
the wrath of his political enemies and various adversaries was made
manifest by the many fires he survived through out his career as a
MUSEUM CURATOR and COLLECTOR OF THE ODD and THE UNUSUAL.
So many fires
in fact that he was literally burned out by arsonists the length and breadth
of Broadway. Vindictive incendiaries who sought to end BARNUM’S
Career, his political views, his diatribes against repression. But much
to the chagrin of those who attempted to stifle the cause of the
libertine upstart called BARNUM – he seemed always to rise like the
phoenix out of the ashes ever more outspoken and liberal than before.
BARNUM’S AMERICA meant FREEDOM and for him FREEDOM was more than just
a word. It was a way of life, which come hell or high water, he intended
to live by!



Nevertheless he
accepted his disasters and misfortunes with the typical good humor of
the prankster that he was, poking fun at and ridiculing his political
enemies for the presumption of their belief that they could put out his
fire with theirs. Like the Showman that he was and with the gift for
CON, MOXIE and CHUTSPAK for which he was famous BARNUM managed to market
his disasters and failures with the same gusto as his successes.
Barnum’s political views and what was then considered a sinful and
subversive approach to life served somehow to articulate the independent
declarations of a strange and forthcoming paradigm of reality which can
only be described as a - -
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