a culture needs its myths<\/a>.\u00a0 In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the center of the American Myth was New York City.\u00a0 The rich and powerful built a modern-day Rome.\u00a0 Monumental buildings and cultural centers were built and artefacts and art works were collected from around the world.\u00a0 Even an enormous garden called Central Park was built in the center of the island, the most expensive real estate in the world, to provide an oasis from the concrete jungle that was built to house the business hub of a modern empire.<\/p>\nAnd from my point of view, the crown jewel was the American Museum of Natural History.\u00a0 The Museum was essentially free to residents of New York City.\u00a0 You were allowed to pay any amount you wanted for admission even a penny.\u00a0 Out in front was a larger-than-life sculpture of Teddy Roosevelt on a horse with African and Indian bearers escorting him on one of his expeditions.\u00a0 And inside was assembled a spectacular collection of natural history specimens that would fuel the imagination of anyone with a speck of imagination or curiosity.<\/p>\n
There were magnificent dinosaur skeletons.\u00a0 Specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus, Brontosaurus (now renamed Apatosaurus to satisfy the boring needs of pedagogy), Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Duck-billed dinosaurs called Edmontosaurus annectens are on display in spacious halls that allow the spectators to walk around these marvels.\u00a0 In addition to the dinosaurs there are skeletons of wooly mammoths, mastodons, wooly rhinoceros, giant ground sloths and other prehistoric mammals.\u00a0 There are also halls filled with the preserved bodies of mammals and birds from Africa, Asia and the Americas displayed in dioramas that used painted backgrounds and other materials like native vegetation to simulate the animals in their native habitat.\u00a0 Scenes of lions, rhinos, tigers and elephants provide remarkable vistas.\u00a0 Other halls include collections of gemstones, artefacts of aboriginal peoples from six continents and even a life size model of a blue whale are on display.<\/p>\n
The museum with its heroic statue of Roosevelt is itself an artefact of a civilization at its peak of wealth, strength and confidence.\u00a0 Everything fits into the myth of American, and by extension, Western civilization expanding and illuminating the world.\u00a0 We gathered these specimens from the four corners of the Earth and we had studied and determined their meaning.\u00a0 We were the masters of the planet and we were confidently stepping into the future.\u00a0 There was even a planetarium that would teach our children of their place in the universe and our eventual explorations beyond Earth.<\/p>\n
So, in 2021 the statue of Teddy Roosevelt was removed from the entrance of the museum.\u00a0 Soon I\u2019m sure that roving bands of BLM rioters will loot the museum and sell the dinosaur bones to crack cocaine dealers as trophy crack pipes.\u00a0 Our myth about Teddy Roosevelt as the great white hunter is no different than Rome\u2019s Julius Caesar and the Huns\u2019 Atilla.\u00a0 Not everything in the myth is true but the myth fits the needs of a people.\u00a0 When you give up your myths it means you\u2019ve given up on your reason to live as a people.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019re seeing.<\/p>\n
Maybe I should bring my grandson to see the Beijing Museum of Natural History\u2019s dinosaur collection.\u00a0 It would probably be safer and less depressing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have a young grandson who is fascinated by dinosaurs.\u00a0 I told him that if the rioting in New York City subsides I\u2019d like to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,818],"tags":[1614,2514,2616,753],"class_list":["post-15724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-ocf","tag-american-museum-of-natural-history","tag-black-rioting","tag-blm","tag-theodore-roosevelt"],"yoast_head":"\n
Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have a young grandson who is fascinated by dinosaurs.\u00a0 I told him that if the rioting in New York City subsides I\u2019d like to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orion's Cold Fire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orionscoldfire\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"photog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"photog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\"},\"headline\":\"Of Dinosaurs and Decline\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\"},\"wordCount\":607,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"American Museum of Natural History\",\"black rioting\",\"BLM\",\"Theodore Roosevelt\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Current Events\",\"OCF\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\",\"name\":\"Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Of Dinosaurs and Decline\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"description\":\"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg\",\"width\":4022,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Orion's Cold Fire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3\",\"name\":\"photog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg\",\"caption\":\"photog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire","og_description":"I have a young grandson who is fascinated by dinosaurs.\u00a0 I told him that if the rioting in New York City subsides I\u2019d like to","og_url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/","og_site_name":"Orion's Cold Fire","article_published_time":"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00","author":"photog","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_site":"@orionscoldfire","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"photog","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/"},"author":{"name":"photog","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3"},"headline":"Of Dinosaurs and Decline","datePublished":"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/"},"wordCount":607,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["American Museum of Natural History","black rioting","BLM","Theodore Roosevelt"],"articleSection":["Current Events","OCF"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/","name":"Of Dinosaurs and Decline - Orion's Cold Fire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-08-26T17:05:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/26\/of-dinosaurs-and-decline\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Of Dinosaurs and Decline"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","description":"All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#organization","name":"Orion's Cold Fire","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSC06141.jpg","width":4022,"height":1419,"caption":"Orion's Cold Fire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/orionscoldfire"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d11e80f83f3825ce9fe38a5303eb64d3","name":"photog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/photog-image.jpg","caption":"photog"},"url":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/author\/photog\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15725,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15724\/revisions\/15725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}