The Meaning of Mount Rushmore

By Tim Voigt

In the early 20th century, dreamers would have the grand idea of making an American version of the Great Sphinx.  It would see artists and politicians collude and plan a unique American monument.  Known as Mt Rushmore, it would consist of four sculpted heads of American presidents who most shaped America.  It would take years and be championed by the great artist, Gutzon Borglum.  It would be built and go on to be an epic monument treasured by all America.  Here in this book we will explore the epic meaning of this fantastic monument.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tim Voigt
• Release date: Apr 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215325681

Book preview

To Gutzon Borglum for having the courage and skill to make Mt Rushmore real.

Epigraph:

Man's achievements do not last forever.  They are made for reasons like thrill, commemoration, science, or something.  They are there to celebrate Man, something great, and to remind Man that he is something in between large and small, God and nothing, and now and forever. -talk on history

'Thoughout history, Man has raised monuments to all manner of thing like kings, leaders, ideas, religious figures, scientists, and national pride.  He does this to commemorate something great, to make a mark, to celebrate himself as something great indeed.  Monuments are there to inspire, exalt, to promote art, and to celebrate the great.  If Man were not moved by this, there would be no monuments at all.' -talk on life

'A monument should be more than a face or an obelisk, it must mean something.  If not, why do people go to all the trouble to make these things?  Can't people turn their efforts to other things like surviving, agriculture, science, and other things?' -talk on art

Preface:  Monuments of Man

Throughout the ages, civilizations of Man would build epic monuments.

They could be anything like:

-grand statues -pyramids -ziggurats -amphitheatres -libraries -museums -temples to a religion -castles -palaces -megaliths -canals -dams -epic walls -stadiums -obelisks -stone circles -tombs -tunnels -roadways -lighthouses -political buildings -judicial buildings -clocktowers, and much more

These monuments were erected for reasons like thrill, commemoration, grandeur, or something else.  Usually they would take years to design, craft, and to commission a workforce to construct.  They would be dedicated by some celebrity or figure and go on to serve a function of some kind.  They would become the epic achievement of some civilization defining it, celebrating it, and making some sort of name in history.

Monuments have been famous in history.  The most famous arguably have been the historic seven wonders of the world.  They would be built in a time stretching from Ancient Egypt to Babylon to Greece to Rome.  These constructions would so amaze travelers, they would be cited as the most epic constructions of these ages.  Presently six of these wonders are now vanished, remembered in ruin and history alone, while another, the Great Pyramid of Giza alone stands as a shadowy ruin from this era of history.

Other epic monuments that would arise from these ages and for which are still existent in the world are the following:

-Great Wall of China -Parthenon -Delphi -Abu Simbel -Meroe -Stonehenge -Castlerigg -Teotihuacan -Tiahuanaco -Easter Island -Nan Madol -Avebury

-Karnak (Luxor) -Great Zimbabwe -Monte Verde -Colosseum -Vatican -Forbidden City -Bamiyan -Borobudur -Angkor -Newgrange, and others.

In the nation of Egypt there is the epic city of Alexander (named for Alexander the Great).  Here would be built an ancient institution known famously as the Library of Alexandria.  It was a center of learning, study, museums, and scrolls in the ancient world.  It would become the most famous center of learning in the ancient world, becoming something of a legend of an institution all its own.  Historically and tragically this institution would be burned and ravaged, being rebuilt on many occassions.  It would gain an infamous reputation for all its destructions.  Presently in modern Egypt, an initiative to resurrect this ancient glory has resulted in its epic reconstruction.  It now has gone down in history as one of the greatest all time monuments and institutions of Man ever.

As these ages fell to ruin, there would arise in its place an epic era known as the Modern Age.  It would have its beginnings in the voyages of Columbus and climax in the 20th and 21st centuries.  It would see epic civilizations and organizations arise and dominate the world like:

-The United States of America

-Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Norway, Denmark, and other European powers.

-British Commonwealth (an association of states from the former British Empire with Britain as its anchor and head nation)

-Russia (guises like Czarist Russia, the Soviet Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States)

-The European Union (an association of European states)

-The League of Nations (a forerunner to the United Nations)

-The United Nations (an international body of most world nations gathered to discuss and shape the world)

-China (guises like Imperial China, Communist China, and Taiwan)

-Japan

-African states and the African Union

-Islamic states and the Arab League

-Latin American nations like Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, etc.

-Pacific Ocean regional states like Kiribati, Nauru, Vanuatu, etc.

-India

-Southeast Asian states like Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos

-Indonesia

-Balkan states like Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, and many others.

-Turkey

-Greece

-Israel

-Native American tribal states (reservations) encased in larger national states

-Central Asian states like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, etc.

-Asian mountain states like Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, etc.

-Ethnic substates like Nunavut (Eskimo), Kurdistan, Aboriginal reservations, etc.

-Epical and world organizations like the following:

-Council of Europe -NATO -Warsaw Pact -ASEAN -OPEC -Arab League -Organization of American States -ANZUS -SEATO

-The Olympic Committee -International Red Cross -Interpol -Roman Catholic Church -G8 -FIFA -FIDE -CIS, and many others.

These civilizations would in turn erect monuments to add to Man's long history of such epical creations.  They would be built for reasons like national pride, science, art, music, religion, demonstration of power, commemorating some ideal, glorifying some man, and more.  Many of these monuments would go on to become epical creations of history known worldwide.  Famous monuments from this era of history would be:

-Eiffel Tower -Hoover Dam -Empire State Building -US Capitol -The White House -Parliament -Big Ben -the New Library of Alexandria -The Kremlin

-Three Gorges Dam -Sears Tower -Dubai buildings -Superdome -St. Louis Arch -Roosevelt Arch -Disneyland -Washington DC buildings -covered bridges

-epic stadiums -skyscrapers -Versaille Palace -Louvre Museum -Egyptian Museum -presidential palaces -soccer stadiums -museums -space age sites

-war memorials -epic battlesites -Statue of Liberty -Mount Rushmore -Crazy Horse -Lenin and Stalin statue -Berlin Wall, and much more.

Today the impulse to build epic creations continues.  It manifests in people driven by ideals, national pride, or something to want to make the incredible for posterity, history, for their nation, and for their egoes.  It would manifest in creations like epic statues, raising museums, and doing much more.

Raising a monument is a colossal feat.  It requires resources like a motivational figure, money, resources, idealism, and a consistent effort to see the project through to completion.  Often times, a monument needs a nation's backing or some form of financial support to make it.  Making a monument often takes years and consumes many people's lifetimes in order to achieve it.

Monuments do not last forever.  They get destroyed for reasons like war, religion, vandalism, weathering, quake, politics, or