Light Reading

assigned on their high school reading list. It's even worse when the person giving the orders has no intention of participating themselves. For example, the Vietnam War draft of the nineteen sixties and seventies instilled resentment toward the war effort in those being called to serve. They hadn't fallen tiered. They had been pulled into something they never wanted to be part of. Those who have voluntarily enlisted in the military understand that they may be sent anywhere in the

world as part of their service. Soldiers have an oath to defend their country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, but the lawmakers voting to enter such conflicts aren't going to see the front lines. They'll be safe and warm in their own beds at night while the men and women of the military carry out their demands. In the years before the United States entered World War One, a petition was circulated by the people of Nebraska to amend

the Constitution. They've were tired of seeing their sons sent off to fight and die by a Congress with too much power and no awareness of the opinions of their constituents. The amendments would have done two things. First, it would have required a national vote by the American people to declare war on another country. And second, anyone who had voted yes would have been required to enlist to fight. The petition didn't get very far, but the idea also

didn't immediately die out. It circulated for two decades as one World war ended and another one loomed on the horizon, and then in nineteen thirty five, Indiana Representative Louis Ludlow took a closer look like the people of Nebraska. He also thought the lives of the country soldiers were too

important to leave up to Washington bureaucrats. Ludlow was one of many people who believed a sensationalist media apparatus and greedy corporations had influenced his colleagues into entering the previous major conflict. The people who suffered at the hands of such greed everyday citizens and their families, and something had to change, so Ludlow moved ahead with his plan. He proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would have required a majority vote by the American public to authorize a

declaration of war. Today, it's looked back on as one of the worst policies ever put forth by a sitting congressman, but at the time it was lauded by seven five percent of the country. Those who supported it believed keeping America out of international conflicts would isolate them from violence. President Franklin Roosevelt, though, had no interest in cutting the United States off from its duty to protect vulnerable foreign allies.

To leave war up to a national vote would have not only rendered future presidents powerless, but it also invited harm from hostile countries who didn't believe that they faced retribution. By eight the amendment still saw backing from sixty percent of the U. S population. Unfortunately, the longer World War two dragged on, the more people began to drop their support for the policy. Several high ranking senators came out

against it as well. One equated it with holding a town meeting before a fire department was allowed to put out a fire. The amendment was voted on my Congress in eight but despite its bipartisan support, they couldn't achieve the two thirds majority to pass it. Nearly four years later, to hand bombed Pearl Harbor, officially kicking off the United States entry into World War Two. After such a horrific event, the country as a whole united behind a common goal,

and support for the Ludlow Amendment evaporated almost overnight. In fact, Congress and the rest of the country moved in the complete opposite direction when it came to authorizing the president's use of force against foreign enemies. All of a sudden, they were all for it. Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying, a vote is like a rifle. Its usefulness depends on the character of the user. The sentiment at the time was that Ludlow had overestimated the characters of American voters,

But we'll never know for sure. The members of Congress who voted against it, well, they took aim and fired. It seems they thought democracy was too important to leave in the hands of the American people. M Marriage changes people. For most it makes them more empathetic to the needs of another person. Of course, not all fair so well, turning inward and harboring resentment as their needs go unmet.

Georgie went in a different direction though. Born in Hampshire, England, in two she got an early look at one marriage's downfall when her own parents split up a few years after she was born. Georgie's mother, now separated from her alcoholic father, had to find a way to provide for the two of them. At a time when women with children did not often strike out on their own, Georgie and her mother didn't stay in one place for too

long and lived with family whenever they could. As she got older, Georgie started delving into the arts, taking a keen interest in literature. Her friend Dorothy Shakespeare came from an artistic family, but sadly no relation to that other Shakespeare guy, and Dorothy's mother, Olivia, was an accomplished novelist who held open salons where she would entertain up and coming artists at the time. One such person who ran

in their circles was a man named William. He like Olivia, was a writer, and he took a liking to Georgie right away. Though their romance was unorthodox, after all, he was twenty seven years older than her, Georgie's mother had no qualms about their union. They married seven years later in nineteen seventeen, when Georgie was twenty five and William was fifty two. It wasn't the happiest of ceremonies, though their marriage had gotten off to a rocky start, as

Williams still harbored feelings for two other women. So on their honeymoon, Georgie, who now just went by George at her husband's request, tried to smooth things out. She wanted to reassure him that he had made the right choice, and asked for assistance from a third party, not a therapist or a counselor, though, but a literal outside force. She sat at a desk with a pen and a blank sheet of paper in front of her and let her paranormal companion do the rest. George's hands flew across

the page, writing words she had no control over. When she regaled a friend with the story of her experience, she claimed that her hand had been seized by a superior power. When it was over, the message was clear William had made the right decision in marrying George. Her automatic writing sessions only grew more frequent from that point on, and William recorded his observations of each one. He cataloged

her illegible scribblings over the course of three years. The sessions ran for hours, several times a week, and not only did they convince him to forget about the women from his past, but they also somehow managed to get him to eat healthier too. Over the years, George generated thousands of pages of automatic writing, which had turned William's fascination with the occult into an obsession, and he channeled that passion into a book of his own titled A Vision.

It discussed such topic says, the soul, fate, and the intersection of morality and the divine. In it, he described multiple dimensions shaped like funnels in the varying effects of the phases of the moon, all of which had been fueled by his wife's hard work, and like most men of his era, William made sure that he got all the credit. He published the first edition of A Vision in nineteen before following it up twelve years later with

a revised version. But although Georgia's automatic writings were used verbatim throughout the book, William only ever listed himself as the author. It was unsurprising, as William had already made quite a name for himself with his own work, much of which had been inspired by his wife's efforts. You see, William was a poet, and he poured quite a bit of himself into his work. His love, his heartbreak, and his beliefs all found their way into such pieces as

Leda and the Swan and Sailing to Byzantium. William Butler Yates changed the face of literature in the early twenty century. But he couldn't have done any of it without the help of his wife, George. And although he never gave her the credit she rightly deserved, he loved her. To Georgie, William was her brilliant husband, and to him, she was a vision. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of

the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff works. I make another award winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television show and you can learn all about it over at the world of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.