LIV Golf, 4-H are Somerset County neighbors, but worlds apart | Deak

Somerset County residents have a choice this week whether to attend the 75th annual 4-H Fair in Bridgewater or the LIV Golf event at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.

It's an easy choice.

Though the venues may be only eight miles from each other, they are worlds apart.

The 4-H Fair is a celebration of the values and character that continue to make America great – volunteerism, hard work, unselfish cooperation, community support and the humble pursuit of personal goals.

Saudi-backed LIV Golf, financed by the Public Investment Fund, is an unapologetic celebration of values that tarnish and erode America's image – greed, elitism, vulgarity and intoxication with money.

4-H will remain true and faithful to the four words beginning with H that are its foundation and core values – Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

LIV Golf has its own core four words beginning with H – Hype, Hedonism, Hubris and Hypocrisy.

It's not surprising, with those core values, that the owner of Trump National feels at home in LIV Golf.

It may not be hyperbolic to suggest that the 4-H Fair and LIV Golf are representative of the continuing struggle for America's soul that is polarizing the political and cultural debate dominating our national dialogue.

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A blue ribbon at the 4-H Fair for raising the best dairy cow in Somerset County is worth more than any of the obscene amounts of money handed out at LIV. Even those who finish last at LIV tournaments get more than $100,000. It's welfare for those who already have made millions.

There is no admission fee to the Somerset County fair. There are no rides, no fortune tellers or barkers' games of chance that reach into your wallet. LIV's motto is "Golf, But Louder." The 4-H Fair's motto could be "Fun, But Quieter."The only money you spend at the fair is for the food, better than any mall court, served under the big tent by nonprofit organizations, For some of them, it's the biggest fundraiser of the year.

The 4-H Fair abhors the vulgar embrace of money as a measure of success, unlike those whose pernicious view of the world reduces life to a series of transactions that in the end are hollow.

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The 4-H represents the best of Somerset County and the long-standing values we cherish. The county has a reputation, earned over the centuries, for hard work, cooperation, community caring and modesty. Perhaps to our disadvantage, we do not shamelessly flaunt what a good place it is to live, work and raise children with a shared and firm set of enduring values.

Unlike LIV Golf, the 4-H Fair does not have the support of distant potentates eager to spend their wealth on trying to gain legitimacy and acceptance despite their corrupt regimes and questionable practices. They worship at a mendacious altar with a belief that everything, including the gates of happiness, has a barcode with a price – which is totally opposite from the 4-H's mission.

Despite the prevailing cultural and political winds, the 4-H clutches to its beliefs that teaching children – and reminding adults – that there are beliefs and values more important to the development of individual character and community than the naked pursuit of money and material gain. They learn that demonstrating the responsibility of raising cows and other animals is more satisfying than making a Bitcoin trade to afford a new Porsche.

4-H will continue to strive and thrive for the next 75 years because of its fundamental values. With its capitulation to the PGA Tour, LIV, despite whatever its flaks may say, is not likely to survive in its present form or any form. LIV has been a firework in the sports sky – a lot of noise when it was launched, bright when it reached apogee, but frizzling before returning back to Earth.

This may be the last time the event is played at Trump National in Bedminster. But if the 4-H Fair ever goes away, a large piece of Somerset County's soul will die with it.

And that's never going to happen as long as we appreciate and support the good works of 4-H.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter and columnist for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: LIV Golf in Bedminster, 4-H Fair in Bridgewater worlds apart: column