by Ray Jason
 |
| Monique and Jack - 2 young sea gypsies |
The waters of the Archipelago of Bliss have been a wondrous
reservoir of inspiration for me as I meander through my Middle Years. My secluded life amidst these tranquil
islands has blessed me with a perspective and clarity that is difficult to
attain by those chained to the cacophony of the Real World.
But since my earliest conscious dawning in my teen
years, I have been attracted not only to a life of thought, but also to the
call to action. Jack London, Joseph
Conrad and Richard Burton were the type of literary figures who appealed to me
because they combined both words and deeds.
Lately, I have been questioning whether the comfort of
these peaceful lagoons has seduced me away from that combination of adventurer
and philosopher which so exhilarates me?
Have deeds succumbed to words?
Peering into my heart of hearts, I have to answer, YES.
So it was time for a change. Fortunately, the gods of adventure smiled
upon me with an exciting possibility.
Some highly-skilled sailors, who are also very dear friends, invited me
to join them in an attempt this summer to sail across the legendary Northwest
Passage. When they offered me this
opportunity, I immediately thought of Alan Shepherd’s line in the movie THE
RIGHT STUFF when they were recruiting him to become an astronaut: “Sounds
dangerous … count me in!”
In about a month I will tuck AVENTURA in for a long
rest, and then fly to Newfoundland to join my friends Jay and Danica aboard
their splendid sailboat ALKAHEST. We
will then sail north to Greenland dodging the icebergs drifting south from the
Labrador coast. While visiting
settlements along the west coast of Greenland we will be monitoring the breakup
of ice in the Canadian Arctic.
Hopefully, it will be significant enough to allow us a chance to sail
all the way across the northern edge of Canada to Alaska’s north shore and then
around into the stormy Bering Strait.
Although conditions have been warmer and more
favorable the last few years, as recently as 2013 it was almost completely
impassable. We have to be prepared for a
situation where we cannot go forward and cannot retreat. This means having to “winter over” for about
8 months of almost total darkness in polar bear paradise. Playing for such dire stakes reminds me of a superb
quotation from more than two thousand years ago by the great Greek playwright
Aeschylus:
“Life for him was a perilous adventure, but men are not made for safe havens.”
*******
And yet when I look from afar at the evolution of
society in my birth country, I am saddened to see that so many young people,
who should be clamoring for challenges and danger, are instead demanding “safe
spaces.” Not only are they repelled by
the notion of physical jeopardy, they are so soft that they don’t even want
their feelings hurt. In many cases this
neurosis is so severe that they become outraged not by any specific verbal
criticism, but from the fear that someone’s opinion might “trigger” their
sensitive emotions.
Aside from the almost comic-operatic absurdity of such
conduct, it is also symptomatic of the American Empire in its death
throes. But there are serious
consequences to not developing a realistic and hardened understanding of the
world -a world that may swiftly become much more TRULY REAL than their
dreamland of instagram and twitter and siri.
*******
I believe that the crucial task of the philosopher is
to ignore the clamor of the moment and instead attempt to see the long
trends. My observations in this regard
are not encouraging. I’ll focus here on
the USA, but much of this applies globally.
Let’s follow the long trend-line back to 19th
century America when most of the nation was comprised of farmers. They were extremely self-reliant and could
provide for all of their basic needs such as food, water, housing and
clothing. Shift to the 20th
century and the agrarian majority is rapidly declining as the factories are
built and the cities swell. These folks
were significantly less self-sufficient, but the labor unions and industrial
base allowed for a successful and secure middle class.
The late 20th century saw major changes
that were less obvious, but extremely impactful. The making of real things was replaced by the
making of … virtual … stuff. It was
heralded as the Information Age, but the most important information – the fact
that all of the good jobs were being secretly shipped overseas where Asians
were pulled from their farms to work in factories at slave wages – was not
revealed.
By the 21st century the U.S. had morphed
into the Consumer Economy. About 70% of
economic activity was people buying crap they did not need with money they did
not have. It was like the fairy tale
town where everybody makes a living doing everyone else’s laundry. Like a circle in a circle – like a wheel
within a wheel.
But as the high-paying union jobs disappeared, a
pseudo-backstop was provided in the form
of unemployment checks and food stamps or EBT cards. This means that nearly half the population is
completely dependent on the government for survival. On top of this, millions of young people are
drowning in student debt. Toss in the
government’s ability to conduct 24/7 surveillance of almost everything a person
does. And then add the militarization of
the police so that they look like Galactic Storm-troopers.
Does this not look like a scenario where the average
citizen is exceedingly vulnerable and where the government is enormously
powerful? And let me not forget to
mention the electronic addiction that has seduced and weakened the will of the
people. As long as they have their
iDistractors they will overlook the steady deterioration of every other aspect
of their lives. They will ignore the
trajectory that is leading them to a future of cyber-serfdom.
*******
It is for these reasons that we need a younger
generation that seeks UNSAFE SPACES, instead of coddled protection zones. And as unlikely as the prospects for this are
in my birth country, at least out here in the waters filled with world
citizens, I am seeing an encouraging movement.
There are more and more young people from all lats and longs, who
understand in their core being the folly and tragedy of “that life back there.”
So, instead, they are adopting the Sea Gypsy path. They are buying tired old sailing boats that
are a bit raggedy, but that can be restored.
These provide them a home with independence and mobility. They are learning the venerable sailors’ skills
of how to flow with the winds and the currents.
They are rejecting a life of comfort - and embracing a life of
adventure.
I salute them.
And that’s because even though they may not realize it, they embody my
elemental belief that: The Road to the Future leads to the Past.
