by Ray Jason
Before
I found my way to the Wide Waters, I spent a lot of time on the
Asphalt Seas. I hitch-hiked tens of thousands of miles around the
U.S. during my college years. The catalyst for this was my desire to
feast on the visual cornucopia of the continent. And I also hoped to
discover the special American spirit of nobility and brotherhood that
Walt Whitman and Woody Guthrie celebrated through poetry and song.
I
wore a rugged, brown, naval aviator’s jacket from a surplus store
and carried a small, tough suitcase that I adorned with decals from
my travels. This was well before the back-pack era and the relative
ease of thumbing rides with hippies in VW vans.
One
other item that also traveled with me was an envelope filled with my
favorite quotations. When waiting for a ride in some inhospitable
spot, I would pass the time finding comfort in the wit and wisdom of
these insights and observations.
The
authors were very wide-ranging. A Plato quote such as “An
unconsidered Life is not worth living” might be followed by Steve
McQueen stating “I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere
than in any city in the world.” Whitman’s great counsel to
“Question much and obey little” was a nice companion for Gandhi’s
insistence that “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
A
few days ago, I came across that battered, but still intact stash of
quotations that had brought me laughter and solace so many years ago,
when I was still budding in the Springtime of my Life. After an hour
of reading through them, it was natural to find myself swept astern
in that ebb tide of memories. Damn, I thought to myself, I was so
idealistic and romantic and above all, naive.
This
was emphasized even more when I turned over the card with a famous
observation from George Bernard Shaw: “Isn’t it a pity that youth
has to be wasted on the young!” This one hit me like a jab, because
I remembered that as the editor of my college newspaper, I had
written an opinion piece smugly chastising GBS for misunderstanding
the brilliance of youth.
Ha,
I now laughed to myself, with the insight of nearly a half a century
behind me, realizing how gallantly but foolishly I had demonstrated
my ignorance of just about everything. But I also reflected that
there have probably been a thousand other student editors through the
years who have taken up the pen to joust with Mr. Shaw just as
idiotically.
*******
That
same evening I settled into my favorite spot on deck with my back
leaning against the mast. A green coconut and my machete had
provided me with my evening Tarzan Tea, and I had added another
ingredient, the Flower of the Cane. That is the English translation
of Flor de Cana, which is my favorite affordable dark rum. Now I had
all I needed to sail back down the decades and anchor in that Harbor
of Memories. I had my ship, my elixir and my solitude.
My
quest was not to rediscover particular events, but to reconnect with
the “feel” or “flavor” of those long ago days. Before the
coconut was empty, that emotional landscape had re-emerged. I
realized that I had been so optimistic and expectant and hopeful. It
seemed to me that the arc of human history was ever improving, and I
had deceived myself into thinking that I could play a role in that
advance. There appeared to be such a brightness and freshness to the
future, and it enticed and beckoned. Good people were out there
ready to perform noble deeds - and they needed allies!
Ha!
When did that illusion first start to evaporate? Was it my stint in
Vietnam on the ammunition ship? No, it was before that. As the
president of our student body in college, I was tasked to bring
speakers onto the campus. I brought on antiwar activists and the
school punished me for it in a variety of ways.
*******
Those
two events were the catalysts that inspired me to really pay
attention to how the world works as opposed to how we are told it
works. This heightened sense of awareness also coincided with the
decade of assassinations. Everyone who I admired was gunned down –
supposedly by lone nuts – but I believed that it was some hidden
Dark Force slithering behind the scenes. And now, all of these years
later, after continuing to “pay attention,” it seems like every
major societal institution is corrupt to its very sinews.
Higher
Education – the backdrop for those hitch-hiking years - has
degenerated from a temple of free inquiry and critical thinking into
a padded safe space where non-conforming ideas must be silenced
rather than debated. And in many colleges, men like me are demonized
as “toxic” simply because our biology has made us white, straight
males.
Judges
are not beacons of objectivity and balance. They are not much
better than political party hacks, who can be counted on to render
verdicts in favor of “their side” rather than the side of Truth
and Justice.
The
Health Care System should be re-named the Sick-Care system.
The incentives and profits from “managing symptoms” rather than
curing root causes, are enormous. And Big Pharma will nuke any
alternative treatment protocols that might keep you from taking their
pills.
Many
Priests, who are self-anointed emissaries of a Higher Power,
actually conduct themselves in the lowest possible manner. In doing
so, they crucify innocence and scar innumerable youngsters for the
rest of their lives.
And
the world is awash in Politicians, who pontificate about their
reverence for the Common Man, when in fact they actually worship at
the altars of Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
But
one can’t look to the Mainstream Media for guidance and
clarity with these cultural problems. That institution suffers from
pathological amnesia when it comes to discovering the Truth. Almost
all reporting is “narrative driven” rather than evidence based.
Which stories are emphasized or ignored is determined strictly
according to their agenda.
*******
I
could rant on and on about the steady degradation of the bedrock
institutions of society, but that would just intensify my
Disillusionment Overload. Instead, I’ll shift my focus to an
approach for dealing with it.
With
all of my years of tracking this decline in the human condition, I
have monitored the various approaches that are suggested for
improving things. My conclusion is that they are delusional and
largely do not work.
Voting
the bums out, just votes new bums in. Petitions and demonstrations
are just a minor nuisance for the wielders of real power - like flies
on an elephant. And with revolutions, the oppressed almost always
become as oppressive as those that they overthrew.
The
answer is to turn your back on it all as much as you can. Those of
you who have been following my work, know that I have been advocating
for the sea gypsy lifestyle for many years now. I am delighted to
report that here in the Archipelago of Bliss there is a wonderful new
development.
Lots
of young cruisers are showing up. These are sailors in their 20s and
30s, who have turned their backs on the almost insufferable Real
World.
They
realize that homeschooling their kids avoids the public school
indoctrination matrix. They also recognize that sea vagabonding
teaches their youngsters genuine life skills in a world where people
can barely order a pizza without an app.
They
also understand that sea gypsy life reconnects them to genuine Nature
as opposed to Save the Cucumber Nature. Plus, they generate their
energy through the wind and the sun.
As
Ocean Citizens they owe no allegiance to any government. Their only
interface at all with those nemeses are when clearing in and out of a
new country. They are not the human property of any particular
nation.
But
above all, when you meet these young sailors they are HAPPY. Lots of
smiles and laughter and talk of “where to next.” They are the
perfect antidote for Disillusionment Overload.
*******
As
I sat on AVENTURA’S deck, sifting through my old, tattered “Road
Quotes” and letting my thoughts sail where my mind’s wind sent
them, I recalled a quotation that I was recently gifted by a friend.
Had I encountered it half a lifetime ago, it would have been added to
my collection.
Two
figures sat side by side, staring at the Sea. One said to the other,
“You know that one day we will die.” And the other friend
replied, “But all of the other days WE WILL LIVE!”
