As much as I love the outdoors, this is not a whitewater adventure website. I use my experience of navigating a wild river as a metaphor for navigating and understanding my life and society.
The first time I joined a group of canoeists, I couldn’t understand why they didn’t take the shortest route around corners. Instead of cutting corners, they would swing out into the middle of the river. I quickly understood the logic of my more expert water travelers. Staying in the middle of the river’s flow avoided hidden obstacles and was faster. They taught me to read the V.
There are two types of Vs: the downstream V, or the tongue, and the upstream V. The downstream V is the clear target path for forward motion through the water. This tongue typically shows the fastest and safest route. The upstream V is the opposite of a tongue. It appears as a foamy V after flowing over a visible or invisible rock. An intrepid canoeist will paddle toward the middle of a downstream V and avoid the rocks behind an upstream V.
As I said earlier, this is not a whitewater website. I use the adventures of whitewater travel as a metaphor for modern life. Like whitewater navigation, people and societies should find the optimal path through life instead of running aground or hitting a boulder. Many teenagers opt for the shortest-path life strategy. Many will decide not to attend college or trade school and live off their parents. Others commit to marginal or shady occupations. Most of these folks barely get by as adults, especially when their parents are gone. Likewise, through no fault of a teenager growing up in an area with a declining economy, they are left in the shallow water of a dying region. Instead of ignoring or writing off those without hope, we should moderate the adverse effects of society’s boulders and shoals. Otherwise, those left out will lose faith in their future and blame “society” for all their problems. It then becomes a vicious cycle of failure, blame, and resentment. When a sizeable number becomes alienated, our institutions fail, and chaos ensues. Using our river analogy, more boulders pop up when the water level drops and the river’s speed slows. Without a good river guide and paddles, our journey will become a disaster, and most of us will be dumped into a cold river.
This website’s primary purpose is to advocate that American society and its people remain alert and in the mainstream of our world’s technological and social forces. We should figuratively stay in the V of national and world events. The V does not mean being in the absolute middle of the river, road, or political spectrum. Staying in the “popular” middle or assuming that all sides are equal is nonsense. Rivers, like societies, sometimes flow to the right or left side. A skilled navigator follows the more robust V, not a map created by someone who has never been on a river. Heading for a series of boulders or steering toward a shortcut across the shallow section of the river is simply foolish. The analogs of boulders and shallows for our society are ignorance, extremism, greed, and irrationality.
This website contains various posts about history, politics, psychology, economics, social commentary, current events, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and family history (genealogy). I have a special revulsion and interest in extremism. Some extremist positions are valid; however, using extremist language and actions to counter extremism only alienates those holding opposing views. Reluctant people need to be treated with respect and understanding. Unless those people have unalterably wrongheaded positions, I think it is better to “lighten up” and try to find common ground.
Please feel free to disagree or comment on any of the posts on this website. Thank you.
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