In a Cloud

The events of the past few years have left me befuddled. Even the last few months have been a challenge. Today, though, we are post Irma, post Harvey, post flooding, winds and earthquakes. Mother Nature has ruled public attention. We muddled through it and that was in the news as well. CNN and MSN have been on our TV a lot in recent days. Checking out the storms and watching the drama unfold, wondering how we all will get past such challenges.

We have survived them before. Generations of such challenges. We not only survive but go on to invent new lifestyles, products, technologies and viewpoints. Change is the theme. As it always has been.

Watched the 60 Minutes interview of Steven Bannon by Charlie Rose last Sunday evening. Fascinating interview. Impressions: Rose is smart and prepared; he is rooted in history and broad perspective. Bannon is smart, cunning and flexible. He has a street fighter mentality and spars well with challenges. He parried well with Rose. The two men were well matched. New information emerged from the conversation. I now have a clearer idea of what Bannon is about; not totally clear, but much clearer. Progress.

And I also came out of the interview with a deeper respect for Charlie Rose. He is a champion newsman with classic credentials. I trust this man and his mental acuity. I trust his thinking process, too. It doesn’t start with a conclusion and work backward. It starts with facts, checking facts, pitting different points of view against those facts and then watches for results that lead to fresh understanding. That’s how news is supposed to work. Just because excellent news craft leads to different understandings doesn’t mean it is liberal, left, conservative or right wing.

News is the understanding of the world as it unfolds. If you have a preconceived notion of what that is and means, then you are already not dealing with the news but with your own ideology.

Thanks to Charlie Rose and 60 Minutes; they have provided an important service to the public. That’s how it is supposed to be.

Now, what does this have to do with the muddle I’m in currently? Plenty. Mother nature is always with us. When she ruffles our feathers we are reminded of her presence and strength. We are reminded we are not in control of her or of life in general. We only have partial control over our actions and reactions to events around us. How well we prepare for such will tell the tale of survival and forward progress. Or not.

News based on events, natural events – fire, earthquake, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, weather – is one category of news happening. The rest is manmade and therefore a different nature of news. This is the interpretive news – what was said, what actions were taken, what does this mean, what was meant by all of this, and so on. This is the news that builds history. After all, history is the story of mankind interacting with all manner of stimuli leading to yet other stimuli and actions caused by them. Accumulation of events and interactions makes for movement of meaning and consequences merited by them.

The tale of history is never done. It is always building.

I observed during college the work of a professor specializing in the history of Abraham Lincoln. He read every book about Lincoln. He studied all the history surrounding Lincoln. What was Abe’s life as a child? What living conditions did he deal with every day and night? What were the customs and conditions of those times? What effect on his life did these things have? How did he mature from childhood to early adulthood, get an education, a job, and a life’s calling. From that perch how did he become involved in government and finally be elected President of the United States? What were the forces shaping political thought at the time, and why were they particularly important to Lincoln? How did he come to act the way he did while President? Of course the Civil War occurred then and changed history of the USA enormously. Those results still are argued and studied to this day.

Today that professor is the leading expert on Lincoln’s life. And still he writes new dialogue of the past era so we can better understand its meaning for our lives today.

Irma is a blip. So too Harvey. They recur. Mother Nature lives and rules a part of our lives we do not control. We abide by that and learn to live differently to improve survival. Some make it; some don’t. The rest of us go on and hope for the best.

But 60 Minutes and Bannon and Rose keep on ticking. Ever forward through time making history and uncovering it at the same time. Us? We observe and think and weigh what we see and hear. Then we think. Making sense of it is a process similar to history. After all, history may be comprised of facts, but it is we the people who observe, hear, see and deal with those facts; some of us ignore all of it and offer consequences accordingly. But it is all of a piece.

Always has been. We are left to deal with it as best as we can, sort of like the ravages of Irma.

Now do you see my muddle? The cloud may be a mythical place, a computer data resting place, and a haze of mist. For me it is all of those things and more all of the time.

Welcome to my world!

September 12, 2017