Rational, Yet Not-So-Obvious
"It does no harm just once in a while to acknowledge that the whole country isn't in flames, that there are people in the country besides politicians, entertainers, and criminals." - Charles Kuralt
As a nine-year-old, on a Sunday morning in 1984, I stared into our Sears Solid State 13-inch portable, chin in hands, watching Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" segment on CBS's Sunday Morning. I loved Kuralt's cadence, travels, and quirky guests. That morning, Kuralt's journey led him to Ferd "Red" Nimphius, a builder of boats. He built them with his hands on his landlocked 200-acre farm 10 miles south of Wautoma on Highway 22, just west of Neshkoro in the heart of the Wisconsin dairy country. Nimphius, born in Germany in 1909, epitomized the vanishing, independent, and proud American craftsman.
In his quaint farmhouse, Nimphius spoke to Kuralt about his life and work: the significance of sturdy keels, the proper way to fair a bow, and steam-bend oak planks so they fit perfectly into a boat’s decking. Life, the world itself, was all there in Nimphius's erudite creations. He and his workers had little time and less interest in looking outside for validation or, God forbid, waiting for someone else to build the boats. The work was everything.
I think we need more emphasis on the Ferd Nimphiuses of the world—those who find great satisfaction in their life's work. We also need more Charles Kuralts to find them, talk to them, and spread the gospel of self-worth. But too many cynical media moguls say there isn't a market for that old sentimental bunk. The big money is in pandering to your audience with alienation elegiacs that stoke grievance and victimhood, that give them purpose, fidelity, and a connection to something greater. Producers and editors aspire to keep their audience dissatisfied with their mundane lives, as that is where profits are. I'm saying nothing new here; dozens of books have been written on the topic over the last fifteen years, describing this hopelessness, insecurity, and victimhood that manifest into cults, conspiracy theories, and dedication to lost causes.
Would Ferd "Red" Nimphius fall prey to this nonsense? No way, he'd turned the page, flipped the channel, and gotten back to work. He didn't need a script to tell him who in the hell he was. He'd think the whole woe-is-me pity party was a boring waste of time.
Former CIA analyst, author, and commentator Martin Gurri recently penned a soliloquy titled 'To My Friends Across the Political Divide' on Discourse, a Substack published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. In it, he advocates for dialogue, respect for free speech, and the importance of maintaining rules and norms in American life and politics to preserve order and stability. Unfortunately, these even-keeled sentiments seem too dull and monotonous for too many, not quite sexy enough for Prime Time. I expected the piece would go viral; it made so much sense and was inspirational, rational, and intelligent. But nothing came of it—just crickets and tumbleweeds in our vast metasphere. Gurri, too, knew it would have minimal impact. 'If you disagree with me, you may never see this,' he writes in the first paragraph. 'My words are immured in an anti-establishment information ghetto and can't easily reach you.
But why?
The answer is simple. Clearheaded calls for civility don't feel good; they don't penetrate those erogenous zones where egos are stroked, and preconceptions about how the world should be are justified. When the mirror is held up to us, and uncomfortable truths are revealed, many are repulsed and label all calls for sanity as utopian and foolish and playing into the enemy's hand.
Like almost everything written nowadays, Gurri briefly touches on Donald Trump, urging readers to perceive him as a politician rather than a symbolic embodiment of apocalyptic forces. This perspective seems sober and reasonable, but let's put it to the test. After reading this quote by Gurri about the former president, consider your feelings: “I know many of you don't like him. Neither do I. But let's assume he's only a politician. He's not Hitler, Godzilla, or the Beast of the Apocalypse—just a guy with a loud mouth and a desperate need for attention. Most Americans think of him that way.”
If this statement triggers you, you might label Gurri as just another RINO troll placating the swamp monsters. You also might have missed his point: “It's not about him [Trump]; it's about you.”—the collective 'you' refers to us, the body politic, which appears beaten, battered, and allergic to rules and norms.
But there will always be those who don't want to be bored; they want to fight.
The longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer dedicated a lifetime to contemplating these pathologies. In his magnum opus, The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements (1951), he penned: “The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious.” Both Hoffer and Gurri caution against dwelling too long in the negative present, where passions run high, the rule of law seems arbitrary, and guardrails are perceived as barricades. Nothing good can happen in this state.
For those wishing to escape from the dullness and boredom of modernity via the seductive fraternity of political discord, the life and work of men like Ferd "Red" Nimphius should stand as a potent reminder of the value of meaningful work and fierce independence. These are values any true American conservative should appreciate and defend.
Now, that would be a real fight.
Thanks, John!
Thanks. Working and thinking.