Cuba – Observations and Misunderstandings

It’s close. As I write these words we’re talking 224 for Biden and 213 for Trump with 270 the victory target. It’s very close. Trump has won Florida which is a big moment as well as Ohio which has a habit of picking the Presidents. While California became a Democrat stronghold as the Latino vote in the state increased, Florida is the opposite. With so many Cuban and Venezuelans fleeing their Socialist governments the accusation that Democrats are somehow socialist has pushed them into the hands of the Republicans these last two elections. The concept of socialism is so utterly manipulated and corrupted in America. Ohio being a big rustbelt state is suffering from the effects of neoliberalism as industry is shut down and moved to Asia. Trump played on ideas of nationalism and American jobs here once more. I’m sure these people would be just as happy, if not more so working in the renewable energy sector than down a coal mine.

But as I said it’s close and it’s likely going to depend on the outcome in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Both Biden and Trump have declared themselves victors, with Trump a little more vociferous in doing do. He has already sounded the fraud alarm and been heavily criticised for doing so by both sides. With the election being this close it is inevitably going to be contested by the losing side. We are potentially left with the situation that if Trump loses and contests, the conservative leaning and Trump filled Supreme Court could play a big part. Imagine for a second they found grounds to overturn it and award the election to Trump. Either way this isn’t going to be resolved anytime soon, expect potentially weeks of uncertainty and inevitable unrest.

What we must remember and this is perhaps even more concerning than discussing the actions of a corrupt court, or childish gangster-like President, is that in the previous election over sixty million people voted for him and the figure is likely going to be similar this time around. The fact that despite these last four years the result is going to be close is in itself scary but he may just be elected once more. Over sixty million people believe he has done well these last four years and is a person worth following. That’s one hell of a cult.

If one accusation of Trump is that he’s divisive, and it’s used as a criticism, that means the other side, the accusers, believe they aren’t. Everyone likes to believe they’re better than the other side, you have to otherwise you wouldn’t believe in what you do, but we’re going to have to put that aside. It’s not just the Americans it’s all of us. It takes both sides of course, and that can be the hard part but all we can really do is lead by example, prove we are the bigger people. Until the moment we give up the idea of being morally superior and that the inferior should come to us, or that we can convince them by berating them, this polarised divide will only increase. Some people like Trump and his hardcore following are untouchable, you can put Brexiteer loonies in that group too, but it’s the average person out there who is suffering and scared after forty years of economic devastation. We forget this because they distract us from the truth, but we’re all in this fight together. It is time to come together. This election is proof of that at the very least.

There is a certain romanticism in literature. Not always the stories themselves but sometimes the stories of the stories, the stories of the creators of the stories. I understood that for the first time when a friend of mine told me the life of Lord Byron and proceeded to explain why I didn’t need to read any of his work, his life was the work. Ernest Hemingway is one of these people. He is there in the echelons of folk lore, another author to define an art and inspire a craft. This is actually my first Hemingway and considering my interest in and admiration for those involved in the Spanish Civil War, how I’ve not read For Whom The Bell Tolls is beyond me.

The protagonist is an old man called Santiago who has now gone eighty-four days at sea without catching anything and is seen as unlucky. On his eighty-fifth day, which is also a number of special significance apparently, he hooks the largest Marlin he has ever seen and allows it to pull him and his skiff, tiring itself out in the process for three days. This is a titanic battle between two great warriors who have lived and survived in their respective worlds up until this point, finally coming face to face. He needs this in a way and while he talks to himself of the money he will make it is evidently never really about this.

The Old Man & The Sea is a fable. There will surely be multiple essays and books upon what the lesson within it is but for me it is one of heroism, determination and acceptance. Acceptance in a way despite the fact he doesn’t accept defeat at any point until he has no choice. His acceptance comes from life and experience at sea; knowing that defeat can happen, but we fight until our last and then some more and if success doesn’t come we just carry on as it’s all part of everything.

Hemingway creates an air of romanticism around Santiago and it is easy to imagine him sitting by the harbour when in Cuba and watching the weather beaten old fishermen going out and if not knowing their stories then creating them. It is one of epic proportions in three days and one hundred pages. His simple use of language allows for you to easily get into the story but it is also this language which reveals all the hidden meaning as the story progresses. It definitely makes you want to jump in a skiff and set sail. The sea is a powerful and unforgiving mistress but she will teach you all you ever need to know.

An animation by Aleksander Petrov

Tag: Cuba

Still Counting….

BR#Ten – The Old Man & The Sea