Bermuda Cruise 2024 #2 - Port Day # 2 (10/30/24)

 

This would turn out to be a nice day, in spite of our new friend accompanying us to breakfast, and then to St. George, Bermuda.  But first....

This would be my second day presenting as Marian on Bermuda.  The weather was a little windier and cooler than I originally planned for, so I knew that the dresses I wanted to wear on this trip might not cooperate with me while on the island.  Should I have brought a trouser like garment to wear on windy days?  As much as I'd have wanted one yesterday, I wouldn't need one by the end of the day - the winds died down quite a bit over the time we were there.

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Neither of us wanted to get up early.  Given that we had arranged to meet our new friend downstairs, we felt like we should keep our word and meet her.  However, this would prove to be a taxing decision, as our new friend is the type who latches onto people and expects them to do the work in a friendship.  For example, another friend of this lady said that she'd meet her at a bar near St. George.  However, she had no idea of how to get there.  Did this friend of ours do any research?  No.  It was if she expected everything to be handed to her.  Later, when we got on the ferry together, she could have asked the guides for help - but didn't.  RQS had gotten tired of this lady, and we were glad that she went out on her own after we got off the ferry.

Once on land, we saw the town crier as he announced that they would simulate the dunking of an old hag at 1:00 pm.  This sounded like too much fun to miss.  So we walked down to where the dunking was to be held, and we were not disappointed - it was fun to watch. (On the way there, we listened to a tour guide tell her group about Bermuda's connection to the American Revolution, and how it was treated before and during our war of independence - a truly friendly relationship.) But then, we wanted to get some food before going back to the ship.  So it was off to find a place where we could eat an affordable meal.

On the way back, we stumbled into a Bermuda museum dedicated mostly of Bermuda's connection to the American Civil War, and how many people in this neutral island profited off the war.  It's nice to know that this British possession had/has such a good relationship with the USA.  Although I didn't take many pictures there, it is a place well worth visiting when in St. George, Bermuda. After we found a place to eat, we went back to the ferry and took it back to our ship.  It was nice to be able to rest a bit before dinner.

 

 

 

Our next stop was the Italian restaurant onboard ship, La Cucina.  We weren't disappointed by this specialty restaurant's food.  However, we wouldn't make it a habit to eat here, as we can get good/great Italian food at many places int he NYC area. The house salad and the calamari were very good, and I couldn't finish the Osso Buco we each had as a main course.  The only disappointment, if we could have one was that we each had only one Cannoli without any espresso with Sambuca to finish off the meal properly/  Shortly after dinner, it was off to the main theater to see a show where 4 singers performed Broadway show tunes.  This was better than the usual fare on most ships, as both RQS and I were clapping by the end of the show....

The seeds for today's cultural wars were sown almost 75 years ago.

 

Last night, I was having a conversation with Vicki and the topic of Jane Fonda came up.  Vicki will never forgive Jane for visiting Vietnam during the war, and I understand why she feels this way.  This is one area in which we disagree.  But we are usually closer in our views than one might think.  And this got me thinking: 

When did the first seeds for today's social polarization get sown?

One could say that some of the seeds were down when the 13 colonies separated from Great Britain, "Free State" vs. "Slave State".  But the United States was starting to address this issue shortly after WW2 ended, when the McCarthyism and the "Red Scare" started the dysfunction which has resulted in today's extreme political polarization.

The 1950's was an era where the cracks in the "American Ideal" started to show. The "Red Scare" triggered people to coerce pledges of loyalty from the populace.  This was an era where "Under God" was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance, as a way to differentiate American values from the "Commies" in the USSR.  The Space Race started in the 1950's, and we were primed for the unrest of the 1960's.

Why is this so important?

The first of the "Baby Boomers" were starting to go to college around 1964.  There, they learned to question authority - something that simply wasn't done in the 1950's.  At this time, the Civil Rights Movement started to gain popular awareness, as well as the war in Vietnam.  Thousands of Americans were losing their lives in an unpopular war, and American youth questioned why we needed to fight this war.  This is the time when conservatives started saying "America, love it or leave it."  And many draft-age men did just that, moving to Canada as political exiles.  Liberals demanded equal rights for women and for minorities, threatening the forced political stability achieved in the 1950's.  So, when Jane Fonda visited Vietnam (which I consider a mistake of youth, and nothing more), it was an event which solidified the divide between Liberals and Conservatives in America.

Opportunist politicians such as Richard Nixon took advantage of the growing divide, making sure that tools being used to address segregation were de fanged, making it much harder to provide Blacks and Latinos equal opportunities in education.  Although Nixon is often given credit for ending the war in Vietnam, he was responsible for making it impossible for LBJ to get a peace treaty signed on his watch.  This was the time where the GOP started to "flip the south" from Blue to Red, while the Democrats were flipping northern GOP enclaves to Democratic strongholds.

America's great divide.

If one looks at a political map of the USA, one will see that most of the "Union" states from the Civil War are run by Democrats, and that the "Confederate" states are run by Republicans.  Most of the other states are controlled by Republicans, as they are rural and have fewer opportunities for people than the coastal (blue) states.  Opportunist politicians have demonized the opposition, and have made the Rural/Urban divide much worse than it used to be.  Since "conservatives" tend to desire order imposed by higher authorities, they get incensed when "liberals" focus on the rights of individuals.  

Social identity in the USA is often defined by the political party one is affiliated with.  In my case, a woman I dated called me a fascist when she found out that I am still a registered republican.  (I haven't voted for anyone in the GOP for years, as the party has become radicalized and I have moved towards the center.  In an earlier decade, I'd have been identified as a "Goldwater Republican."  Today, I would be labeled left of center.

So what can we do?

There will always be people who are seduced by the propaganda coming from one side or the other.  A thinking person has to keep one's sanity by challenging the messages being sent by a biased media.  Liberals should question MSNBC, while Conservatives should challenge Fox, Newsmax, OAN and other bastions of conservative misinformation.  When most people are polled about their beliefs, they are more centrist than one might think.  But, when political identity comes into play, people act against their own best interests.

When America works right, people are able to look out for their own selfish interests.  If tribal affiliation comes into play, people start marching to the drummers from their tribes - and everything starts breaking down.  So, I advise people to fact check both sides without paying any attention to their tribe's "opinion outlets" and then coming to a position of their own.  If they do this, they might find that their tribe's leaders are betraying them, and that they would be best served by voting the bastards out....

Miracles of modern dentistry?

Long gone are the days where going to the dentist would be this uncomfortable.  Unlike getting a leg amputated in the Civil War, one couldn't bite a bullet to deal with the pain of a tooth extraction.  Years later, they perfected filling technology and local anesthesia, making a visit to the much less painful (except, maybe, in the wallet).  And now, the balance between bodily pain and financial pain is in favor of financial pain, as fewer people fear going to the dentist today than in the past.

Today was my visit to the dentist.  In addition to a scheduled teeth cleaning, I got an updated set of x-rays and a dental exam.  $500 later, I was out of the office with another appointment scheduled in 2 weeks for a small filling.  AARGH!   At least I have the money in the bank to afford it.  But this is only one of the money sucks that I'll deal with this month.

Sometime later in the year, I may decide to take another (small) distribution from my 401k, this time to finance a dental implant that I've done without for over 10 years.  If I had stayed employed with the bank, I'd have done this already.  After 10 years, the dentist will have to start from scratch, including a CAT Scan of my jaw to see if I have enough bone mass for the implant..  And this will cost even more money,  Not having the tooth in this place has affected how I chew on food.  So this may finally be the time I deal with the problem once and for all....