America After America (1)
JUST STARTING Bucharest - New York - Miami ¶. The higher you raise yourself, the farther you see. Everybody knows that. From the aeroplane, we can see further, . . . if there are no clouds. Unfortunately, they are! To my great disappointment, the Alps Mountains are hidden under a thick blanket of them. Instead, with our mind's eye we can see even farther, not only in space, but in time as well. And we needn't raise ourselves at all; we can do it as well sitting down. In this way, my thoughts have arrived now in India of olden days, where the word "Upanishad" means: "stay close by me and think together". This was the way of those times to teach and comment on the wisdom of Veda. I am surely staying! Despite my sore rear, I have to stay in the narrow armchair of the aeroplane. As for thinking, I have to think alone, because even my right hand neighbour has fallen asleep, maybe because of my chattering. In such conditions, making notes sounds like a good idea for filling in the time. I am not a novelist and do not want making literature at any price, so that my intention is only to note my sincere impressions during this trip, which has just begun with a flight from Bucharest to New York. Still, do not expect this book to be one of travel notes, but more of some notes during the travel. There will not be descriptions of places, portrayals of characters, or exciting adventures. I know from previous travels how far the thoughts flies away while the plane, bus, or train carries us over miles and miles, so it is quite difficult to restrain yourself from not writing down such notes. Those long American roads through desert are excellent for putting down our thoughts. That's why this will be more a book of travel thoughts than one of travel adventures. I am not in the situation of a professional writer looking for ideas; on the contrary, I had too many ideas, but too little time and skill to write all of them. ¶. The express "Caesar crossed the Rubicon" has the power of a symbol because it forced the association of two far-fetched entities of very different sizes: Caesar's greatness and the smallness of Rubicon river. If the two entities had been of the same size, small or great, the statement would have been banal. But as it is, we must think at its metaphoric sense. If I am to use the same line of thought, I should associate my own modest name with a very large stream, but I am afraid that even the ocean was already crossed by too many people. It would be no more impressive. What remain to me is to use the well-known expression just for its symbolic value for a hard decision - not for mankind - but for myself. Yes, for me and for my financial limitations, crossing the Atlantic is an important decision. Very important! And there is one more difference. Crossing the Rubicon suggests the infringement of a peace treaty and beginning a war. I cannot declare war on anyone, but only to my savings and myself. Therefore, I have broken the peace treaty with myself. Anyway, I am thinking that it is much wiser to do it with myself, as I have often been at war with other people, particularly with my chiefs so far. Evidently, there is little chance to win such wars, but surely it is a great challenge. England displays a flock of small clouds, looking like sheep, as though they want to remind us of the famous wool of Shetland. We could not see the Shetland Islands from here, but they are not far away. Times were changing! Former English people used to graze sheep; today they shepherd clouds. Toward the west, these small sheep turn themselves into dinosaurs and finally a milky mass makes the scenery uninteresting. (I would prefer to write “landscape”, but probably “water-scape” or “cloud-scape” would be more appropriate. My own brand of English frequently offers me more unusual possibilities than the common vocabulary would allow.) Meanwhile we have passed beyond England. Above Ireland the clouds are so high that they nearly touch the wings of the plane, which is flying at 33,000 feet, according to the altitude just announced on the display. The Ireland also is behind us now. Surprise! Gulf Stream and the sun love each other. Odd thing! It would be expected that a warm-water current, which penetrates into a colder area, would form fog above it. But on this occasion that's not what happened. It is as clear as it possibly could be: not a single cloud! It seems the gods prefer water surfaces, as it can hardly be coincidence that almost always when I fly above seas or oceans the sky is cloudless. That surely proves the gods love water more than earth. We are crossing the ocean. Nice but boring! The same scenery under the same plane wing... And the seat feels narrow and narrow... A good sleep would be the best for me, but I cannot fall asleep. I am too tired because my travel began earlier in the night from Brasov, and I am overexcited. It is eight o’clock PM in the Romania now. On the television, a “tele-novela” has just finished and another one is going to start. They suit the Romanians' mentality and landscapes. Hill, valley, hill, valley, and so on toward the infinite. Nothing new! Why does one go to great aim, any longer, as more endeavours bring more pain too? The Romanian philosopher Lucian Blaga has noticed this characteristic of Romanian people. Let us see what “tele-novela” I shall do in the New World. ¶. Now and again, particularly when I am tired, I have a tendency to philosophise. Some more malicious fellows say that I am like this almost all the time. It would be good for me, but I think not for them. On the other hand, Jose Ortega y Gasset assures us that "philosophy keeps its virginity in spite of its repeated violations", so philosophy is in no danger. As for my inclinations toward such preoccupations, they exist only in the etymological sense of the word: love (philo) for wisdom (sophia). A philosopher involves a professional, namely someone who earns his living doing philosophy, or at least appearing to do it. As long as I have another profession, I could not be a philosopher at the same time, but I would love to be more sagacious, or at least to know more than I know. I do not think that, for such a little thing, one would agree to recognise me as a philosopher. The professionals certainly don't, but I have to assume that I am not suffering for it. The adjectival sense of the word philosophy is still acceptable not only for me, but also for all people, because - to a certain extent - all of us are philosophers, that is to say lovers of wisdom. That does not mean that all of us are necessarily wise persons (which would be the most boring thing on earth), but we cannot deny we would like to be wise. But what is wisdom really? Napoleon said that stupid people deal with the past, wise men with the present day and madmen with the future (Les sots parlent du passe, les sages du présent, les fous de l’avenir). If he had been a little mad, his fate would have been better, maybe. One thing is certain: he used to have very unclear ideas about wisdom. So please allow me to consider myself, if not a philosopher, at least a fan of it. Napoleon also said: "Mind always beats sword". Paradoxical fellow this Napoleon! Why have I said I should not want to be a professional philosopher? Because, since Socrates' day up until today, philosophy has been through the mill, from sublime toward ridiculous! First at all, from the large field of knowledge, smaller but more precise fields have spun off, one after another. They have built their means of investigation, and have definite themselves as more or less exact sciences. The reminded field for philosophy has become smaller and smaller, and more gravely, fewer and fewer people are willing to make philosophy their career, as long as scientific ones were much more pertinent and profitable. The remaining philosophers, following the example of the exact sciences, tried to create their own language but, unfortunately, not to make the expression clearer but, on the contrary, more esoteric and exclusive. Veda means in Sanskrit language science, knowledge (Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, etc.). This proves that, in the 3rd millennium B.C., a priest used to be scientist and scholar as well. The separation occurred later. The weakest of them remained philosophers and particularly priests. Often, nowadays philosophers write on a rigorous, arid and sophisticated way what people knew long before. Often, in many scholarly writings, the author ends his expose with a folk saying, destined to confirm the truth of his logical demonstration, but which proves that popular wise knew for a long time what he had just discovered. Socrates used to philosophise with all people, for all people, using language adequate to his interlocutors, but always approaching essential problems. Nowadays philosophy is only a parade of language, sometimes just to hide a lack of ideas and content. "Quand un philosophe nous répond, on ne comprend plus du tout ce qu’on lui avait demandé." (André Gide) The consequence is recorded by one of the last of common-sense Romanian philosopher: “the authors of philosophic texts are greater in number today in the world than their readers” (Gabriel Liiceanu). As for the people, from the philosophy they wait for something that it cannot give, and afterwards - receiving nothing - they express their disappointment. Man wants to receive the truth, but the single way to accede to it is his own inner act of thinking. By all means, philosophy should be thought again and again, in every epoch, with the tools of thinking specific to that epoch. As a reader, I prefer the essays of scientists who, willing or not, become more philosophical as the years go by. They, at least, passed some serious examinations and proved some superior brains. The first philosophers were the scientists of their time as well. Later on, most of the serious ones used to have hard studies. Probably such thoughts entered Schopenhauer's mind when he wrote "he who wants to make serious philosophy must study thoroughly at least on exact science". Therefore the idea is not a new one, but it is not convenient. Why? It is not difficult to see. ¶. Late in the day, Greenland appears on the display, to the right of our route. Green-Land what an irony! Perhaps it seemed green to those who, coming from the glaciers, baptised it so, even though 80% of the land is covered in ice. This may have been their point of view. The ocean, seen from above, with some small clouds on it, seems to look exactly as the sky does from the earth. The same shapes, the same colours! Here is a case where two different objects seem to be similar. It is not the alone. I could find more examples. Particularly among us, many people seem to be what they are not. My thoughts are interrupted. We have arrived. "Chacun a son défaut où toujours il revient", La Fontaine said it. I have my flaws too. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. What about the other side of the ocean? It must be very greener. After three years, I am again on American soil, or to be more exact, not on the grass, but on the concrete of JFK airport, where a Chinese woman’s voice is announcing something that is hardly understandable if you do not know beforehand what she is saying. But more urgently is the need to shave myself and change my thick clothes for a T-shirt, because there are 87° here, as opposed to the 40°, as it was on the night I left Brasov. ¶. This time I avoided New York. I saw it three years ago and consider that was enough. From my previous trip, the memory of the first night comes to mind when, due to jetlag, I was not being able to sleep. It was whilst looking at the ceiling of my room in Gramercy Park Hotel the idea to note down my travel impressions came. As always happens, any marvel lasts three days. While getting used to local time, making travel notes was always seemed to be a job for later. This time, I proposed to be a more hardworking tourist. Also, I remember well the first dinner in a small Indian restaurant, with the spiciest food that I ever ate. And of course the town, not only for its buildings, but especially for its breathing. Yes, New York, I mean Manhattan, has a peculiar breathing. It is not as polluted as it's supposed to be, thanks to the ocean, which sends a permanent breeze of fresh air, and has a particular buzzing. There is not nightlife in the streets of New York. After six o'clock, lots of garbage-sacks appear in the front of the magazines. As for the Central Park, it would be right dangerous to walk through during the nights. It seems only towns with a hot climate are animated in the evenings. It is understandable if we think that people take shelter of buildings during the days, and go out after sunset. There is one more reason I am not eager to see New York now: the rule of the five targets. According to this rule, a tourist should not exceed five objectives: five towns in a country, five monuments in any town, five paintings in a museum, etc. Otherwise, the multitude of detail will turn everything into a jumble without head and tail, and the time will be insufficient even for a single large object. This time, New York is not on my list. ¶. Another plane, much smaller, will carry me to Miami. While I wait, I have respite for looking at the people walking up and down. In Romania, some shoes with very thick soles are in woman's fashion, but almost nobody wears them here. The Americans are a more practical people. An easy sandal surely is more comfortable than a shoe like a caterpillar. To me, the fashion otherwise seems the same here, but I am far from a specialist. Now and again, the Chinese voice from the loudspeaker seems to sing. I had better go to my gate. The song is not that of a mermaid and I am not Ulysses, but it could be just as dangerous to me, due to my tiredness. There are more than 24 hours since I have been awake. FLORIDA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GEORGIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ARKANSAS ¶. Travelling during the night is boring no matter where you are. I should have slept but events before leaving kept me wide awake. Fortunately in Memphis, where the bus arrived in the morning, two of my worries were dispelled. I was able to see my luggage, therefore nobody stolen it, and the bus for Harrison waited for us. But, before learning all these, was a long time, I had felt a lot of anxiety so that I was exhausted by early in the first hours of the morning. Memphis, seen in full speed from the bus and with mind stressed by worry, did not appear to me interesting at all. Surely it is a false impression. Memphis is not only Elvis Presley's town but also a great and important town, at least from the economical point of view. Surely, it deserves much more attention, but right now I am not in the mood for such considerations. Maybe I will have the opportunity to do it later. Memphis is the entrance gate in Mississippi delta and this is enough to think about its importance. Its suburbs draw the attention to the fact that it is an agricultural centre as well. After a ring of depots and enterprises, an area of elegant dwellings appears, with much orderly land around. The high life lives here. Yes, Memphis is a large town. I am travelling on towards Harrison. That means that, immediately after Memphis, comes Arkansas, name with ample resonance in my ears, I do not know why. Probable from the movies! For the beginning, we are crossing a plate area, dull, in which one could hardly note something of interest without becoming boring. With due consideration to people who live on plains, it is boring not to have something on which you can prop your view up. Now it is autumn and the harvest is already gathered, so the field is a perfectly uniform grey plane. Very occasionally, small groups of houses appear, some poorer, other wealthy, but both alike without nothing more around than is necessary for work, namely cars and farming machinery. Extremely seldom, there are two or three trees, almost without shadow. Four trees together are already a luxury. Beside some of the poor houses one can see oil burner cars and old, rusting machinery. The beauty and elegance of Georgia remained away. ¶. Bill's mother comes in my mind with her strong faith. Nowadays European civilisation is considered to be a result of Christian doctrine. Is this assertion quit so true? Europe was under the full Christian doctrine during the Middle Age. The subsequent development started at the same time with the Renaissance, and one of the main aims of the Renaissance was just to diminish the role played by the church. This aim was necessary due to the mistakes that Christian Church had made during the Middle Age. Among the most important ones, there are the edification of a rigid hierarchy of a pyramidal type and its implications in politics. That's why European people are no longer believers but in a small measure. On the other hand, we could not ignore the role of the religion in our culture and morality. Almost all old paintings and musical works have topics from the Bible and religious topics still inspire nowadays creators. At the time being more than in the past, due to the lack of a morale motivation, more and more people come back to the old faith. That's interesting and proves people's need to have a sense for their life. Most of them find it in the faith particularly because the faith is not linked by politics any longer. Christianity brings an innovation. Unlike oriental faiths, where the Universe is stable and life is conceived in an endless cycle, in Christianity a being's life is unique. He has and beginning and of course an end. The idea of singleness has great moral implications. All people will go in front of the God for a final judgement. He will weigh everybody's deeds and will give him a new life in the heaven accordingly to his deeds. In this way, people's life gets a sense. They are no longer convict to have a miserable life forever. From some passive, apathetic persons, they have become active people. It could explain the progress of the Europe in the good sense but their bad deeds too (wars, colonial conquest, etc.). Is the Christian morale a good one? We will never know. Pray or meditation? The word 'meditation' does not have sense in Christian doctrine. It is peculiar for oriental faiths where people meditate for to purifying himself for a future life. A Christian does not meditate but prays. During his prayer, he implores God to help him. People without much will, lazybones, or dishearten implore more often God's help. Trustworthy people instead usually forget the God, thinking that they succeed by themselves. They remember him only before an important but uncertain trial. Then, they ask for God's help to overcome the moment, or to conquer an enemy, even if this battle is contrary to the Christian doctrine. It makes me to think that our emotional mood needs the faith. In oriental faith, the salvation is individual. Consequently, a good believer insulates himself from the society; he lives in seclusion. Its religion tells him to not make bad acts, but not to make good ones. Christianity did it. From this reason, Christian believers live together, as one could not be good to himself. He needs a receiver for his kindness. Judaism and Christianity introduced the history: there was a beginning, and will be an end. Everything we do happens within this period of time, and we do it together. We are not some individuals living temporary in an infinite Universe, like in Hinduism. We live together in a limited period of time. Maybe we should think more about it. Man becomes man but by the community's virtues (Socrates). As the Bible is unique, there is the impression that it is for all the people. Today, every book has an address: books of chemistry, books of geography, books for children, for grownups, etc. Nobody read a book that is supposed to not be addressed exactly to him. No one write a book without address. Just during an author is writing a book, he has in mind someone who will read his book. Was God wrong thinking that Bible could be for all the people? No, God was not wrong, but when the Bible was written the number of those who were able to read was very small. They used to be the scholars of that time. Consequently, Bible had an exact address, just a very narrow one. They, those wise people, who were scholars, scientists and priests as well, should to read the Bible and convey its philosophy to common people, according to their understanding, using some reasons and parables for children, other ones for adults, some for ignorance and other ones for those with some knowledge. Even Jesus chose ordinary men as disciples, as he wanted to convey his teaching toward even more simple people. (The reciprocal statement is not true at all. Stupid people will never convey something to the others, not even religious ideas, despite of some neo-Protestant missionaries' pretensions.) Unfortunately, in the meantime, the wise priests disappeared and only simple ones have remained. This happened particularly during the Middle Age, when the clergy join with the political power and caught the test of power and richness. What happened afterwards has nothing in common with the genuine wisdom of Bible. What is the situation today? The priests do not keep any longer the power, but they are not capable to improve their message, and use the same reasons from the Middle Age. The wise people, namely the most intelligent ones, early from their childhood direct themselves to more pragmatic fields and become mathematicians. Nowadays, almost all people are able to read and write. But are they all prepared to understand the wisdom of the Bible? Is it enough to read the Bible? Surely, not! A tutor is necessary. Bible will always be the tutor's "manual of reference". The tutors first have to understand its spirit, because Bible must be understand in his spirit, not in its letter. Yes, it is true that the apostles were illiterate. Just from this reason, they were the best for conveying Jesus' message inside the society where they came from. Literacy would of no use. On the contrary! Nobody would listen to them. But nowadays most people are able to read. Someone similar of an apostle would need to have some master degrees in several fields, probably.
Copyright © 2004 Cristache Gheorghiu |