Myth Circumnavigation: A Goal in Life or a Dead End? by Peter Foerthmann

Author:Peter Foerthmann
Language: deu
Format: epub
Publisher: tredition GmbH
Published: 2020-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

RESPONSIBILITY

Social interactions and sociability among sailors were considered in a previous missive, which concluded that frequently it all comes down to ego. A little give here and there can be the unavoidable price of the steady take, take, take and sometimes a veneer of magnanimity helps to oil the wheels of exploitation, but for many, all life centres on me Me ME – and the life afloat is no exception.

One measure of success trumps all others for this mindset and that is wealth, expressed as it may be through symbols such as my partner, my car, my house and my yacht. And the order is by no means coincidental: it takes a particular kind of person to turn the “natural” – pecuniary – order on its head and make a virtue of his or her necessity. It has to be said though that a certain sleight of hand can creep in here:

experts at this game know their audience expects tall tales, so they tell them even taller to make the desired impression! Or so it would seem.

Lies, especially falsehoods concealed behind a painstakingly woven mask of honesty, seem to be just a fact life. Idealistically one might expect advancing years – with the increased financial resources, accumulated experience and evolved view of life’s priorities (not to mention a greater willingness to admit our own failings) that tends to accompany them – to change things somewhat. Unfortunately, for this theory at least, intractability increases in step with age and wisdom – that and the certainty that the younger generation has no respect for us and little interest in our knowledge.

Time and again the ego takes centre stage. Impatience rules – who has the time to be understanding (assuming they even know how) – and money is always tight because someone somewhere always has the perfect temptation lined up to part the materially-inclined from every little extra wealth that comes their way. The result, envy, increasingly becomes the driving force of existence, bringing its presence to bear on every decision until trying to satisfy it becomes an end in itself. And one easy short cut to dealing with envy is to go from coveting what others have to denigrating who and what they are (or are perceived to be). What more effortless way could there be to shift the focus away from one’s own shortcomings and the woolly countenance looking back in the mirror. Baaaaah!

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