24 December 2017
I turned twenty-five the other day. It’s been a sweet ride and I had a lot of fun celebrating with some random folks from around the world. I’ve been a fortunate fellow with two loving and supportive parents, two excellent brothers, a fine education, and opportunities to travel the world. It turns out that I may be the luckiest boy in the world (knock on wood). I saw a sign when I was driving through Wyoming on my way to Colorado in September ‘017. It read, “Good luck is just hard work residue.” I liked that and it made me feel good about myself. I’ve worked hard enough but mostly have been able to say yes to opportunities at the right time. There was a lot of timing involved, some say I have excellent timing.
After that sign, a question I had been pondering for a while resurfaced. Why has it been so good for me and not for others? It was put into words today as I read Noah Diffenbaugh’s letter to the Stanford Class of 2021 regarding their 3 Book Summer Reading list. The list this time is themed in sustainability and equity. What stood out to me was the acknowledgment that my generation is facing a future of further degradation of the environment and ever expanding inequality. What I noted especially was the sentence regarding the inequality of wealth and opportunity in our world.
I am someone who has access to an unequal amount of opportunity. This was a focus of an existential crisis I was experiencing while home after a trip to Latin America in 2015. I had traveled from October to December and returned to the U.S. when I was low on cash. I had been out of school for one year and wanted something to focus on. One night my father and I were talking about things, drinking wine, getting down to it. He espoused a bit of wisdom and advised me to use my intellectual abilities to either find a way to make a lot of money or find a way to live without a lot of money.
Having a mindset that isn’t focused on acquisition leads to freedom. There are things I want and I find ways to get them. I stopped paying rent when I moved into an abandoned bus in 2014, lived in a closet, a garage, and most recently a 1992 Astro Van. I drink less not just because it’s bad for me but because booze is expensive. But to say that I’ve attained this status on my own would be a disservice to my parents and all others who have helped me along the way.
Inequality of wealth and opportunity in our world is ever expanding. I graduated from Fort Lewis College with a Bachelor of the Arts in Environmental Studies and a minor in Political Science. I finished without any student loan debt thanks to my parents. No debt makes me an anomaly in the United States. Through college, I worked summers as a raft guide and continued to do so until I transitioned to teaching whitewater kayaking. People my own age often tell me they are jealous of my ability to live without ties to anything and travel. The restrictive and destructive nature of student loan debt in the United States cannot be overstated (read this).
It has been three years since I graduated and I haven’t been in the same spot for more than three months at a time. I’ve chased fun and experience. I’ve been high in more than one sense and very low as well. I floated through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. I kayaked off of waterfalls in Mexico. I learned to surf in Nicaragua. I perused through one of the greatest collections of the world’s art in Paris at the Louvre. My younger brother and I rode our bikes around Europe with a friend and made new ones. We shared a meal of spaghetti cooked on a camp stove at the summit of Stelvio Pass in the Eastern Alps. We attained the summit as the sun finished setting over the mountains to the west and slept on a tarp in the corner of a parking lot behind a mound of snow. The list goes on. I’ve lived more in a few years than most would in a lifetime. I’ve met folks from all walks of life; from a recovered heroin addict/morphine producer in Mexico City to beautiful Italian ladies at 3 a.m. on the streets of Antigua, Guatemala.
I’ve benefited disproportionately from things like white privilege, wealth inequality, and opportunity inequality. Being a white male who is tall, not ugly, and reasonably fit has been good for me. My parents live simply and value the education of their children over a new house or new cars. They may have suffered for this. My opportunities are different even from the kids I graduated from high school with. Many of their families encourage them to follow traditional paths. My parents encouraged me to move 1000 miles from home, don’t stress about girls, think for myself, and question rather than assume. With their influence, doors opened, opportunities abound.
With all of that, life goes on, and I am gently pushed towards taking responsibility for my existence. This means finding ways to house and feed myself. I bought a van and moved into it. During that initial transition, I utilized social support systems like food stamps for a bit. I found ways to function in a world of wealth while learning to live simply.
All of this came about because I accepted help and worked to develop my situation. I believe the idea of pulling one’s self up by their bootstraps in a fallacy. I learned how important resilience is, both mentally and physically. I’m grateful for the help and support. Now I’ve decided to transition a bit. I am turning to different modes of existence. I will live in Honduras for a year. I’ll work with children that will never see the same opportunities or even entertain the same ideas I have. They have brown skin, don’t have parents, and live in a third world country. So what the fuck am I going to do for them? The status quo is stacked against them. I don’t know yet but I’m going to give a period of my life to influence theirs. Do I do it out of selflessness? I think partially, yes, but I am more inclined to have a cynical view of myself. I’ll learn to speak Spanish fluently, pad my resume with the title of P.E. teacher in an orphanage for a year, and the greatest opportunity I have that they don’t is the ability to return to the wealthy North with my U.S. passport.
So at twenty-five, I want to find ways to make the world a better place for all. Find ways for others to experience what I’ve experienced. All the things I’ve done have likely been at the expense of other peoples’ liberties. A friend told me that he voted for Trump because he saw dollar signs. Maybe the wealthy will stay wealthy and suppress and exploit the poor uneducated folks forever. I think the world has become too transparent for that. I smell revolution brewing out there in the free world. Hopefully, we can change things before nuclear war fucks everything up for everybody. So in conclusion, be nice to everybody, read books constantly, and don’t purvey war. Peace and love yo, good luck out there.
bdawgingit 