Politics

This T-shirt, pinned to the wall in Newport, OR, makes up for the one I was too chicken to photograph. It was being worn by a beefy sunburnt white guy in Miller-Sylvania State Park, WA. It read: “I believe in FAITH, FLAG, FAMILY, and FIREARMS.” It got me pondering my own alliterative slogans: I believe in Peace, People, Pluralism, and Poetry. Or maybe: Doubt, Diversity, Disruption, and De-escalation. How about: Conservation, Cooperation, Complexity, and Cleanliness? I’ve got nothing against faith unless it’s all caps FAITH. Then I want to let the air out of its tires for its puffed-up arrogance: FAith. Psshht. And flag is fine with me, too, as long as it’s not used as a signifier to denote white supremacy. Here is the Blue Lives Matter flag I saw flying over several RV’s and RV Parks, for example in Moro Bay, CA and Camp Sherman, OR:

I despise this corruption of the US flag to connote white power. I don’t like giving them our money for park fees. Other messages from the White is Right contingent include those celebrating the military, such as Freedom isn’t Free or the P.O.W. — M.I.A. flag. From a Tillamook, OR restaurant where we chose not to proceed:

I’m all for open-mindedness when exposed to other subcultures. That’s part of traveling. But I also want my tourist admiration and my tourist dollars to promote my view of the world: multi-layered and welcoming of differences. I knew once we left the Bay Area I’d be subjected to the vocal Christian Right. But I figured I’d talk weather or recipes, not Right to Life or Right to Concealed Carry.

A big disappointment for me has been how little respect the campers around me have for written rules. It doesn’t matter if they’re called “Things to Remember” (WA State Parks), “Courtesy Guidelines” (OR State Parks) or “Park Rules” (CA State Parks), the scoundrels, young and old, ignore them. First, they’ll try to get away without paying their fee. Next, they’ll get noisily, crazily inebriated. Further, they’ll set campfires and walk away from them or go to bed with the fires burning. Also, they have the misconception that the campfire pit is a great place to discard beverage containers or trash. It is a failure of the US education system that so many campers think bottles and cans might burn. Finally, they rely on the obedience to rules from others to allow themselves the freedom to disregard rules. For example, an off-leash dog is not a problem by itself, only to the leashed dogs it pesters. When I find myself rooting for the coyotes to take out the nippy off-leash Yorkie next door, or touchy Mr. Constant Yapper across the way, it’s time to take a deep breath and summon all my charitable thoughts to dispel the negativity. At least OR and WA State Parks allow dogs on trails.