The Bridge #53
in which we escape towards the past in order to shed light on our future
This edition of the The Bridge was originally published via Mailchimp in Sept 2022. I wanted to re-visit it today because it touches on themes that remain relevant to us now. While some thoughts have evolved (talking about digital spaces in comparison to cities has evolved from something I was reading and thinking about to become an essay with references to an Offline Mouse and Online Elephant that I recently published) — other ideas and experiences I had were well enough on point even back then to merit re-visiting. Hope you enjoy:
Hello
Could it be, I’m the only one sometimes wishing I could escape the care of a sick baby, crying in the night? [editor’s note: Lucky for me, with the passing of time, I have escaped this nightly reality. If you’ve recently needed to care for a sick baby during a time when you wished instead you were sleeping, then know: We are here with you, in spirit. Hopefully that’s helpful. No? Well then, “this is only temporary.” Also - feel free to take naps during the day. No shame. We parents of young kids need it!]
We can imagine the desire to escape is felt “only by us” and only by us “today” — because, for example, we face unprecedented crises [since 2022, would we say these crises are getting worse or getting better? Let’s debate. 😂] and never before has there been so much powerful technology!
But 380 years ago (for example), there was a man who perhaps wanted to escape the monotony of domestic life (hard to say!) and made his career in the navy navigating not only ships in battle but also the complex politics of England during that time. Here is a little of his story:
Something Interesting
Sir William Penn was not a man of high morals.
During the English Civil War, he fought against the crown. Then fought for the Commonwealth of Cromwell (a Puritan who took over the government for ~10 years), then switched back to the king after the Restoration -- but not for any royalist sentiments. He was interested mostly in… money.
In fact, King Charles II owed Sir William Penn so much debt (so much money) that upon Penn’s death, the king gifted the enormous colony of Pennsylvania to Sir William Penn’s son William Penn. [yes - they have the same name, and that is confusing.] The gift of land made William Penn the largest private landowner in the world at the time. He used that land to create a safe haven for Quakers and other religious dissidents from Germany (Amish, Mennonites) and France (Huguenots).
William Penn (the son) had been super interested in religious non-conformity since he was a teenager. A Quaker missionary had stayed in their home. Then, at university, he’d supported a free-thinking professor. His father hated it [turns out, religious non-conformity wasn’t a popular stance at court], and so William Penn was sent to France to further his education. Penn continued to pursue friendships with religious leaders who were anti-establishment, and despite estrangement from his father and an extended period in jail, Penn wrote very skillfully in defense of Quakerism.
Eventually, his integrity and courage gained the respect of his father, and on his death bed his senior pulled various political strings granting his son royal pardon as well as writing him back into the will.
Sir William Penn (the father), sailing the high seas and making deals with political leaders, behaved very like a modern-day high-powered business executive managing affairs in England, the Caribbean, Ireland, and The Netherlands.
His son a man of high ideals managed finances very poorly. Which meant that while Pennsylvania Quakers originally made true peace with the Lenape of the region, going against the typical narrative of colonial exploitation, ….. the colonial administrators who took over from William Penn in the early 1700s felt the need to approach matters in a more fiscally responsible manner. Their business savviness unfortunately meant taking advantage of Lenape gullibility.
& that is a story for another time.
Something Fun
The Sea Beast (Netflix)
Another kind of “escape” is to lose yourself watching an incredible movie!
Something I can recommend is to watch The Sea Beast, an impressively-animated newly-released film from a Disney-turned-Netflix storyteller Chris Williams and the enormous team assembled around him.
The amount of research, creativity and coordination required to create realistic storm scenarios with ocean waves, giant monsters from the deep and 17th-century style ships — think of the rigging: lots of ropes! — has me truly in awe.
For those who are less interested in behind-the-scenes stuff, it’s worth noting that the film is a riveting adventure that both my wife and 9 year old said they’d gladly watch again. [editor’s note: now the 9-year-old is a 12-year-old adolescent. Maybe we should revisit the film to see what she thinks of it nowadays? too risky?] The story is full of surprises, and I felt as though it magically carries us into a world that is changing. Rather than feel upset by that, we feel delighted. Change can be good 😊
The rules [of filmmaking] are changing: Netflix can create animated films that rival Disney. Rollicking seaship adventures can feature non-white, non-male sailors as central characters. Animated children’s movies can be scary and can teach us adults something. OK, maybe if I’m honest that last point has been true for like forever, but anyways - I really enjoyed this movie and think you will too.
Something Serious
The New Frontier of Belonging by Tina He (Fakepixels)
Tina He’s essay is a long read, one I had to read several times before fully comprehending. Here’s basically what she says:
At a key point in his life for very good reason, James Baldwin left NYC for Paris. Eventually he retired in southern France, and still he forever felt longing for America, for Harlem, for a more free world. He loved his new home and fought deeply in his writing to encourage greater inclusivity and dynamism for the home of his birth. This is paradox. Life is mystery.
Cities bring together people from all over the world. & yet today, many modern-day cities are full of places looking similar to other places in other cities. [editor’s note: one take is that “classical architecture” and globalized capitalism are to blame]
& so we have a hyper-individualist pursuit to be unique and different, to stand out from the homogenous monotony. & yet the internet allows us to find our niche communities, our “local” group of flannel-wearing freelancers hanging out in coffee shops building software while talking of revolution... who could live anywhere in “real” life. We don’t have to all be in the same geographic space to connect with each other. It’s like the internet is its own city. It’s pretty weird.
In fact, restaurants now are often at the mercy of global online reviewers as much as of geographically-local establishment-paid food critics. It’s a complicated and confusing dynamic to navigate.
& now there are DAOs, a way for the internet-immersed hyper-individualist to find justice via the collective cooperation of ... Do you know what is a DAO?
I’m not going to explain it here, but I will repeat a fact that is shared in the essay by Tina He : an NFT (specifically, a digital work of art by Edward Snowden) sold for $4.5million and was bought by a group of anonymous buyers with all proceeds benefitting the Freedom of the Press Foundation. This is an example of the power of DAOs.
You’ll probably need to spend (or have spent already) a lot of time on the internet to understand this completely. & maybe we should pass more of that time in our physically local communities instead?
Another of life’s paradoxes.
Something Friendly
Thanks to all those who inspire me, past and present. Thanks to you for reading. Thanks to my family for being not only people I sometimes want to escape from but also people I can escape with. When I am embraced by you it too feels like an escape. We are better together.
When hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes sweep away illusions of self-sufficiency, we are reminded how much we need one another, how much we depend not only on people but also on the larger web of life. We treat people with a different kind of respect when we consider that they might someday be pulling us out of the rubble. We treat the rest of life with a different kind of respect when we consider that without it, we wouldn’t be here at all.
This is Active Hope.
Thank goodness we can escape [in our heads, to whatever time and place is most nourishing for our needs right now]. There is always reason to hope,
JPC