Snakes everywhere

Before you decide I have gone completely off the deep end, consider reading the whole article by Sean Penn for The Nation magazine and also in Huffington Post. It is a long one and complex.

Yes, I know how many people dislike Penn and worse dislike the people he is writing about, but just give it a chance even though it's about names whom you think you already know all there is to know-- Hugo Chavez, Raul and Fidel Castro. Penn is writing about what he, as an ordinary citizen with extraordinary opportunities, has observed when traveling to both Cuba and Venezuela. I hear you saying what does he know? These are all bad guys. We know all we need to know. Do we?

How much do we really know about leaders around the world, about what is going on in other countries? Does our media inform us or is it a propaganda arm for the government-- whichever government? Penn titled his article 'A Mountain of Snakes' because of that with which we have to deal as people. Who are the snakes?

A lot of people have been suspicious of Penn being a socialist or wanta be communist because of where he has visited and what he has talked about; or they see him as a dumb actor who should stay out of world problems and politics. Most of all, those are the people who should read his article all the way through. Read it and think about it for awhile. Do we get the whole story in our country? Do we really have a free press? Government doesn't dictate to our press as they do in some nations; but what does dictate the stories we hear about? Do either party want us knowing what is going on elsewhere?

We have one segment of America who wants to praise everything our country does as we can have done no wrong and have no wrongs to overcome. They are the ones who were so offended when Obama said the Constitution was not perfect. They are the ones who ignore that the Constitution at one time forbid women and blacks from voting (or maybe they think that was the right idea).

We have another segment who sees us as the biggest evil in the world and that this country has done no good. I am not sure where they would direct our future because they don't see us as having one. Some relish the idea of all humans being destroyed, as though other animals would do a better job of running things. Wherever they think we should go, they don't like anything about where we are.

The world today is a very confusing place. We read something, and we don't know whether it's true or spin. And it's not just our country. This is a worldwide problem. Which leaders should we trust? What obligations do we have to others? What will happen if we try to fix this or that? What are the unintended consequences of our actions-- or inaction?

Penn's title to his article reminded me of something else I had read in Lynn's World. Before the election, a woman told Lynn that she had a dream where she saw snakes everywhere and had decided it meant Obama was evil. She feared what he would do if elected. Lynn, who is an astrologer, wrote about Obama's chart and how she saw him (she is/was a supporter).

Some years ago, I had the only dream I have ever had about snakes. It was before we moved down to this farm; but we were arranging to buy the property. In the dream, I was with a lot of people I didn't know and inside a building which was a church. Outside were snakes writhing on the ground everywhere. I woke up wondering what did that mean? Was it an omen? Was this farm to be a bad place? Was the church we ended up joining the bad place?

I have seen snakes many times since that dream but never have dreamed of even one again. A mountain of snakes is a frightening concept. Sometimes in Eastern Oregon, people come across rattlesnake balls as they gather together to hibernate for winter or come out of hibernation. I haven't seen such a thing but earlier this year did see photos of them in Arizona, snakes everywhere and not a place anybody wants to be who isn't a snake. It's frightening imagery.

Penn used the analogy to illustrate not just our risks, but I think how hard it is to unwind the truth. Journal style, he wrote about what he observed; and for his courage in going out into the world, in trying to make a difference, I have to admire him. It's not easy to go against the popular viewpoint.

It's especially bad if you say anything remotely good about what either Chavez or Castro have done in their countries. For one thing, what they have done might not be what they will do. To be honest, when I remember reading he had gone down to Venezuela earlier this year, I thought oh no. After reading his article, I think it was good he went. It lets us look at another viewpoint beyond our usual one.

Snakes reflect uncertainty, dangers, hidden risks. Whenever I have seen big ones in Arizona and I have seen a few very big poisonous ones, it always stops my heart a moment; but one of the most frightening of those times was coming home from the store, and my cat was sitting on the front porch looking at a huge snake that at first glance looked a lot like a diamondback rattler.

A ton of thoughts went through my head. Had he been bitten? That snake is huge. If I grab up my cat, who didn't seem at all afraid, would I get bitten? The snake wasn't looking at him but my cat was fascinated with the snake. Did he think he could eat the snake?

Then I stopped to look more closely. No rattles. Head was not shaped like a diamondback. It was actually a big bull snake, at least a four foot long, thick bodied and colored just like a diamondback; but nevertheless, one of the good guys.

I reached down and grabbed my cat while the snake continued to ignore us both. The cat and I went in the back door. I focused my camera for one good shot before the snake left the home zone. He was never a danger to me, but the fear was definitely real for that moment before I could analyze the facts of the situation.

I think reading articles like Penn's, even if you have never liked him at all, is a start in being able to assess our current dangers. He was there. He observed something. What do you think about it? Whether you disagree or agree, you can't assess it if you won't look.

The point of his story was not that we should make Chavez or Castro our new best friends. He was just writing what he personally observed with those leaders and in those countries. He could go where we cannot. As I best understood him, the snakes are that we don't know the full truth, and it benefits a certain group to keep it that way. It's that mob mentality, of the Black Friday sales, that often is the government and media's main schtick.

Yes, there are dangerous snakes out there, and there are those that are not. Being afraid to look, ignoring all possible facts, won't help us figure out which is which or deal with any situation realistically. Can we trust our leaders to do it all for us or should we be informed also?