Ground Level

I’ve been to see the elephant. Often.* That means I went off and saw things, did things, and experienced life from the ground level. What I mean by ground level is that there were no tour guides, fancy accommodations, compensation packages, or gourmet meals. I traveled by thumb and Greyhound bus, not jet, or cruise liner.

Lots of the people whom I admire did likewise. My travels were mostly in the US, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean. But, I love to listen to the stories of those who went to China, the Solomon Islands, or the Philippines, and likewise did it at ground level.

Beware, oh take care!

Ground-level travel has a high intimidation level. And there are any number of places that I’d pass on that experience. I’ve run fast to get out of a few, so I truly advise against the risky or plain stupid. Let’s bold that – I advise against the risky or plain stupid. Common sense ( that, as Twain observed, is not common) is a requisite for successful ground-level travel. Remember, the idea is to see the elephant, not get trampled by it.

Assumptions

Ground level travel mostly gets you past the conundrum of not knowing about people who are different than you. No, you don’t come to the earth-shattering realization that all people are alike. You do arrive at an understanding that most people start with the same basic toolset of capabilities, wants, and needs. They then build on that to build amazingly diverse social structures. They are not just like you, and making the assumption that they are is insulting.

Common Ground

I think it’s easier to find common ground with people with whom you’ve shared a common experience than with those who are strangers. This is the advantage of not traveling in high style. It’s not like flashing the secret signal or exchanging the special handshake. When there are disagreements, it may not be a kumbaya moment. It’s just understanding the others’ viewpoint and history.

At the Factory

Working at a clothing factory was an important experience for me. I was on the road, and took the job to pay for necessities while I experienced the local life. I met people to whom I was a serious oddity with regard to job prospects, upbringing, expectations, religion, and lifestyle. They were to me what I was to them.

In the intervening years, I do not believe that the American economy and society have improved their lot. And to an extent, we did abandon people like them.

This is why I object when wonderment gets expressed about the wave of populism we are experiencing. As a society, we left a huge segment of the population behind after treaties like NAFTA. The promise was that there would be better and greater to come. But we provided little in the way of retraining, oppoptunity, or education.

Having lived and worked alongside some of them I can understand why you can get desperate and angry. Do I agree with the course taken? No. But I know where it comes from.

I hit the road at a time when there was widespread dissatisfaction with Post-War America. We were questioning our values, and people seemed to be awakening form a slumber. So travelers at ground level like myself had a lot to take in. I think we’ve taken the wrong road recently re-stratified, and locked ourselves in little boxes with screens that feed us all we need to know. The worst part of that is that we accept that information without going out to verify it’s accuracy. We accuse AI programs of hallucinating and fabricating data. Yet our consumption of pre-digested crap via media outlets remains largely unquestioned.

Get out there. Do some ground level travel and research. Verify for yourself what the actual reality is.

See:https://loucarrerascarver.com/2024/06/17/off-to-see-the-elephant/