Nothing to do with the Kids at the Outer Banks? Kayaking!

The Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina is a really pleasant place. It’s quiet; the food’s great; it’s great for family. But what if the family gets restless? You’ve done the mini-golf and the movies. What might be new, different and fun, and take advantage of the fact that you are where you are?

Try this one: kayak. I went kayaking with my college-age daughter in the Alligator River National Wildlife Reserve this summer, and it was a fabulous change-of-pace. Keep this in mind: we are not an outdoorsy family; we had never kayaked before; and my daughter is not exactly Nature Girl. However, all the key ingredients are there. It is easy. It is not particularly expensive. It is interesting. It is fun. It is relaxing.

We began with a call to one of the outfitters in the Outer Banks. We paid in advance over the phone. The next morning we met the truck towing the kayaks at a centrally-located Walgreens (Mile Post 9) and proceeded on the 40 minute drive to where the kayaks go in. There are other choices as far as location. There is kayaking on the Currituck Sound, for example. There is a sunset kayaking excursion. I chose the one I did because it was guaranteed to be calm water – no chop – AND I wanted to be in a quiet and isolated place.

We surely were. A few strokes into the reserve and there were only the sounds of the forest and the paddles.

Our guide, Rod, himself a product of North Carolina, having lived everywhere from Cashiers to Wilmington, had everyone give themselves an animal name that began with the same letter as their own – a nice little name game. So we had Jaguar (Julia), Red Wolf (Rod), Aardvark (Annie), koala (Kerry), and Bobcat (who else? Bob). Our expedition consisted of two novice families.

It was very quiet, and therefore easy for Rod to tell us about the nearby defunct town, the moonshiners who used to run whisky through this formerly-dry territory, the peat fires that periodically burn in the reserve, and the old railway line that was still evident in some parts of the reserve. There was a little politics in the lesson, but only the neutral instructive kind.

Much of the kayak route was in open water, but the second half of the adventure was through a narrow channel in the swamp. In some places, kayaks would get stuck, but every one of us novices was able to extricate ourselves from these situations and move on.

The expedition took three hours. But you wouldn’t know it, it was pleasant exercise. My daughter had to take a nap later, but other than that, no problem.

It’s not that there aren’t some…issues. Our guide told of some days when the deer flies were so bad that he refused to go out. But even in a place where the heat can be oppressive, this was shaded, or had a nice breeze over the open lakes.

Oh, about the alligators. They are there, but we didn’t see any. There is other wildlife, but we didn’t see any. There was an interesting sign on the way in. It said that tonight’s howling was canceled. There is a transplanted population of red wolves in the reserve, and you can get nighttime excursions to howl with the wolves. That would be different, don’t you think?

It’s No Secret: The Cause of the World’s Problems is Bored Young Men?

Today's world, like past times, is beset by crime, violence, poverty, and injustice. It is a complex task to establish the causes for violence in different parts of the world. Historians, sociologists, and geographers grapple with these issues. Politicians, world organizations, and non-governmental organizations try to do something about them. Although it is a tough sell to claim to identify a unifying cause, the manpower for violence in the world is found in one factor. In today's world, as in the past, the combination of hard times and disillusioned young men make for a violent mix.

The common denominator for violence in the world is the lack of opportunities for young men. This is true in the inner cities of the United States and it is the main cause of high crime rates. This is the case in violence-prone trouble spots around the world. It has also been true in crises throughout modern history. Unproductive lives of young men lead to violence.

In the inner cities of the U.S., the main cause of high crime rates is underemployment of young men. The unemployment rates in poor urban areas of the U.S. tend to be two or three times that of the national average. For young men, it is even worse. In Southeast D.C., the unemployment rate for young men is around 40%. When men do not have jobs, they cannot support a family, and both men and women do not see the advantage in marriage. Therefore, children tend to be raised by single women, with little support from the men. A startling fact is that the poverty rate in America for children whose mothers wait until they're married to have children, wait until they are 20 year old to have children, and obtain a high school degree is seven percent. For all others, it is 85%!

When men do not have to get up for work, and do not have family responsibilities after work, what will they be doing late at night? With little at stake, they take on risky behaviors that are violent or lead to violence.

It might be argued that the women have an equal role in the pathologies of the ghettos. Even though the crime rate for girls has climbed, and even though irresponsible behavior among girls adds to the degradation of inner-city life, the violence is particularly a male domain.

In poor nations, violence is caused by under-productive young men. Besides the crime situation, similar to that of inner-city America, there is the political violence that destroys societies in many places around the world. In Haiti the unemployment rate for young men exceeds 50%. Available jobs are government jobs obtained by the party that wins an election. So elections are not peaceful civic affairs like we know them. They are matters of providing productive livelihoods. Young men intimidate voters, and if their party loses, use violence to try to change the results.

Many countries do not have working democracies, so that young men do not have any outlets for their frustrations. In places like Palestine, with unemployment hovering at 60%, young men are easily led to radical politics. The manpower for terrorism comes from the refugee camps and jail cells. Young, largely-uneducated men are easy marks for political demagogues; they follow these radical leaders thinking it is a way to be important when the society around them indicates that they are not.

Besides the examples in modern-day America and around the world, history holds examples of great trouble being caused by unproductive young males. In the 1930s, with severe, world-wide unemployment, young men were on the city streets, panhandling or looking for work or merely hanging out. The political radicals of the time such as Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy were able to motivate these men into being the instruments of terror for fascist governments. In Germany, the SA (Storm Troups) and SS (Shield Squadron) were young men given a mission and a purpose. In Italy, the Blackshirts (CCNN) manned Mussolini's police state. Earlier, in czarist Russia, young idealistic men with no discernible options for changing Russia, turned to the Bolsheviks and other radicals. They, along with disillusioned young soldiers, provided the manpower for the first communist revolution. Modern history is replete with examples of men being motivated toward violence by the lack of economic opportunity and political voice.

Some might argue that young men could not have succeeded if they acted alone. For example, Hitler’s ascension to power depended on older people and women voting power to the Nazi party. That is true, but the Nazis would never have been in a position to be voted in if it were not for young men and their tendency to be duped by radical nationalist politicians. One might argue also that once Hitler took power and unemployment fell to seven percent, that the young men would no longer be motivated to extreme politics. But by this time, the police state was in place, the propaganda was flowing, and the damage was done. In fact, many Germans were grateful for Hitler raising German pride after the defeat of World War I and the Great Depression.

A common thread runs through the problems of the world: the feeling by young men in difficult times that they are not worthy. In American inner cities, unemployed men seek quick gains through gangs and violence because their view of their own futures is not bright. In poor nations around the world, political violence appears in places where young men are increasingly frustrated by economics and politics. But it is not a new phenomenon; there are historical examples demonstrating this to be a long-running problem. In looking at trouble spots in our nation, throughout the world, and throughout history, a common denominator is populations of bored, unproductive young men.

America in 2010: What we are not

Reporter and author David Halberstam, who died in 2009, once said, "America is a generous and strong country. It is fashionable to make fun, but it’s true." You can see this generosity all over the world. In Africa, between our government's aid and private initiatives by people such as Bill and Melinda Gates, we spend more to combat AIDS than any African government does. Even the totally self-indulgent NBA is contributing to fighting malaria. Its Nothing but Nets program provides African families with mosquito netting that cuts malaria cases by 80 percent.

Around the United States, volunteers are working in locations in need of housing, education, and environmental clean-up. This is an important part of the American character. But as we begin the next decade, we should take note of a couple serious flaws in that character. We should face the things that we are not.

(1) We are not a people who play by the rules. Every presidential candidate talks about it; every president refers to it. We are, they say, a people who play by the rules, and as such should be treated fairly. But that is not who we are.

In some very important ways we do abide by the law. After Supreme Court decisions on divisive issues, Americans who may disagree vehemently will still accept the decisions. After elections, we abide by the results.

But in day-to-day matters, we show a blatant disregard for the law. You need go no further to see this than to take a ride. Speed limits are the law, but we do not follow them; worse, we do not tolerate people who do. It is against the law to tailgate, and aggressive driving is a crime. No matter; both are commonplace. People make up their own traffic rules. As a result, we lose 43,000 Americans a year in car wrecks. The number one killer, more even than alcohol, is speed. Fact: if we slow down, we save thousands of lives. But we as a society have made the decision that these deaths serve our freedom to drive how we want. And yet, how often do you see someone speeding, tailgating, and weaving dangerously in and out of traffic only to roll up next to them at the next light? Thousands of lives lost and nothing gained.

People cheat on their income taxes - that is to say, people violate the law to the tune of about $350 billion a year for individuals and maybe another $250 billion for corporations. You’ve heard the arguments. The tax code is unfair. Why shouldn't I get away with things if big corporations and rich people do? My tax money goes to things I oppose. It is merely the law, and we see ourselves above it.

(2) We are not a civil society. Someone asked me to download 'lil Wayne's latest, No Ceilings. I couldn't. It was n-word this and f-bomb that and weapons and weed. Nothing uplifting, nothing positive anywhere on the CD.

Look at the blogosphere. In a typical chat room or blog, there may be an attempt at discussion, but it very quickly deteriorates into personal attacks and obscenity. The subject hardly matters. You can look at a blog on the Chicago Cubs, one you would think would be wholesome and baseball-oriented (though, admittedly, depressing). But quickly you find out what graphic acts fans want to administer to the general manager - and his family! - over some measly trade.

Last week I was being passed on the highway by an elderly gentleman, who was going 60 to my 55 mph. A motorcycle roared up behind him. As soon as he could, the biker whipped around the car, giving him the finger and cursing at him. For what? For driving the way he should. Besides the lawlessness, traffic is another example of the incivility we have become accustomed to.

In 2010 there are two ways we can make our own society better and safer, and it will not cost us a thing. We can make up our minds to obey the law and we can try to treat each other civilly. That’s all. Are we willing to do that?