In the heart of Gloucester Massachusetts, stands one of the nation's first monuments to the supply chain.
A monument to the brave folks who battled the North Atlantic to bring home the much-needed seafood for the people of the North Shore.
It was hazardous work. Still is. Today: fishermen rank as the number 2 most hazardous occupation, behind only lumberjacks. These brave souls literally risk their lives, to sail upon a highly unpredictable ocean.
And fishermen are certainly not alone in their dangerous occupation. In fact, the so-called supply chain is filled with jobs that present a daily risk to life and limb.
Also working the supply chain, are such risky jobs as oil workers, airplane pilots and support staff, farmers, ranchers, and most visibly Truckers.
And it's Truckers, beginning in Canada, but now around the world, who have caught the imagination of the world. Beginning at the two ends of that continental nation. In British Columbia and Nova Scotia, truckers first caravan-ed to Ottawa, and now occupy that city.
And the Canadians aren't alone. All together there are currently 25 major demonstrations around the world. And like these truckers the demonstrations are aimed at stopping the vaccine mandates, the politicians have imposed on the various countries.
It is the largest collective demonstration that I've ever seen. Larger than the anti-war demonstrations of the 1970s or the civil rights demonstrations of a decade before.
These are actions by a substantial portion of the population, and they are growing by the day. It is not unusual to see videos of literally hundreds of thousands of people. United in their opposition to the mandates.
And if you've noticed we're beginning to see those other high-risk occupations: The farmers in their tractors, the ranchers on horseback, join in the demonstrations. And I have no doubt that the fishermen will also join in, once they find suitable overland transportation.
I suppose it goes without saying that there are many who wish to vilify these hard-working men and women. Those, who in my day we referred to as the “establishment” and today are most often called the “deep state.”
The politicians and media personalities are most responsible for the oppressive policies that have been in response to the virus. The economic lock-downs, the vaccine passports, and now the mandates. All of which has put our lifeline, the economic supply chain in peril.
What irony.
These are men and women, who deal with risk every single day. Can you think of anything riskier, than to drive an 18 wheeler through the snow and ice of a desolate Canadian highway?
Facing the very real possibility of being blown off the road, or skidding out of control on a patch of ice, or we could go on and on. You get the picture.
Risk is their middle name. How to estimate risk. How to avoid risk to the extent possible. And how, if the worst happens, how to deal with the worst.
They live with risk every day.
Yet today, a group of pampered bureaucrats in air-conditioned offices, are taking our truckers off the road, our ranchers off the range, our farmers off their tractors.
Why? To avoid the risk of a virus.
Truckers, farmers, ranchers: people who spend much of their days alone. Socially isolated. But they too must comply with the mandate.
What a great irony. These people bring us the necessities of life: our food, fuel, and all the goods that stock the store shelves. They are just asking to be left alone. “We can judge the risk,” they say.
In another era, we build monuments for this kind of people.
We celebrated: “They who go down to the sea in ships...”
