JERSEY COAST COMMENTARY

As cruisers down the Hudson River and along the Jersey Coast we often have the disconcerting feeling that none of this is “real”. Increasingly we are beginning to feel like we are part of one big “Disneyland for Adults” and we are all on the “water-ride” in a giant national theme park. The other participants in this watery experience wave to us from million dollar yachts as they speed by on the way to the next dockside “attraction” where we all stop for the night. When we arrive, we find facilities overflowing with flowers and “bonhomie” and filled with expensive white 3-tiered yachts—strung out like lines of wedding cakes—awaiting the return of their owners off partying in immaculate restaurants, cafes and bars. Everything here is pretty and polished—just like Disneyland. And the next day, as the “ride” continues, we all head out for more “fun in the sun” and the next Disney-docking-destination.

Although this is unreal for us—ordinary Canadians just passing through—it is shocking to realize that this IS reality for a certain segment of the American population who are oblivious to the poor and angry people that we know are somewhere out there hidden from our privileged vantage point. When I now hear the popular American mantra: “We must be willing to fight to preserve our way of life!” in the light of our experiences here, we’re beginning to have a whole different “take” on what this really means. The pampered people do not want to have to leave Disneyland! And maybe they’re willing to fight anyone—including foreign nations who control access to what’s needed to keep it operating and environmentalists who want to shut it down. Just a thought.,