Friday, April 10, 2020

Nixon, Watergate, China, and Today

On August 9, 1974 President Richard M. Nixon stepped down in shame, the Watergate Investigation bringing an end to his term of office. Then Vice-President Gerald Ford was sworn into office and many felt as if a great weight had been lifted from America's shoulders. Let's revisit that time for a moment...as it altered the course of the world in ways we are only just starting to comprehend.

August of 1974 was a much simpler time for me. A recent high school graduate, I found myself on an extended camping/canoeing trip in a remote section of the Adirondack Mountains of New York, with a group of friends and chaperones from the Ecology Club of Candor Central School. We had tirelessly worked recycling newspapers and then selling them to a scrap dealer, long before recycling was the norm, to fund our trip. The trip was an incredible opportunity for all of us involved, and I think we each grew personally as a result of our experience. We were isolated and insulated from the outside world...a time long before cell phones and pocket internet, we didn't even have a transistor radio with us. 

For a number of days, we enjoyed the serenity of one of Mother Nature's most pristine playgrounds. We paddled countless rivers and lakes, swam in cool, clear waters, camped in idyllic forest settings, dined on the "finest" dehydrated and freeze-dried entrees of the day, supplemented by the fresh catch of the day from the mountain waters,followed by spending our evenings enjoying the campfire and the sky filled with endless stars.Life was grand and we had no clue what was happening outside our small circle. Life was good!

As our trip was nearing conclusion, we found ourselves camped on the shores of Weller Pond. The plan was to camp there for two nights, so that we might have some time to get in a couple of hikes into the surrounding mountains. While enjoying the fire on our first night there, we decided that the following day, a small contingent of us would paddle to nearby Saranac Village to purchase some fresh supplies for a last night feast. Funds were pooled and we decided on a spaghetti dinner, with some sort of available snack for dessert.

At mid-morning on August 10th, we set out on our supply mission. Norm Szwec, Tom Cavataio, and I (it seems like there might have been an additional 2 or 3 people that were also along) began the two hour paddle into Saranac Village. The trip in was uneventful, we took our time and enjoyed the sights. Arriving in town, we found a spot to secure our canoes and set off in search of a nearby store. Things were about to get crazy.

We spotted a store no more than 100 yards from where we landed. Our party immediately set off in search of the required provisions. Upon entering the store, we were greeted with racks of newspapers, all bearing the same shocking headline. "President Ford declares our long national nightmare is over." We stood in stunned silence while the news set in....followed by a spontaneous celebration of whooping and hollering, handshakes and hugs, and giant grins. The local patrons looked at us as though we were insane. We decided to make a couple of small alterations to the menu and purchased our supplies. The clerk asked if we had been under a rock somewhere, as everyone knew this would be happening for the past few days. We explained that we had been on this trip without any outside contact. The locals still gave us the side eye as we gathered up the provisions...yes, we got the stuff to make spaghetti, but for a treat we purchased 3 six-packs of beer and a couple bottles of some cheap wine (before anyone gets their panties in a wad, 18 was the legal drinking age then), a few bags of Oreos and a couple bags of potato chips.

Supplies in hand, we rushed back to the canoes and paddled furiously back to camp to share the news with the rest of the group. To say that everyone was stunned would be a vast understatement. Once everyone had returned to camp from their day's activities, dinner was prepared and enjoyed by all. Dishes were finished, the campfire stoked and we sat down to discuss how the world had changed.

It was very difficult for any of us to find a silver lining to Nixon's Presidency, but we finally decided that even though there was a lot of bad to be seen, he might still be remembered as a "good" President as a result of his efforts to normalize relations with China. You have to remember that we were still at the height of the Cold War, China had the bomb, and Americans in general had a huge distrust of what they might do with it. By establishing diplomatic relations and establishing trade, most people felt that the threat was over...leaving only the Russians and their puppet states as the "enemy".

Looking back over the past 46 years, one has to wonder if normalizing relations with China was as good an idea as it once seemed. Our markets are flooded with cheap products, many of which are vastly inferior to products produced elsewhere. This has resulted in the loss of American jobs. China continues to violate human rights, worker's rights, child rights and by most accounts, continues to purge their citizenry of dissidents, those seeking religious freedom and persons the government deems inferior. The Chinese government still controls the media and actively censors information both in and out of the country.

While China didn't exactly drop "the bomb" on us. They still hold over 1 trillion dollars of our National Debt. We still buy products and services from them, that has a negative impact on the American work force. And we continue to purchase food and medicine from them which are not subject to the same protections for the consumer as foods and medicines produced by "Free World" nations.

Before you label this as a xenophobic rant, understand this...I hold no ill will towards any man, woman or child because of their race, religion, creed, nationality, ethnicity or other factor. That said, there is a vast difference between the ordinary citizens of China and the Chinese government, same as there was a huge difference between citizens of the former Soviet Union and the government of the Soviet Union. The desires and intentions of the Chinese, Soviet (now Russian) and some other governments is typically far different than the wishes and beliefs of the people. I don't for one minute believe the general populace of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea hold any ill will towards ordinary Americans, nor should there be any reason for Americans to hold any ill will towards citizens or descendants of those nations. It is the governing powers of nations that spread hate, distrust, and corruption across all our nations.

I firmly believe that virtually all people would prefer to live their lives in peace, prosperity and happiness, the sole exception being those few power hungry miscreants that somehow end up in power over the rest of the world population.

No comments:

Post a Comment