This was another indulgent day for me, spent walking and reading as I choose. I found a delightful corner of the Victorian Garden behind the Smithsonian Castle with an ornate cast iron chair and fired clay sidetable, hidden from the rest of the garden by a wall of lush tropical vegitation. I set up camp here for a couple of hours mid day and finished several chapters of Catton and one of Tainter before eating lunch. I have to remember to return to this space - extremely pleasant and comfortable - and very private for an otherwise public space.
Friend Ankit in Oregon reminds me via email that Talk Like A Pirate Day is coming up and I had to inform him that pirates have always been a favorite occupation of mine since they are natural anarchists and early supporters of real democracy. The so-called 'pirates' of industry were really more like traditional War Lords who use force to secure the largest share for themselves - very different from the ethos of the pirate who, in deliberate contradistinction to the traditional business arrangement on commercial sailing ships, tended to share whatever profit came their way equally and required no hierarchy of authority to run the ship. Of course, this only applied to their shipmates; if you were not a pirate (and of their crew) - watch out. This goes to the heart of "The Parable of the Tribes" and may explain a great deal about how human societies evolved and still function. Suspicion of strangers still seems to have a high survival value - even if we look down on it as crude and peasant-like behavior. Arr Arr.
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