By Carol Lucas
In last week’s piece, I opined about my love for William Shakespeare and an even greater love for teaching it. I used quotes from his various plays to make several points regarding the situation in which the United States finds itself today.
While I rarely do so, I posted that article on Facebook, saying that I dedicated it to my former students who struggled through this part of my English class several years ago. Because I am in touch with many of them, I thought they might get a kick out of reading it, and I did receive several responses.
All this to say that, once again, I am going to lean on the Bard, using a quote from Julius Caesar to support another issue, that of reacting to the dangers of the time.
It is Brutus who speaks to Cassius saying,
There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat …
(Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III)
The literal meaning of this quote was based upon the idea that ships usually need high tides to enter a port or leave it. Men cannot control these tides, though when these tides come or leave the coast, the ships in waiting must seize the opportunity without delay.
Figuratively, these lines address a complex idea of interplay between free will and fate, both of which affect all of us. Nevertheless, we humans must be insightful enough to recognize opportunities granted by fate and to act accordingly.
As I watched the staggering numbers of people throughout the country, indeed, across the world, who came out recently to protest for No Kings Day, I could not help but think about this quote by Brutus.
Is the tide sufficiently high at this time in our nation’s history that we can still take to the streets to protest peacefully? It would appear so when you consider that the only real confrontation that had the potential to become ugly was in our own state in Myrtle Beach. There a woman drove by the demonstration brandishing a gun. She was jailed and later released.
To say that the presentvadministration is attempting to stymie our 1st Amendment rights on many levels is an understatement. Let’s be forthright, and note that 47 has used the word “retribution” himself, and these past nine months have been just that and only that.
Very little that is positive has taken place simply because the focus has been exclusively on 47’s need to retaliate against those perceived to have spoken out against him. He has engaged in an all-out assault on first amendment rights, attempting to force every sector of society to adopt his viewpoint or face retribution, be it revocation of rights, deportation, or jail.
Organizations are cowed by threats to cut off their funding if they speak or associate in terms deemed unfavorable. Students and university faculty on visas fear speaking or publishing on issues that are disfavored by the administration.
Nonprofit groups, universities, and corporations have moved quickly to scuttle policies and eliminate “wrong-thought” from their websites and public facing materials amid threats to revoke federal funding and scare off clients. (Huffington Post)
People like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerburg and other billionaires curry favor at every opportunity when one would think that of all people, they should be able to stand on their own.
David Cole, former legal director of the ACLU and law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is quoted as saying, “This is the most concerted assault on free speech since the McCarthy era.”
When I say the big chill, don’t think of “that” movie, think George Orwell’s 1984. Think of the pall that could consume the country if it weren’t for those seven million-plus who went into the streets on a Saturday to express themselves and peacefully protest. They, along with the courts, primarily the lower counts, are the people’s retribution
And so back to my man, Bill, and his lesson about taking advantage of circumstances while we still have the chance. I referred to the participants who marched on No Kings Day to protest this administration and all of its fascist retribution. They, dear reader, have read the tide, and are taking the opportunity to use it.
We don’t want to look back in despair, only to find ourselves bound in shallows and miseries for an unforeseen time.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
