Free and Easy . . . The Way It's Supposed To Be?

One of my favorite Crosby, Stills and Nash songs is "Wooden Ships," about survivors of a nuclear war sailing away for a part of the planet that hasn't been screwed up yet, in opes of rebuilding  civilization.  David Crosby, Stephen Stills and the late Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane (which also recorded the song)  wrote it in response to American society committing what looked like mass suicide in the late 1960s and how impossible living in America was becoming.   As powerful as "Wooden Ships" is, though, and as romantic is it might seem to want to start over elsewhere, the terrorist attack in Nice on Bastille Day and the attempted coup in Turkey only serves to remind us that nowhere is safe.  Some Americans might have a strong case of France envy when they see that country enjoying free child care and high-speed rail, but who cares nowadays when French day care centers and railway stations are susceptible to terrorist attacks?  And, of course, given that country's history, whoever heard of American expatriates settling in Turkey?    

There just seems to be no place to escape to these days.  People want life to be free and easy, but it isn't.  And even if there is a place to escape to, some people are inevitably going to get left behind because they can't escape.  Jackson Browne asked that question upon hearing "Wooden Ships" and wrote his song "For Everyman" as a response.

Guess we won't be setting a course and going . . ..