The World as I See it: Shack, A-No.-1 and Cigaret

"To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you will have to make a decision. To be or to do? Which way will you go?" - Col. John Boyd

By Rich Kozlovich

I know the title is a bit cryptic, unless of course you've seen the movie Emperor of the North Pole with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and Keith Carradine.

Here's the outline of the characters: 

• "Shack (Ernest Borgnine) is a merciless, inhumane, and sadistic bully, a dedicated Company Man/Railroad conductor on the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railroad, during the Great Depression". He happily kills (murders) anyone who attempts to hop a ride on his train. 
  
• A-No.-1 (Lee Marvin) is a hobo hero.  He's determined to ride Shack's train all the way to Portland, Oregon, and no one's going to kick him off.  
• Cigaret, (Keith Carradine) is a scheming back stabbing braggart who happily betrays him, and yet desperately wants to be somebody within the hobo ranks and tags along with A-No-1, attempting to take credit for A-No.-1's feats, and just about gets both of them killed.  

The movie was startlingly violent for that time, 1973. It ended with what I thought was a great scene.  After beating Shack half to death and kicking him off his own train in the middle of nowhere, he kicks Cigaret off the train for trying to take some credit for his victory shouting to him:

Hey kid you got no class. Hit the bums, kid. Run like the devil. Get a tin can and take up mooching. Knock on back doors for a nickel. Tell them your story. Make 'em weep. You could have been a meat-eater, kid.   But you didn't listen to me when I laid it down. Stay off the tracks. Forget it. Its a bum's world for a bum. 

 

You'll never be Emperor of the North Pole, kid. You had the juice, kid, but not the heart and they go together. You're all gas and no feel, and nobody can teach you that, not even A-No.1. So stay off the train, she'll throw you under for sure.

 

 Remember me for that. So long, kid.

And the movie, which I viewed as a lesson in life, was a box office failure.  The director said he'll never understand why saying: 

"I thought the symbols were so clear. It never occurred to me that the audience would miss the relationship – that Borgnine was the Establishment, that Marvin was the anti-Establishment individualistic character, and that Keith Carradine was the opportunistic youth who would sell out for whatever was most convenient............ Nobody cared."

Does anyone beside me see the parallels for this time?  The leaders today are either Shacks; vicious, self serving, and traitorous, or the Cigarets; invertebrates who will follow the latest philosophical flavor of the day, corruption not withstanding, if it will benefit them.  Both of whom are immune to the devastation they leave in their wake.  

That leaves us with darn few A-No.-1 characters in the mix.  Leaders who are prepared to draw a real line in the sand, and like the heroes of the Battle of the Bulge, taking  their stand, irrespective of the consequences, manning the walls telling the world; no one will harm you on my watch!

Paraphrasing A-No.-1 regarding the nation's leaders in the political, scientific, medical, media, academic, industry arenas:

You could have been meat eaters, but you didn't listen, wouldn't listen and didn't care. You'll never be real leaders! You had the juice, but not the heart and they go together. You're all gas and no feel, and nobody can teach you that. Steers got horns, and you got none.

Heterodoxy isn't for the faint of heart, and so the question remains. Does anyone care?  

The John Boyd Principle: 

At some point in our lives we come to a fork in the road and must make a decision. If you take one path you will be popular and you will be rewarded. If you take the other path you will be criticized, ridiculed and scorned. However, you won’t have to turn your back on your friends or your principles. If you are more concerned with accomplishing that which is right and best, the satisfaction for having stood against the conventional wisdom on right principles will be your reward, and you may actually accomplish something worthwhile.

To be or to do, which way will you go? The world is now aware that what appears as leadership within the nation is not real leadership at all; only self serving hucksters and con artists displaying an astounding lack of character. The only real leaders emerging to defend the Constitution and fight for justice and the rule of law are being attacked and smeared.  Leaders who are prepared to lose everything for that which is right, while being painted as unreasonable. My answer to that is this:   I would like for someone to show me any insurmountable obstacle that was overcome by being reasonable!

Being unreasonable in pursuit of a worthwhile goal requires definition, clear vision and understanding.  It takes courage, it takes fortitude, it requires the ability to stand outside the comfort and support of the group.  It means being a rock against the current. 

The link above in part deals with the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse case saying:

 I would be willing to bet the children Sandusky abused would have loved to have seen someone who was "unreasonable" in the university's ranks of ‘leadership’! Unfortunately there was no one!  Including a much beloved football coach who should've been in the forefront defending these kids.

To be or to do.  Which way will you go?