Faux Patriotism ~ by Hénock Gugsa

 

Faux Patriotism  ~~ Hénock Gugsa ~~

When I was in 10th Grade in Ethiopia (I won't tell you what year), I had a Canadian teacher who was literally a goldmine of both useful and trivial knowledge.  I swear he would have made a great "Jeopardy" champion had that TV game been around back then.
 

Anyways, I remember him telling us about a tiny Japanese town (or island) called USA. At the time, Japan was the up-and-coming economic threat to the United States. This teacher told us that Japan was labeling  some of its exported products as "Made in USA" and selling them worldwide. This little piece of information taught me a very wise life lesson: Never put much credence on labels!
 
The commercialization of patriotism is even more widespread now; and sadly, no one questions the legitimacy or veracity of labels anymore. If you remember back 15 years ago, in the aftermath of 9/11, the Chinese unloaded on us cheap "patriotic" items like U.S. flag pins and even U.S. flags. They were the most bizarre and absurdly exploitative commercial products in anybody's memory !!!
 
Rampant and dishonest commercialism/materialism is accepted as a fact-of-life. Even the most learned and leery consumers just smirk and stop questioning what is real and what is phony. When we stop questioning the truths behind labels, we are only a step away from forgetting our values. In the end, there is no difference between a phony (deceptive) product label and the phony (unsubstantiated) claims of patriotism.

Feeling Vindicated - by Hénock Gugsa

Feeling Vindicated *

- by Hénock Gugsa - 

Way back in '79, when I was in Ethiopia and working for Ethiopian Airlines, I was a member of a fleet expansion committee.  In our search for cost-effective aircraft that were good-fit for our needs, it was de rigueur to invite high-powered salesmen/engineers from internationally renowned aircraft manufacturers to come and present their products for our consideration.  The top companies in our sight-scope at the time were Boeing and the McDonnell-Douglas companies. 
I remember once, in one of the presentation sessions, asking the representatives of either Boeing or McDonnell-Douglas if they envisioned non-petrol consuming aircraft at some point in the future.  I specifically mentioned planes that would use solar power as energy source. 
My colleagues in the committee reacted with so much eye-rolling, smirking, and loud impatience.  That was bad enough, but the response I got from those salesmen was even worse.  It was non-committal, amused, and even condescendingly polite.  In essence, my question was treated as an inane exercise because it "seemed" to lack relevance to the discussion points on the table.  I must declare that it was devastatingly painful to be viewed as a foolish academic who was wasting everybody's time.
////====> But I am now remembering that push-aside dismissal, many years ago, with different eyes.   I feel vindicated now ...  I am glad I have lived long enough to see the possibility of solar aircraft becoming a practical reality.  
I have no doubt that, very soon now, such aircraft will, after some refinements, be commercialized; and they will dominate the world's skies !!! 
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*  This article is written in response to:  "Solar plane completes dangerous 3-day flight over the Pacific Ocean" ---------->
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/solar-plane-completes-dangerous-3-day-flight-over-the-pacific-ocean/