His spouse and household had been aboard the lifeboat which held about 150 individuals. The majestic ocean liner which they initially sailed on was already deserted, and there have been now 30 of those lifeboats scattered on the floor of the tough Atlantic seas. From the second the cruise was being deliberate on the SS West, Erik had voiced issues about this titanic vessel of over 52,000 tons. The ship builder behind the SS West, Orange Star — the primary outstanding worldwide company of its kind, had practically 2 hundred years collectively with influential organizations and spy networks that traditionally triggered bother for the trustworthy engineers. The cruise line carrying the passengers, Clown World Cruises, was a pacesetter in leisure, particularly for teenagers and younger impressionable adults, but additionally famend for shady collaborations with the shipbuilder. Erik, a fan of ocean-cruising historical past and a mechanical engineer himself, had invested hundreds of hours learning thick books on these problematic ship designs from the unique Yellow Star Engineering of the 1800s by way of to its competitor Pink Star earlier than their 1905 merger. His curiosity in ships and cruising was piqued by his years serving on the excessive seas within the U.S. Navy. However neither his sensible or mental background did any good to earn his household’s respect for his drumbeat of worries and critiques, for the propaganda and promotions that got here from serving Clown World had been simply that good!
The corporate’s nautical failures — even catastrophic sinkings — have at all times been overcome by a superior public relations group that brushed apart the blame and hid the identification of the surface “specialists” that changed the potential for sound engineering with a sample of corruption. And naturally, Erik was nicely conscious of the whistle-blowers, historians, authors and others whose lives could be dramatically altered for confronting the problematic proof — Bey, Timayenis, Ford, Lengthy, Lindbergh, Reed, Yockey, Oliver, Solzhenitsyn, MacDonald and Unz had been a number of the large ones Erik’s spouse was bored with listening to about.
The basis of free expression for these males was at all times in battle with the specialists’ pursuits. And though Kennedy wasn’t publicly identified for venting in opposition to the ship builder, historians researching his archives have actually dug up attention-grabbing clues that made him a goal too, for his WWII Navy expertise actually helped his understanding of seaworthy building. Orwell, then again, was left alone and even revered. The characters in his e-book could be left unchanged by the writer, his euphemisms and symbolism for disguising his warnings unscathed, because the powers-that-be knew that inventive fiction might by no means reach instructing the final lots an everlasting lesson, for hardly anybody reads any extra! However trying on the record of those that’ve referred to as out this Orange Star and Clown World in a technique or one other — and there actually have been scores greater than talked about right here — none dared name them “supremacists” for his or her corruption of the transport and cruising business…save one…a brave professor of historical past from Duke College who shall stay anonymous. As soon as a not-uncommon determine on political TV reveals with a mind functioning like a strolling encyclopedia, he could be eternally censored and defamed for introducing this label of energy and management on the title of one among his books.
Erik wished this was a foul nightmare! Even worse, as he regarded over his overloaded boat (together with castaways from Africa, the Center East, Asia, Central and South America that had been humanely rescued by Clown World), it appeared to him as if this mass of individuals didn’t even acknowledge that the SS West was partially submerged behind them. The passengers, all of them, saved their backs to the West and gazed on the lovely solar slowly setting, sarcastically, within the west…as if locked in a trance. Erik scanned his eyes in direction of the opposite lifeboats and observed the identical eerie and droning conduct in all places, a sight that mimicked the web meme of NPCs again within the Trump days. Moreover, the bulletins, the ballyhoo, and the chatter of those ill-fated vacationers signaled their perception that they had been merely occurring a brief tour to an unique island, and that the SS West was nonetheless intact. As unusual as this actually was, it appeared that none of those passengers would have even acknowledged if an elephant had joined them on their boat. And when this accountable father-of-three sought the eye of his family to clarify his dissention over the double-talk, even they had been now on the level of tuning him utterly out, bored with listening to what they deemed “conspiracy theories.” However Erik repeats himself underneath stress, and there was not any protected harbor to show to.
Fortunately there have been no IGF fighter jets strafing their lifeboats as we speak like Orange Star did again on June 8, 1967. That was possible imagined to be a fast and soiled erasure to arrange a false flag, however to the credit score of the brave U.S. Navy servicemen, their plans went awry. What impressed Erik most on this historic tragedy is what number of of his mates who’d been gifted books on the occasion by no means appeared wanting to open up and focus on the details. Oh, they’ll speak purple, white, and blue all day and declare to be “patriots,” however they tacitly have accredited the silent remedy on a very powerful topics of our instances…loyalty, pursuits, and overseas entanglements. Erik presumed that these mates could be okay if their son acquired a Medal of Honor and the ceremony was sidelined to an outdated Navy hangar in order to not embarrass Orange Star. The main points of this betrayal are unfathomable, however we do stay, the truth is, underneath the spell of Clown World media masters!
At present it appeared that the strategy of drowning could be extra gradual. Every lifeboat was configured the identical. Erik observed a sample, as engineers are likely to do, and it wasn’t trying good. There have been two Orange Star specialists at each bow working collectively, however these people had been at all times instantly surrounded by 4 giant and outstanding figures that instilled confidence within the security of the boats whereas concealing the actions of the 2 Orange Star advisors. One wore a captain’s hat, one other was a well-known (has-been) superstar that had been acting on the cruise liner, the third was a politician of notoriety, and the fourth was a girl of the material. This formation on the head of his lifeboat and each different inside Erik’s sight introduced forth nice fear. He had learn quite a few accounts from the boating business that the captains and officers of this cruise line had been typically bribed to toe the celebration line, and the celebrities would “by no means work once more” in the event that they voiced their goal viewpoints on the shenanigans they’ve witnessed onboard the ships! The politicians, who infamously turned a blind eye to the corruption and enabled the perennial funding for Orange Star’s machinations had been typically thought to have been blackmail victims, succumbing to threats of exposing their naughty conduct at notorious Caribbean resorts. And the clergy members, being sympathetically drawn in to victimhood narratives, had been so simply exploitable by the powers that be. On Erik’s lifeboat, this clergy member was a girl sporting a t-shirt displaying quite a few non secular symbols barely altered and all linked collectively, spelling out the phrase “PEACE.”
The sweat of the solar beating on Erik’s face didn’t hassle him as a lot because the state of affairs he knew he and his household had been going through! As he peered nearer to the gaggle on the bow, he observed water flowing between the superstar’s and politician’s toes. This flooding of the vessel was undoubtedly stemming from behind the wall of 4. Erik rushed to the entrance to get a greater look, and noticed one of many specialists hacking away on the flooring with a pointy object. He hoped the opposite skilled — the one with the small hat — was a bona fide sailor with the abilities to cease the leak, however on additional examination he concluded that this was not a sailor’s cap, and the 2 had been working in unison.
With the entrance of the lifeboat, appropriately named The Savior, now itemizing to the left, Erik peeked again on the SS West, about 90 p.c underneath water. Along with his morale deflating additional and his psyche turning in direction of survival mode, he grabbed his spouse and household right into a huddle and urgently pleaded with them, “Do you all not see what is going on right here? Our boat is being sabotaged!” His spouse snapped again with the facility of a whip, “What’s incorrect with you? Once I married you, I didn’t join a mariner’s historical past lesson and all of your negativity! You might be at all times a glass half empty, aren’t you?! I hear that the mojitos at our island vacation spot bar are to die for, so loosen up for a change and benefit from the picturesque sundown!”
And as quickly as she give up her retort, an echo of serene sound stuffed the salty air, as if humpback whales had been swimming shut by. Then there was one other echo, however this time he clearly knew it wasn’t marine life, however probably these distinctive animal noises carried out by King Crimson’s guitarist Adrian Belew. However after the third echo, the sound was confirmed! It was the intro to a tune Erik had rocked out to ever since highschool, at all times digging the killer riffs, the huge tone and guitar lead of this radio basic. How seductive this tune had at all times been to him, and the technical developments of the iPhone 15 belonging to the determined Somali refugee on The Savior did a pleasant job taking part in it so all 150 might hear the crisply distorted chords of the Gibson Les Paul humbuckers and the silky slide lead of the pedal metal guitar. Erik’s head began bopping alongside to the 98 beats-per-minute pulse of Pink Rider’s Lunatic Fringe as he joined the group’s wolf-like howl following each verse, “oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh.” Erik had by no means truly delved into the that means of the lyrics, however this tune was overtly about him — and it wasn’t picture — nevertheless it bolstered the mainstream narrative that there’ll at all times be people and teams on the perimeter of society, holding conferences in hiding whereas exercising wrong-think!
For the reason that web and song-meaning web sites weren’t round when this iconic rock piece turned in style, Erik, too, was for many years duped into liking and appreciating Lunatic Fringe for its sound. This hit was not only a voice for the songwriter’s state of mind (and probably even his girlfriend’s), but additionally supplied substantial attain of his message and honors in an leisure business totally accredited by Clown World Cruises. Rumor even has it that the pro-IGF mob of counter-protestors contesting UCLA’s peaceable anti-genocide activists had been blasting Lunatic Fringe shortly earlier than they sprung their violent 2024 late-night tent assaults. These unlucky, humanely minded college students by no means heard their footsteps coming. And for the Orange Star specialists, this was open season in Twilight’s Final Gleaming! So a lesson late in life for Erik and all his extracurricular research and expertise was that he by no means totally comprehended how insidious a lot of Clown World’s messaging at all times was.
The ocean concurrently subsumed The Savior, the SS West, and the 29 different lifeboats, the ultimate two B-minor chords rang by way of Erik’s head, a euphoric neurobiological sensation that numbed all his senses from the present trauma and introduced again reminiscences of his snug but adventurous life fleeting throughout his eyes. These final two chords had been the identical as these discovered to start with of the tune. How acceptable! And in the long run, songwriter Tom and his supporters didn’t let Erik “kill the laughter,” as a result of they cleverly by no means let the ultimate resistance start.
Burbling water now silenced Erik’s ears, leaving his imaginative and prescient because the final sense of his environment. With a last glimpse of the bodyguards on the bow, and possibly only a hallucination amidst the chaos, he observed an extra particular person aiding the 4 already defending the 2 perpetrators…the helpful fool.
Erik’s final breath consumed his thoughts for one last minute. At first his ideas centered on the phrases of a central determine from a 2013 speech, phrases caught in his head, phrases troubling him as to who spoke them: was it that politician or a type of helpful idiots? Nonetheless, they penetrated the depth of his consciousness: “No group has had such an outsized affect per capita…so many notions which can be embraced by this nation emanate out of your [maritime?] historical past, custom and tradition…all these actions…I wager you 85 p.c of these adjustments are a consequence of you, Orange Star specialists and Clown World Cruises.” However lastly, he let go of his deep muse and grasped for his spouse, chain-linked by arms and fingers to the remainder of his household taking place in the identical ocean their ancestors as soon as commanded as Nordic kings. Erik used the final pocket of air in his mouth to move his last phrases on to her face. And in a darkish abyss the place ignoble individuals needed to blame somebody for his or her confusion, he might need sarcastically stated, “I instructed you!” As an alternative, his lovely and tolerant spouse, sleepy-eyed and waking up, lifted her head from the mattress pillow and shook her husband’s shoulder to evoke him for the splendid sunny morning, with plentiful bird-chirping nature sounds that greeted them each. And with cheerful sincerity she spoke, “AW, I LOVE YOU TOO!”
No matter how his spouse and household perceived him by way of the years, Erik had at all times, the truth is, been the diehard optimist. Undaunted, he however confronted large odds. It was love for his household, love for his homeland, and love for his individuals and heritage that consumed his mortal house and time, his path in changing into. Whereas it by no means earned him any respect on Clown World Cruises, it at all times was his Future.
Devoted to the fathers of dissident politics on Father’s Day, 2024, in addition to the oppressed round our world. Sure, whereas we’re all in the identical boat, you aren’t the lunatic fringe, simply as two plus two won’t ever equal 5.
This text is replete with metaphors and symbolism, and it possible presents some difficulties of interpretation, particularly for these unfamiliar with the musical references. The creator has supplied a commentary that clarifies his intent.
Notes
Clown World Cruises had no enterprise relationship with the favored Carnival Cruise Line, however their house owners had been fourth cousins.
Pink Star designed and constructed the well-known Russian cruiser The St. Petersburg, which sailed for over seventy years, however was renown for utilizing a slave labor crew — labored to the loss of life — to function this ship. Latest unearthed paperwork present how the American authorities, even after preventing a warfare that freed its slaves, supplied an abundance of mental property, technical provides, funds, meals and personnel help to maintain The St. Petersburg working and profitable throughout WWII. For clarification, it was this firm that merged with their American competitor to kind the worldwide company Orange Star — a world chief within the maritime business.
Bey’s actual identify was Millingen.
The phrase “Supremacist” had been reserved by the specialists to be used in all media and academia strictly for his or her mortal enemy alone.
NPC: Non Participant Character, a video gaming reference; The tune “Ready Man” by King Crimson supplies an attention-grabbing backdrop of musical patterns, particularly these performed by Robert Fripp. Patterns are an vital component to Erik’s analyses. The viewers in Munich, Germany, from this video clip, appreciated and understood the worth of patterns.
Is it doable to acknowledge and respect good music and artwork lately in a world saturated with noise and commercially appropriate compositions managed by the “specialists”? Would the King Crimson musicians be the Wagner of our trendy instances composing and performing Faustian artwork if let out from the chains of the music business? Oswald Spengler had some philosophizing on this. Additionally, are we merely inundated with noise in our trendy technical world to such an extent that we can’t make heads or tails out of the fact of our lives, very similar to the individuals on this creator’s lifeboat? Can people proceed to adapt and stay in such technically complicated societies or will we inevitably return to an easier life, with naturally acoustic music and nature pleasing our ears? Or will we turn out to be technological slaves? Such had been the issues of Dr. David Skrbina and his philosophical predecessors (e.g., Ellul, Kaczynski, et. al), however most likely not the cares of Clown World Cruises or Orange Star.
In a Canadian information interview, tune author Tom Cochrane is quoted, “‘Lunatic Fringe’ must be disturbing, nevertheless it must also be a trigger for hope, as a result of, like I say within the tune, there are these of us out right here that aren’t gonna let these issues occur once more. And also you gotta communicate out while you see injustice.” On this interview and different “tune that means” sources, it’s prompt that Cochrane was influenced by the humanitarian efforts of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish architect, businessman, and diplomat throughout WWII. This creator could be curious whether or not Cochrane’s girlfriend on the time of writing his hit tune ever launched him to the humanitarian deeds of the noble Swede Depend Folke Bernadotte? If Cochrane would have written a tune honoring the Depend, wouldn’t it have been accepted within the American document business? Allow us to hope so!
