My daddy done told me two things I've taken to heart.
The first was,"it's not the sleeping; it's the lying awake" that creates problems when it comes to sex.
The second was, "if you're crossing the street, keep walking," so drivers can better adjudge how to avoid running you down.
Maybe the reason these morsels of common sense have stuck with me is because they were delivered during a month-long visit when I was sixteeen -- the last I ever saw of a father from whom I was removed for my own good at the age of eight. Whatever the reason, they are also proof that it doesn't take much to make a lasting impression, especially if life goes on to validate the advice.
The issue in the difference between sleeping and lying awake is, of course, identifying the right cause. Causes lead to effects but, much as people would like, reasoning backwards from the effects to the cause usually doesn't work. Reasoning from a measurable and visible reality, such as a ton of money, to the conclusion that a lot of hard work and virtue was involved is, albeit widely believed, usually false. The easiest way to accumulate money is to steal it and then lies merely serve to disguise the theft.
So, while I am in full agreement with James Holland, posting on his JHP Blog about the desecration of the marshlands west of Sea Island, Georgia, I have to object. "It's not the money, it's the fraud" that's the cause.
Indeed, if we look at the most recent picture of the estate where the offensive dock was built in 2010,
the conclusion in Holland's post that
Some people get what they want, no matter what cost to the environment
is doubtful. Since the owner now has to helicopter in for his weekends on the coast, one might reasonably speculate that the boat dock in Village Creek, a water of the state, wasn't what he wanted, after all. Maybe it turned out too long a walk across a marsh into which one might well fall and sink without a trace, as happened to the invading Spanish troops and their horses on Bloody Marsh, just to the south, in 1742.
That the ruts
left during construction still haven't healed after almost four years should not come as a surprise.
Once the air is squeezed out of the hydric soil, nothing much grows. Even trails left by the racoons persist for decades. Many a paw print makes a path.
Perhaps a railing would have helped. So why, even if a permit was issued after the fact, didn't the issuing authority, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, stipulate that?
Maybe the fact that the applicant doesn't own the marsh over which the walkway was built came into play. While the dock was a fait accompli, Sea Island Acquisition LLC, whose tacit consent to this desecration of the environment destroyed the view shed for the other owners in the "Mrshfrnt Hammock View" neighborhood, didn't want to be outed by applying for building permits from the County and risk being taxed for the value of the "improvements."
Over fifteen hundred acres of marsh may only be worth $79,000. The three walkways and docks already constructed would surely double that and leave SIA paying taxes on property they don't own. The property that is the focus of Holland's attention is not the only offender, though perhaps the most eggregious.
This is what an insult to the environment looks like.
That's what exploiters do. They exploit because they can. Money just lets them exploit the environment with clean hands, 'cause somebody else always does the dirty work.
"Follow the money." That's not something my daddy would have said, 'cause he never cared much where the money went. It was his biggest flaw.
But, following the money does lead us to who's responsible. So, for instance, we shouldn't be surprised if there's no lease between SIA and the privileged homeowners of which the legendary lawyer, Bobby Lee Cook, is, apparently, not one. Cook pays taxes on his accessory dock.
Property, privilege and privacy. Those are the three main clients of the lie.