By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

In 1960, sixty-three years ago, American author John Steinbeck took a trip with his wife's poodle in a custom-built camper, from his home in New York across the country and back home again.  Having been raised in the Salinas Valley of California, he noted regional differences and how America had changed.[2]

If Steinbeck was alive today, and made a similar circumnavigation of our great country, what might he find and conclude?  Coming down through California itself, what would he observe?  Yes, the giant and majestic Redwoods are still there.  And Highway 101 into Salinas from the north can be very congested during much of the day, but agriculture is still the major output.

Lettuce and grapes dot the landscape, as far as the eye can see.  Big combines and other sophisticated heavy machinery are everywhere, as one heads south.  The workers are Hispanic-Americans, who toil away doing whatever is necessary to send the produce to Costco and other major chains, which sell it at bargain prices.  For the most part, the workers drive nice cars, and seem better off than the migrant mother whom Dorothea Lange photographed in 1936, farther south in Nipomo, California.[3]

As one approaches Los Angeles, Steinbeck might be struck by the freeway logjams, and the presence of homeless everywhere.  If Steinbeck passed through San Francisco, he might be saddened by the drug-infested enclaves of them, and the abandoned businesses and buildings.  Presumably he would know how China had sent us the COVID pandemic, which destroyed lots of businesses and made telecommuting the norm.[4]

Steinbeck's camper had a flat tire, and a specialized tire was needed.  Would he be helped today, or might he be victimized?  Indeed, because of crime that is rampant in American cities, would Steinbeck undertake such a trip, with the poodle Charley as his only protector?  Los Angeles' freeways are scary for someone who is not used to driving them.  And rush-hour traffic seems to be present much of the day.

Perhaps most of all, Steinbeck might observe the racial and other divisions that exist in the country, which seem to be tearing us apart; and how anger is pervasive.  We live in a fractured nation today; and no easy solutions exist to surmount our differences.  Also, it is a nation of "haves" and "have nots," which is nowhere more obvious than in the Beverly Hills and Brentwood suburbs of Los Angeles, and Montecito to the north.

All of this is occurring domestically while rumors swirl that Russia's vicious dictator-for-life Vladimir Putin may have fled Moscow, and might be in the process of being deposed.[5]  And China is allegedly establishing a presence in Cuba, which might be used against us in the event that it overruns Taiwan or moves against us elsewhere in the world.[6]

_____

© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele

_____

[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/   He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_with_Charley 

[3]  See, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrant_Mother ("Migrant Mother")

[4]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/has-san-francisco-been-bud-lighted-or-far-worse/ ("Has San Francisco Been ‘Bud Lighted,’ Or Far Worse?")

[5]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12229575/Wagner-forces-head-Moscow-Prigozhin-mocks-Putin-call-traitors-up.html ("Moscow braces for battle: Putin's soldiers batten down the hatches and build defences around the capital as they prepare for the arrival of Wagner militia forces - who are just HOURS away") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12229511/Soon-new-president-Prigozhins-Wagnear-group-says-Russian-leader-toppled.html ("Has Putin fled Moscow already? Reports claim plane linked to Russia's leader flew north 'then switched off its transponder' after Wagner Group boasted: 'Soon we will have a new president'"); but see https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12230141/Wagner-chief-agrees-escalate-END-mercenary-groups-march-Moscow.html ("'We are turning back': Wagner chief sensationally agrees to END his mercenary group's march on Moscow following emergency negotiations - after Russian military desperately rushed to build defences around the capital") 

[6]  See, e.g., https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19748/china-cuba-nuclear-missiles ("China in Cuba: Nuclear-Armed Communists on the Warpath")