The Dobbs Genie

When the Dobbs ruling came out last year, I was surprised that the Supreme Court decided to scrap Roe vs. Wade precedent altogether, returning the abortion issue to the states. Initially, I considered the decision as a harbinger for a national return from “hustle culture” to a newfound domesticity. The COVID-19 Pandemic created an environment where this reshaping of norms became possible. Even while the overall birthrate declined, many high-earning professionals took the opportunity to begin families. In national discourse, the 40-hour workweek, going to the office, after-work cocktail hours, and in-person business conferences were dead and buried. Meanwhile, returning to a 1950’s understanding of social responsibility, the government surrendered individual liberty to the needs of the community for the duration of the Pandemic. Some legal scholars have pointed out that Jacobson vs. Massachusetts, a 1905 case often cited in enforcing Pandemic-era restrictions and vaccine mandates, predated the 1960’s focus on individual rights and privacy. The social and political environment made Roe vs. Wade ripe for reconsideration. On one hand, the Roe vs. Wade decision prematurely ended the political process of state abortion law reform that had begun in the 1960’s. Yet, it is naïve to think that the clock can be reset to 1973 without considering how much society had changed. The wage economy was structured differently in 1973, prior to economic deregulation. National policy favored robust wages and a commitment to full employment, instead of stockholder value and free market absolutism. The Nixon Administration supported employment for American seafarers in the post-Vietnam era by subsidizing the construction of merchant ships through the Merchant Marine Act of 1970; a program that was ended by Ronald Reagan in 1981. Reflecting this trend, Roe vs. Wade was a controversial decision in the morals of 1973, but accepted as a commonplace institution by the 1980s. This latter attitude is evident in the movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, where a character obtains an abortion without on-screen commentary. In most professions today, the average wage-earner cannot comfortably support a family on a single income. Yet in certain areas, such as the military services and seafaring, there remains a critical mass of workers who refuse to accept less than family wages. For example, maritime employers are often paying officers a higher salary than agreed upon in “sweetheart” union contracts. Notably, these occupations are male-dominated and socially conservative in general, and were late to engage in political correctness. In the past year, about half the states have found a compelling interest in limiting abortion in the first or second trimester. Few of these states have offered remedies to alleviate social concerns arising from the effects of these restrictions. One promising example is a paid parental leave bank, a voluntary insurance program for employers in Virginia and New Hampshire. Notably, these two Republican-led states are unlikely to enact strict abortion limits. What other ideas could work? GI Bill for Mothers For military members and reservists, the relevant law instituted during World War Two is now known as USERRA. Under this act, a servicemember’s civilian job will be held until they return from military service, up to three years, even if the employer backfills this vacancy with a new hire. In the 1940’s and ‘50’s, these provisions covered up to a quarter of the American workforce due to the large number of war veterans. It is therefore able to scale to cover working mothers, who are currently guaranteed by Congress just 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Enhanced Child Tax Credit or Universal Basic Income plan Local governments invest between $10,000 and $20,000 per year for each school age child. With this in mind, a generous child tax credit would allowing working-class parents to provide infants and toddlers with early childhood enrichment, and offer a standard of living better than mere sustenance that is provided today through SNAP and WIC benefits. Eligibility for Child Support during Pregnancy Lack of paternal involvement is a leading factor in the decision to have an abortion. Especially in the third trimester, a woman’s ability to participate in the workforce may be reduced, and it is reasonable for a single mother to fear this loss of income. Currently, child support proceedings do not commence until the child is born, which often makes it difficult to track down a wayward father, who may have changed addresses or moved out-of-state. Some pro-choice people oppose this kind of policy, as it may implicitly recognize fetal personhood. This policy, however, would be inexpensive to implement.

Crowdsourcing the Answer

There are facts, and then there is reality. What do things look like on the deckplate of a ship, rather than from a textbook page? This is where internet forums play a big role. What does it feel like to work for a certain company? What is the likelihood of making the estimated salary? Is the mariner shortage real, or just a concern for low-pay employers? With a few general inquiries that I just listed, I could spend an hour or more browsing the maritime forums of Reddit, GCaptain, and even Service Academy Forums. While crowdsourced answers may not be definitive or scientifically rigorous, they do paint a broad picture, providing a qualitative view of the world. Right now, I am participating in a Turbo Activation, where old vessels are brought out of laid-up state and into operating condition at sea. While it took until thr last day, we crewed all the maritime officer billets, although I must say that the wages offered for the two-week excercise is enough to bring mariners back from their vacations. What is the real state of the maritime industry? One hypothesis is a happy equilibrium of demand for good-paying work, and a healthy dearth of interest in low-paid work. In other news, we hit a recent readership record with the last blog post, "Boston and the Sea". Hope to keep this trend going.

Boston and the Sea

I recently made a trip to Boston. While I could’ve spent a week or more visiting the usual tourist sites, I was out to answer a question: why seafaring? Why didn’t the maritime culture dissipate in the Bay State like it did in other upwardly-mobile, increasingly-educated locales? For this adventure, the MBTA’s Regional Rail system, and occasionally Boston’s subway (The “T”) connected me to various points in the Boston area. My first destination took me 30 miles inland from Boston’s North Station. I travelled up to Lowell from North Station in order to visit Jack Kerouac’s gravesite. As I was carrying my suitcase and backpack, I didn’t want to roll a mile to the cemetery. Instead, I settled for the park named in the author’s honor. Although new investment is freshening the city’s facades, Lowell spent decades a tired factory city, and the buildings showed this experience. Perhaps even then, Jack Kerouac found more opportunity on the road, and at sea as a merchant mariner. Quincy was my next destination, just south of Boston. Here was the home of museum ship USS Salem (CA-139). A heavy cruiser, the ship was built at Quincy’s Fore River Shipyard at the end of WWII, sailing just a decade in active service. Mariners, both active and retired, serve as volunteers doing the important work of chipping and painting; as well as higher-skilled tasks such as maintaining the ship’s electrical system. A ferry, one of many running frequently in Massachusetts Bay, would take me back to downtown Boston. My next day started in Boston Common. As I was crossing a footbridge, I noticed a plaque memorializing a young man who died in Vietnam; he had worked the lagoon’s swan boats as a high school student. I was impressed that this busy, world-class city, could take a moment to remember one of its working-class youth. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Commonwealth Museum, and a University of Massachusetts campus are located on a peninsula known as Columbia Point. The state archives was dedicated by Michael Dukakis, who took credit for the “Massachusetts Miracle”. I am too young to remember a time prior to New England’s economic pivot from small-scale manufacturing to education and healthcare. Perhaps this was another piece of my puzzle: In the last half of the 20th century, a sole breadwinner could live an upper-middle class lifestyle anywhere in the United States with union-propelled American seafaring wages; and relatively isolated from local economic conditions. Nearby is South Boston, or Southie, traditionally Irish-American working-class community whose cold-water beach is known as the “Irish Riviera”. While bar-hopping college-educated professionals now blend into the Southie environment, the area used to be synonymous with trouble. Despite the environment, strong family ties persisted, and educational attainment was encouraged. There was a strong draw to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (some 50 miles south), and thence to sea. Legend has it that upwardly mobile “Southies” made their home in shoreline suburbs south of Boston. But this answer isn’t quite straightforward, as I learned on the train to Scituate. This line was abandoned for 50 years, and when service was restored against local opposition in 2007, ridership fell short of MBTA expectations. These residents were neither trust funders nor the 9-to-5 commuter crowd. Who were they? Retirees, perhaps; but one could look up to banners on the lampposts, bearing a compass rose and geographic coordinates. These small towns purposefully continued to orient themselves towards the sea. I rented a car for my last day in Massachusetts, driving by Plymouth Rock and Buzzard’s Bay, home to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Rick Gurnon, a previous President of the Academy, had spearheaded a transformation of the physical campus, adding green energy education (including a windmill) and a police training program (Emergency Management) to the maritime institution. The student body remained rooted; in the parking lot were pickup trucks and modest sedans. Approaching New Bedford in the morning, I was stopped at a drawbridge, but unlike my Virginia usual, I wasn’t upset with this affair. Instead, I observed that the town still has a good waterfront industry, with finishing boats and ice houses. I arrived at my destination, the New Bedford Whaling Museum. New exhibits are added regularly, but the mainstay is the half-size replica ship Lagoda, built in 1916 at the end of the whaling era. By this time, foreign crews were working these vessels, to include the Portuguese. Towards the end of the 19th century, whaleship owners diversified the local economy, building on the industrial base of whale oil refining and harpoon making. Whale tails can be seen on shop logos, harkening back to the town’s adventuresome days of sail. The race was on. I had a dinner invitation in Boston, and it was noon. On the drive back, I would settle for seeing the US Naval War College, in Newport, RI, from afar. I went by Roger Williams University, Rhode Island’s sole law school, and one of the nation’s premier Admiralty Law programs. In Providence, I stopped by Marvin’s Pizzeria for a good slice. The Narragansett Brewery and Gift Shop is located at India Point Park, a former ship anchorage. One thing you will not find is the traditional lager that serves as the beginning to many New England stories. In good time, I returned the rental car to Motor Mart, a 1920’s-built garage at the edge of downtown. All bags packed, I took the subway to Cambridge, and found that “two girls were waiting for me” at our restaurant. I knew them from the US Merchant Marine Academy.

The Archivist

I've spent the last couple days on vacation organizing boxes of handwritten music scores and partial manuscripts. In corporate terms, we would call this the management of "Organizational Process Assets": how can we take a look back to see how we did things before? Many of this music and writing date to my middle school years at Saint Thomas Choir School. In contrast to a previous blog post, "Why No Digital Office", I might be considered a convert, since one of my initiatives is to digitalize much of these scores and manuscripts. I also got some ptractice in dating manuscripts based on the quality of handwriting: coarse to fine, and back to coarse- as I gained access to digital music writing software. While cataloging the works was important, one area I did not broach was assigning "opus numbers" to my work. Perhaps the fear of falling short of perfection- to make a mistake in dating works- held me back. In past centuries, these numbers asigned by scholars to composers like Bach and Mozart, were rarely sequential anyway. Yet I put together opus numbers for a couple friends who are no longer writing music- as the third-party observer it was easier to date their body of published works. Music composition may be a hobby and not a career for me, but reviewing the past is useful to predict my future.

Do Leaders Get a Break?

I've been busy over the past week, wrapping up things onboard my ship. My relief is onboard, and I have brought him up to speed on how to do rounds of the engine room and how to log water test results. When I was a Third Enigneer, there was a certain finality to this occasion: detachment from the vessel, and 30 to 60 days of uninterrupted time off. At the First Engineer level, there is a new cross-current of talking to peers- and to the "marine placement specialists" or detailer. The result being alternatives to the 30-to-60 day off routine. So I have to learn to embrace the ambiguity of when I'll get called back to a ship, and when I'll be assigned to Navy Reserve duty. And for the other First Engineers wondering when I'll be available to cover their time off, I can honestly say, "It'll happen when it happens". Happy Easter Season to all!

Vacation Plans from 2019

While on Navy Reserve duty in Naples, Italy, I was able to make weekend trips to the ruins of Pompeii and the town of Kocevje, Slovenia in January 2020. A week later, Italy and the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet began lockdown procedures. That was the last trip for several years. From March 2020, and on paper until mid-2022, my employer enforced a 50-mile restriction of movement. This was a mild limitation compared to the total lockdown of merchant vessels, but did affect my ability to plan for a safe vacation. On return from outside the area, I would have to remain quarantined for two weeks. The message- go big on vacation, or stay at home. I stayed home. If vacation destinations – save for natural wonders - are about the people, then the immediate post-lockdown era was going to be a letdown. To summarize the ennui bluntly, the New York Times stated that hospitality became hostile. There were many underlying factors- from a labor shortage, transportation shortage, and supply shortage to a fickle customer base, and possible owner’s liability for a localized COVID-19 breakout. My impulse during this time was to make myself busier. While working ashore, I took a weekend job onboard a dinner cruise boat in Norfolk, VA; when it was ready to relaunch in the summer of 2021. Before COVID, the vessel had been at the center of the city’s social life; however, I saw that the clientele had changed: suburbanites had become accustomed to entertaining guests in their homes and backyards; and on their personal boats. Perhaps, life for the privileged set became more insular than outwardly focused. For me, planning interesting things to do on vacation seemed daunting, when “everything has changed”. Nevertheless, there are vacation plans from 2019 that are still good to go: a planned hike on the C & O Canal in Maryland, and a visit to the newly-built Christendom College chapel in Front Royal, Virginia. Nature and religion; the two stalwarts in a changing world. We are in what is called the “Fourth Pandemic Year”- the time elapsed since early 2020- now represents 5% of a lifespan. It’s time to live your best life.

One Magazines and the Student Loan Craze

The American student debt issue is multi-pronged, some of which have been addressed by previous government programs ranging from alternative payment plans, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and the rare approval to discharge through bankruptcy. These programs were designed for students who attended for-profit schools, like Corinthian, that targeted revenue goals over student achievement; students who had to drop out for personal hardship related to family or health issues; and graduates of high-price, high-reward professional schools interested in community service rather than country clubs. One magazine, however, made six-figure student debt a cultural phenomenon. Ten to twenty years ago, there was one authoritative source of truth on the best colleges in America: The US News & World Report. This annual compilation synthesized various data such as standardized test scores and acceptance rates (the lower, the better) to rank the prestige of America's universities. I had a classmate who chose Stanford (#3 in 2011) over Harvard (#1), and this decision was talk of the campus- both students and parents- for several weeks, reflecting how much influence this list held. As a "normie" high school student, the goal was naturally to attend a Top 25 university. Rebels and artsy students could attend a small liberal arts college instead. Classmates at my preparatory high school made contingency plans for surviving at a "second page" college, namely, an institution ranked between #51 and 100. Oftentimes, these universities offered generous scholarships; and it was this tier that represented large state universities in my classmates' suburban home states of Virginia and Maryland. Until the US News & World Report era, going out-of-state for college was fairly uncommon. It was common for the Ivy Leagues, the Service Academies, and specialized programs like Naval Architecture; but financial and practical issues kept it from being a cultural phenomenon. So-called "no-name" schools actively strived to increase their ratings. The University of Alabama offered free tuition to any student with 1400 out of 1600 on their SAT score, or the top 5% of scorers. The people of Alabama, and the other 95% of students, had to pay for this indulgence. Other colleges sent out application forms to students who certainly wouldn't be admitted anyway. George Washington University (#51) thoroughly gentrified its campus. Utilitarian dormitories built in the 1930's and 1950's were gutted and rebuilt as palaces for students of higher learning. Student loans could also be used to lease cars, and take vacations to Montreal or Cancun. Tuition rates became uncoupled from reality- from the real inflation rate and from students' actual earning potential. Finishing students four years was no longer a priority for many colleges; the "forever student" was the new model. Yet this amenities race was not universal. At some small colleges like Deep Springs and my alma mater, the US Merchant Marine Academy, students continued to clean the dormitories and perform other on-campus work. Today, there is better understanding that "strength" comes in multiple forms. You are more likely to see more focused lists such as: "Best Upward Mobility" and "Best Mid-Career Income". Even better, "Lowest Cost of Attendance". The hangover from the US News and World Report era is far-reaching. There are fewer traditional college students now than in 2011, and a greater appreciation among them for acquiring marketable skills. Some small liberal arts colleges have had to close. The maritime industry is a good place for graduates to pay off their loans, yet the price of trade-offs is apparent now: a smaller mortgage, a later retirement age. But wasn't college a blast? "If I knew then what I knew now...", they begin to say.