March Until the Cargo Returns

On the most remote islands of the South Pacific, during World War II, people who had lived apart from the world found themselves at the mouth of a giant new logistical river, pouring out consumer goods. But then it stopped. Soldiers came, and so stuff came, and then the war ended, and then the soldiers left, and then the stuff was gone. No men in uniforms carrying guns equaled no shipping containers full of food.

So people living in remote places with little access to the outside world and its products took action to get the shipping containers back: They dressed up as soldiers and marched in formation — the cause of the appearance of shipping containers. And so people on the island of Tanna celebrate John Frum Day, the day when another sailor in a uniform will return bearing more stuff, and they work on the symbols that will cause the return:

To entice the Americans back after the war, islanders throughout the region constructed piers and carved airstrips from their fields. They prayed for ships and planes to once again come out of nowhere, bearing all kinds of treasures: jeeps and washing machines, radios and motorcycles, canned meat and candy.

Symbols cause things; marching causes refrigerators.

In Paris this week, a man threw a piece of cake at the Mona Lisa. He did it, he explained, to stop climate change. On a TV show, the world’s virtual capital of cargo cultism, a talking head named Sunny Hostin explained that the man had taken meaningful action: “I think climate change is something that we ignore so much in not only in this country but around the world and obviously we’re talking about this issue,” she said. So, yes, throwing cake at paintings can help to control the climate of a planet, because the cake is thrown, and then you discuss it, and so then the climate is controlled. Believe in science!

Take THAT, climate!

It’s legit already like three or four degrees cooler in Los Angeles already. Well played, bro.

Also, at the White House today, the Korean boy band BTS appeared at the daily press briefing to make xenophobia and hate crimes stop.

“After this briefing,” explained Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “they will join President Biden in a discussion about Asian inclusion, representation, and diversity, as well as addressing anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination.” They finally found someone who can communicate at Joe’s mental and emotional level, which is pretty exciting.

And don’t worry, Jean-Pierre added, because you can bet this isn’t the first time Joe Biden has taken powerful direct action against hate. He’s been at it for a while, “beginning his first week in office, when he issued a presidential memorandum leveraging the power of the federal government to stand against this hate.” So, I mean, it’s pretty remarkable that there was any hate left for BTS to conquer, given that Biden had already issued a memo against it.

Is this how powerful government can be? Reader, it is. And here’s one of my favorite local government leaders, explaining the similar role of City Hall in shaping the world:

“If social justice sparks your soul, look at some of the resolutions we’ve passed — on suicide prevention, and against human trafficking. These are activities we can do, at our level, that statewide, nationwide, they’re still debating. But we have an opportunity to really affect how we want our community to govern, based on what we want for ourselves.”

So, see, like throwing cake at a painting, you can’t kill yourself anymore in the Bay Area, ‘cause there’s a resolution against that.

Powerful symbols are reshaping our world, and it’s exciting to watch it happen.