Ry Cooder and Easy Rider

John Winthrop's City upon a Hill, 1630

Now the onely way to avoyde this shipwracke and to provide for our posterity is to followe the Counsell of Micah, to doe Justly, to love mercy, to walke humbly with our God, for this end, wee must be knitt together in this worke as one man, wee must entertaine each other in brotherly Affeccion, wee must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities, for the supply of others necessities, wee must uphold a familiar Commerce together in all meekenes, gentlenes, patience and liberallity, wee must delight in eache other, make others Condicions our owne rejoyce together, mourne together, labour, and suffer together, allwayes haveing before our eyes our Commission and Community in the worke, our Community as members of the same body, soe shall wee keepe the unitie of the spirit in the bond of peace, the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as his owne people and will commaund a blessing upon us in all our wayes, soe that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power goodnes and truthe then formerly wee have beene acquainted with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New England: for wee must Consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon a Hill, the eies of all people are uppon us; soe that if wee shall deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall be made a story and a byword through the world, wee shall open the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned into Cursses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land whether wee are going: And to shutt upp this discourse with that exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance, and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that wee may live and be multiplyed, and that the Lord our God may blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be seduced and worshipp other Gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast Sea to possesse it;

Therefore lett us choose life,

that wee, and our Seede,

may live; by obeyeing his

voyce, and cleaveing to him,

for hee is our life, and

our prosperity.

Taken from:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/winthrop.htm

You can read about Ry Cooder below, there was a NYT piece today about him. He is from Santa Monica, and has seen the changes there for all of his almost sixty years.

Since I saw Ghost Rider in the bus in my way back from Mexico City after my cousin's death last week, I've been in a pensive mood. I wrote a note on Easy Rider and Ghost Rider, and run a poll during this week. Easy Rider won. I also liked it better, but I wanted to contrast.

John Winthrop epitomizes what Americans want to believe is their nature. This weekend I saw "Deep Mexico", as Guillermo Bonfil Batalla named it (CETEG note below). The Mexico that doesn't want to change as John Womack writes in his book: Zapata and the Mexican Revolution . Putting these things together I try to make sense of the world around me: Don't we all?

Guillermo Bonfil Batalla
Avándaro and Mexico City, 1985-1987


Thus ends the preface of "México Profundo" (Deep Mexico).


Ry Cooder is an anthropologist in his own way. He goes around his neighborhood, and finds Mexicans in East Los Angeles, then they are his people. Then he goes to Cuba and finds Ibrahim Ferrer, and he was his friend. Cooder keeps going around and finding all his lost brothers and sisters, because he is a man that belongs to the whole world.

John Winthrop's trip seems to end in Santa Monica, but as I write below in Easy Rider vs. Ghost Rider, it doesn't. All of this continent, yes in Mexico we only think of one continent, America, not two like American kids are taught, in all of this continent a New Man is being formed. And it is hard, I can tell you, it is hard.

My cousin died, and I feel vulnerable, maybe I'll be the next one. I feel the need to leave something good. Life will go on without me, but I don't want to leave without leaving something behind.