RIP Tom Clancy There’s a bittersweet irony to the day. The man who brought us a vision for US government run by dedicated civic minded individuals willing to do anything to put country before self has passed away as the US government is embroiled in an internal struggle which seems to be teeming with self interest and little else. Tom Clancy strove to show us government at its finest and at its worst. In Tom Clancy’s world, the dedicated public servant was someone found the world over. Dedicatedly standing their posts, eager to do good in the name of their government. There, as here, those professionals were overshadowed by puffed shirts at the top, ever angling their careers upwards often at the expense of those of us below. Today is a victory for the Edward Kealty’s of the world. At the same time, we have all gained a little victory as well. Not in his death, but in his life. Tom Clancy showed us a vision of the world around us where the common man could triumph. It wasn’t a world of magic and wonder, in fact it was quite the opposite. Tom Clancy took our world and showed us what could be. Not with drastic changes, not a well, if we could rewrite history what would we do. Tom Clancy gave us a world rooted in the ideals and beliefs of America. A world where the globe was our neighbor. Where we stood ready to help our friends and punish our enemies. A world where the good guys don’t always win, but damn it if they don’t go down fighting. Tom Clancy had a way of making the giant problems of the world seem manageable, while never reducing their complexity. His was a world where the unintended consequence was real, and success as well as failure exacted a toll on the people involved. He showed us that when we stop and examine the things around us, there are no limits to what we can achieve. He also frequently reminded us that the “rules” by which we live are merely shackles of our own design. When we so choose, we can exist without them. All we have to do is choose to cast them aside. Doing so will inevitable bring consequences, but it may also bring hitherto unexpected rewards. Ultimately Tom Clancy was a storyteller, and a great one. There will be debates about the merits of particular plot points, and whether or not certain elements of his books should have been changed so as to not give people ideas. I for one will not engage in such an action. Before you choose to do so, think about this. Tom Clancy took the world around him, examined it and re-imagined it in a way that allowed us, his readers, a chance to see what he saw. Furthermore he took us on a journey that allowed us to see not only what he saw, but to see the characters who would impact the world and mold it into a more perfect one. They were not always successful, but through Clancy’s pen they were constantly moving the bar forward, striving to do things slightly better, making people lives around them safer and more fulfilled. Where is your vision for the world? Where do you want to point our lives? It’s easy to argue that Clancy built an empire and had a legion of loyal fans he could use to share his vision. However, we should remember that this was not always the case. He started out with the goal of immortalizing himself by writing a book. That’s all he started out to do. A humble goal for a man who wound up creating a world so many of us have spent joyous hours inside. For all the hours we spent with Jack Ryan, his family, John Clark and the rest. Thank you Mr. Clancy. They will continue to show us the way forward. Rest in Peace.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:45:18 +0000