I grew up in the American West, and I still have some family out that way, which is how it happens that I found myself last week casting flies into a clear mountain stream – one of Ernest Hemingway’s favorites, in fact. I was hoping that I might fool a rainbow trout into believing that my little fly might be a delicious dinner.
That may sound heartless: That fish, after all, is a wild and innocent thing, so who am I to teach it that the world is full of deceptions? But don’t worry – I toss back every fish I catch these days. It’s called “catch-and-release.” I mean, it’s fine to keep a fish you catch, and I’m glad to sometimes have a fine trout for supper. But most of us in this part of the world who enjoy fly fishing take more joy in the pursuit of the fish than in their consumption.
“Catch-and-release” is sort of an ethic among anglers. It conserves fish populations, and ensures the stability of fisheries. Last week, once I took the small-ish several trout I caught out of my net and removed the hooks from their mouths, they wiggled away into the stream, where they will continue to grow, reproduce and contribute to the ecosystem. I think of it as borrowing from the natural world rather than destroying its progeny.
Now, as you’re standing in a cool stream with the water rushing around you, you’re mostly thinking about your next cast, and how to land that tiny fly right where you think a fish might be lurking. But your mind also may be drifting to idle thoughts about the life you lead off the stream, which is where this notion of catch-and-release comes to be about something more than just fishing. It’s about life in general, and even how we approach our civic life and politics.
In a way, all of life is about catch-and-release. Life is kind of a journey about letting go. We spend the first couple decades of our lives absorbing stories, values, beliefs and expectations from our environment, and those around us – our families, teachers, friends – and that comes to define who we are and what we’re about. It’s how we decide the course of our lives, really.
And then, if we’re lucky, we encounter enough beyond our own background and limited experience to understand that there might be a broader world out there. It’s not that what we’ve experienced deserves to be thrown out; it’s that to intersect thoughtfully and fairly with the many communities that make up this world, we need to release some of our preconceived notions, and be open to where others are coming from.
But our world just now is being tormented because too many people in positions of power, and too many people who follow them, aren’t willing to let go of what was and embrace what can be. Yes – and I’m sorry if you don’t want to even think about politics – I’m talking here about how the world is being plagued by the insecure narcissism of Donald Trump.
“Make America Great Again” is a slogan for people who can’t imagine a future unleashed from its past – who are troubled by the notion of an America that can, say, thoughtfully accommodate immigrants, that would share wealth among many rather than encourage its accumulation by a few and that could stand firm for the values of freedom and democracy rather than take comfort in the bluster of a strongman.
Part of this is just how we’re wired. Psychologists tell us that our brains react to challenges to our beliefs in much the same way that we react to physical threats. That is, new ideas trigger the brain’s fear center – the amygdala – and that leads us to be defensive. As a journalist, I’m quite familiar with the problem of confirmation bias – how humans cling to information that aligns with our pre-existing beliefs, and dismiss even provable information that contradicts them.
But we can learn – and we can teach our kids – about being more open to what lies beyond our own experience. We can do a better job of listening and absorbing ideas and beliefs and values that might be alien to us, but valid. We can be freed from the old, and ready for the new.
That’s why we need schools and colleges and universities that teach hard truths, not government-mandated curriculums that tout only what seems heroic about our history, or literature courses that ignore the diverse voices that bring us awareness of the richness of often unseen lives. It’s why we need honest, hard-hitting journalism, not just voices that parrot the talking points of those in power. We need to be freed from old assumptions, and open to what’s new and real.
It’s catch-and-release, this good life – this American life. It’s really about freedom.
That’s what I was thinking in that beautiful mountain river last week. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m ready to go back and cast a few more lines into the water, and see what wonders may await me.
Rex Smith, the co-host of The Media Project on WAMC, is the former editor of the Times Union of Albany and The Record in Troy. His weekly digital report, The Upstate American, is published by Substack.
The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.
