‘Courage’ is a wonderful word to the ear. There are many forms of courage, e.g. a lifetime of coping with a disabling illness; or defusing a road-side bomb in Afghanistan. We would usually see the latter as ‘bravery’. It’s more a form of instantaneous courage. I feel that both words could be used to describe the subject of this blog. I’m speaking of lifeboat crews. Allow me to say a little more about those men and their organisation, in the UK. Most importantly, it is completely based on volunteers. Secondly, it is not state-financed. It depends, entirely, on contributions of money by the general public. Consider the UK’s thousands of miles of coastline, which is historically dangerous to shipping. There are 60.000 sunken ships around the UK. More than anywhere else worldwide. Then think of how many life boat stations there must be, to cover these thousands of miles, efficiently. But, they are efficiently covered. Think further, of the unpaid crews of these life boats. They are ready, night and day to react to any emergency at sea and risk their lives. Their boats and equipment are of the latest and best technology. In this modern age, we tend to accept that such organisations are state-controlled and state-financed. It’s refreshing to the mind, to think that we are not all state robots; that such a large, modern, life-saving organisation, can be purely, individually, voluntary. It’s name, by the way, is the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Perhaps we should have less, not more, state control in our lives. Brussels! Are you listening?
Glossary:
sailor - seaman
latter - last item of 2 or more
volunteer - someone who offers to do something; not ordered to do it
entirely - totally
contribution - one of more payments towards a central cost.
to contribute – may also be of time or effort
Englisch