"For The Love" by Kelly Slater

Já todos sabemos que o nosso Campeão é muito mais que apenas um gajo que sabe surfar como ninguém. Quem já ouviu/leu entrevistas dele percebe perfeitamente que o Kelly é um gajo super inteligente e bastante atento às situações políticas e ambientais. Não tenho a mínima dúvida de que quando se reformar do surf de competição há uma grande probabilidade de que venha a ter um papel político activo ou algo equivalente. Há uns anos li a biografia dele, "Pipe Dreams", que foi escrita quando ele tirou aqueles anos sabáticos da competição depois de ter ganho o sexto título mundial. Curti bue ler e acho obrigatório para quem se interessa por esta personagem que vai marcar para sempre a História deste "desporto" e, pelo andar da carruagem, talvez até do Desporto em geral. Fiquei apenas um pouco decepcionado pois nesse livro ele não se estendeu muito nessa sua faceta mais intervencionista e política. Pois parece agora que esse meu desejo foi finalmente ouvido e saiu muto recentemente este novo livro, "For the Love", em que ele aborda mais profundamente esses temas. Como é lógico já o encomendei e se tudo correr bem pra semana já o estarei a devorar! Para vos aguçar o apetite aqui vai um excerto:

"The net effect of what is happening in the Middle East is nothing short of a human tragedy that’s been ongoing since the first Gulf War in 1990, when I was eighteen years old. Bombing has not ceased since that day. The infrastructure of the country is beyond repair and children are dying in record numbers of cancers, starvation, and malnutrition as water, food, land, and air is polluted as the result of the war we’ve waged in retaliation to 9/11. I don’t know about you, but I have yet to see the evidence that says we should’ve gone there and done what we’ve done. I still don’t see the connection that these countries had to attacking us, as it was supposedly nineteen guys from mostly Saudi Arabia, our big ally in that part of the world.

I do see a huge problem with oil and the future of energy dependence happening all over the world. I would find it hard to believe that our country didn’t see this coming long before the public felt it. So now we find ourselves in a new era of fear and worry in the world, and the truth is that’s what happens when people don’t care about each other and take the time to know how it is for someone else and how you can truly help. I’m not saying there aren’t crazy people out there beyond help, hell-bent on killing others, because that’s obvious. And you can’t fix everyone’s problems, but I think this is a personal wake-up for us all to just take the time to talk and listen to each other more and take inventory of the lives we lead.One interesting thing I’ve noticed in our recent (2008) presidential debating is that suddenly it’s real popular to say that you were against the war from the beginning, especially if you are a Democrat.

I also find it interesting that most of the people saying that were not vocalizing it when it came time to vote their conscience in the events after 9/11. There was only one congresswoman I remember standing up and saying much of anything and that was Cynthia McKinney. She lost her next election because of her questioning of the war and our president, but was re-elected two years later as public opinion of the war began to shift. It takes a lot of guts to speak out against not only popular opinion but also the powers that be who you essentially work for.But for me, here’s what it really all boils down to: If when you do something your intention is to help people, you’re going to get something positive from it. If your intention is to get something for yourself, especially at the risk of hurting other people, then something bad will likely come your way."