1 PM May 20, 2004
Kerrville, TX
Recently I wrote an essay for NPR's All Things Considered. Not because they asked for one, of course, but because I wanted to. I've sent it to them and haven't heard back, but I thought I'd share it with you...
My Life as a Freelance Security Contractor
My name is David LaMotte, and for the last thirteen years I’ve been
working as a freelance interational security contractor. Officially, I’ve
worked in forty-five of the fifty states, and ten countries abroad. My career
has taken me to beautiful places, and at times, actually has been
dramatic and glamorous - I’ve zoomed the autobahn to German castles
and raced the left-handed roundabouts and one-lane bridges of New Zealand;
Occasionally, my work has taken me to some of the world’s hot spots
as well - Sarajevo and Tuszla,for instance, not to mention inner city America.
The night before I flew into Belfast a man was shot on the sidewalk half a
block from where I was staying, and I was on one of the first commercial flights
to Europe after 9-11. It’s a demanding job in many ways, and I travel
almost constantly.
But I believe in what I do. I think I’m making the world a better place.
It’s hard work, but someone’s got to do it, because the world
needs to be made safer than it is. I’m getting married in a couple of
months, and I hope someday to have a child or two. I don’t want my children
to live in fear.
Of course, when anyone learns that I’m a freelance security contractor,
the conversation quickly turns to weapons. I admit I’m overly fond of
mine. The three that I depend on the most are these: a six-string acoustic
guitar, a pen and a microphone.
“Wait a minute!”, you say, “You’re not a security
contractor, you’re a performing songwriter!”
"Wait a minute!” I say, “that depends on how you define 'security'.”
The first definition for “security” in the American Heritage Dictionary
is “Freedom from risk or danger; safety.” If we subscribe to that
definition, then security can never be fully achieved. No one is ever completely
free from danger. The meaningful question, then, is how do we move a little
closer to that safety. The belief that the way to safety is through the threat
of violence is so pervasive that the very word ‘security’ has
been co-opted.
I’m trying to increase security by singing songs and telling stories,
most of which don’t have anything to do with politics. And in doing
that, I’m trying to remind myself and others of our common humanity,
which makes it so much harder to kill each other.
My work as a freelance musician really has taken me to the places I mentioned,
and I’ve made real friends in several foreign countries. What I’ve
found is this: People all over the world have the same palette of emotions.
We may have radically different life experiences, but in some very important
ways we are all the same. We all know what it’s like to feel angry,
to feel hopeful, to feel powerless, to feel humiliated. We all want to feel
safe and to feed our kids, and nearly everyone is concerned with injustices,
though we may disagree as to whose responsibility they are.
I don’t believe that real security lies in trying to kill those who
oppose us, which only raises the flags of martyrs to be emulated. I guess
my main point is that there is no such thing as ‘them’, only different
parts of ‘us.’
Next spring I’m tentatively scheduled for a concert tour in Israel and
the occupied territories. Sometimes it’s a scary job with real risk
involved, but let’s face it, the world needs more security.
the only armed roadie I've ever had - Bosnia 2000
hanging out with soldiers after a show in Tuzla