No More Word Salad

On Speaking Plainly and Believing Deeply

There’s a peculiar art form that’s taken root in modern politics: the word salad. You’ve seen it. Someone asks a direct question — “Do you support this?” “Would you vote for that?” — and instead of a clear yes or no, we get a buffet of phrases like “what’s important to remember here” or “we need to have a national conversation.” Suddenly, five sentences later, you realize they didn’t actually say anything.

It’s like watching someone dodge raindrops in a storm: technically impressive, but utterly exhausting.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Politicians have always bent language into pretzels to avoid a clean answer. Spin is as old as the campaign trail. We’ve always known politics runs on rhetoric. But lately, it feels like the rhetoric’s running us. The difference now is how routine, how normalized, and how rewarded the evasions have become. And don’t get us started on how the modern media ecosystem’s been bought out by billionaires and corporations to shape their priorities, not necessarily the public’s.

Once upon a time, a person could stand at a podium, look the public in the eye, and stake a position. There was risk in that, but also dignity. You knew where they stood. You could agree, disagree, or challenge them on the merits. Today, clarity feels almost subversive.

What happened to the unambiguous yes? To the full-throated no? To the kind of conviction that doesn’t hide behind talking points or chase applause in every direction?

Now, let’s be clear about something: when we say we miss plain speech, we don’t mean the brand of “he just tells it like it is” bluster that’s often celebrated in certain circles. That kind of “directness” isn’t clarity. It’s performance. Too often, it’s a string of dog whistles and winks designed to tell a base one thing while pretending to mean another. There’s nothing brave about saying the quiet part out loud if what you’re really doing is using plain words to disguise ugly ideas.

Real clarity isn’t cruelty. It’s conviction, expressed with honesty and accountability.

The more we reward verbal gymnastics on one end and performative bombast on the other, the less we seem to value belief. And in a world that needs courage, especially moral courage right now, that’s dangerous.

Clarity on the Menu

We love a good Caesar salad as much as anyone. But when it comes to our work, we draw the line at tossing words without meaning.

At Ocean Hoptimism, we built this effort on the radical notion that clarity is courage. Before we invited our first guest or reached out to find our brewery home, we asked ourselves: what do we actually stand for?

You can read our core values here, but in short, they boil down to this:

• Speak Truth With Heart. Say what you mean, mean what you say, and never sugarcoat the facts or reality.

• Protect Our Collective Mental Health. Embrace rest, honor boundaries, respect limits, and cultivate spaces where everyone can breathe.

• Celebrate What We Love and Welcome All. Amplify ocean joy, connection, and a big-tent approach, even when the world feels threatening.

• Choose Active, Defiant Hope. Take action, show up as your real self, and keep doing the work.

That last part matters more than it sounds. Because if you can’t look someone in the eye and say what you believe, maybe it’s time to recalibrate your motives.

Why We Show Up in Person

That’s why our events aren’t just livestreams or hashtags. We gather in person, at a brewery, in conversation circles, because we believe in showing the faces behind the words.

In a culture of spin, showing up physically is an act of sincerity. It says: We’re not hiding behind statements. We’re here. We mean this.

But presence is more than proximity. When we come together, people don’t just hear or learn... they connect. And that connection is the bridge between awareness and action. Because when someone leaves inspired, there’s no better moment to hand them a next step: a cause to join, a local effort to support, a way to turn that spark into something lasting.

Who better to guide that momentum than the very person who just moved them?

Ocean Hoptimism was never meant to be polished, sterile, or rehearsed. It’s meant to be alive: filled with the same messy, beating humanity that drives people to protect what they love.

We Say What We Believe

So yes, we’ll keep inviting brilliant scientists, artists, advocates, fishers, explorers, and dreamers to tell their stories. But you’ll never hear us say “we need to have a conversation” when what we really mean is “we’re afraid to take a side.”

Because there is a side. It’s the side of action, of belonging, of believing that the ocean and its people deserve more than ambiguity.

An Invitation

If you’re tired of word salad, tired of leaders and organizations that hedge, dodge, and dilute, come join us.

At Ocean Hoptimism, you’ll hear unambiguous resolve. You’ll meet people who mean every word they say. And maybe, over a beer and a story or two, you’ll remember what conviction sounds like.

Because clarity isn’t just refreshing. It’s revolutionary.