RABBIT HOLES

  For some reason, rabbit holes were to symbolize all that is weird in our world. Strange behavior, thinking deemed way out there, even if not, is deemed going down that proverbial rabbit hole. Poor Alice and poor us, as the number of occupied and in use rabbit holes are proliferating at a great rate in these here United States of America. Why? Well, many reasons, but chief is the fact that people are willing, even eager, to take that amusement park thrill of fast slides, steep and long - only these slides are for real,  not the minutes long roller coaster ones. Worse, is that we fail to distinguish the real from the fake and down that hole we go - and stay.

Take "woke". As a teacher of English, grammar played an important role in my lessons, for if one does not understand the structure of a language, one cannot express opinions, verbally or written, in the best manner possible. My students knew my thoughts on this, and poor things, actually had to learn diagramming as a tool to further understanding of the structure and use of words. In that sense, woke is the past participle of 'wake' but has changed greatly, not truly in a positive manner.

"I stay woke" means what? Here are two dictionary definitions: "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." "originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice." and I am still left in the dark, apparently not 'woke' to its use. It has become an accusatory word, as in "you are not sufficiently woke to the true nature of society". Yes, I am, but why can we not use aware, onto, alert to, understanding of, rather than pervert the language, as after overuse, the new word becomes  a joke used cynically or accusatorily and down the rabbit hole we go again.

Seriously, there are too many rabbit holes for my liking of the situation, a condition wherein I find myself in a sea of uncertainty and worry, even unto the point of fear. Particularly when I am told that my fear does not achieve the rank of importance necessary to be included in the "woke" category.

 Really? Truly? I beg your pardon, as anti-Semitism has the rather dubious distinction of being the oldest and most persistent and vile form of prejudice in the world, and rather ironic, as today, the Black community, a beneficiary of heavy duty Jewish participation in and fighting for civil rights, engage in rife, bitter, and nasty anti-Semitism. The co-founder of BLM, now embroiled in a financial scandal, in 2015, called for the ending of Israel, apparently having no right to exist at all. 

Part and parcel of the demented shouts for the Jews there to return to whence they or their parents and grandparents originated. So, back to the ovens of Poland. Back to the pogroms of Russia. Back to the Easter yearly slaughters. Back to the Blood Libel. Back to the forced conversions. Back to the periodic bloodlettings of the Moslem world. What the hell!!! Rabbit holes are evidently dangerous, existentially thinking, particularly to those of Jewish extraction. And in the meanwhile, one hears nothing re returning the Arab residents to the countries from whence they originated - Greater Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and not to worry, there are 22 countries there for them!!! Woke is woke. Or apparently not.

Woke is when to defend Israel or to speak out against anti-Semitism has become verboten! A Rutgers University chancellor was taken to task, pushed right down that rabbit hole, for daring to do so, forced to apologize for he did not include Islamophobia within his statement. 

Excuse me, but  the mosques and institutions of Islam in America are not the ones being attacked now nor are there personal attacks on the bodies of those walking down the streets of America or the world. Yes, there is anger, but mainly anger seems to fall upon the shoulders of the Jewish community, blamed, as usual, for all that is wrong in this world, and who knows, possibly into the next world as well. Be that as it may, 'woke' is deficient here. Terribly so. One need not, in fact, must not, dilute every conversation or reference to anti-Semitism with reference and/or inclusion of every other prejudice found within this world.

Now we are apparently wrong in our understanding of American history and the Constitution. How? In this new rabbit hole, the Second Amendment was founded on the reasoning of fear of Black People. Huh! The right to carry arms, in fact, the necessity as people moved into frontier areas, as they intruded upon the territories belonging to others, people and animals of prey, there was a need, unfortunately, for weapons, for defense. Were they always used properly? No, but certainly, in all deference to 'woke', American history is not all about Black people and White fear of them! 

Please! This is a rabbit hole of great danger and major insanity, of great and incorrect revision of history, equally as bad as some of the twisted versions we can find in textbooks today.  People came to America in search of a new life, of new hope, of dreams being fulfilled. They came because they were brought here as slaves or indentured servant - the same as slavery. They came because they were deported from England for crimes, or they deserted the army, be it the British or the Hessians. They did not come here so they could shoot Black people or Native Americans or any White person they could find, or, have a Kill the Jew day! Seriously, a bit of common sense and rationality here and a rope to pull us all out of this rabbit hole. Let us leave behind all the revisionist theories for they are all garbage, exaggerated. For once, could we not print the truth. Simply that!

Rabbit holes are all around us. QAnon is one huge one. The insurrection at the Capitol is yet another. The words of Trump and all hate inciters are another. No, Trump did not win the election. No, the Democratic Party does not engage in child trafficking using a pizza store and a national furniture company to do so! The violence too many Black drivers and women as well face, too many,  too much, is a fierce and dangerous rabbit hole. It must be closed down, filled in, permanently out of order! So must all crazed people and crazy, out of whack, dangerous theories.

Could we all please just walk away from those rabbit holes, help those caught up in them to get out, rescue them, put an end to all this? It is the only path to sanity, to repairing the firmament of our country and indeed, that of the world. We are well on the way of beating back the worst of the pandemic of COVID. Might we not do the same with the pandemic of hate, of exaggeration, of revisionism, close those damned rabbit holes and just be normal! Can we? We sure as hell need to try.