TO IDIOCY AND BEYOND

 So here we are, standing around, standing silently, in confusion. Standing silently because we like what is going on. Standing silently because we have no clue as to what to do. Standing silently because we have no understanding, no comprehension, how badly we are mired, stuck, drowning, suffocating, and doomed to a future that will be not to our liking. Not at all. But, there is the clarion call again: "To idiocy and beyond!' And we  follow. Like lemmings. Like a herd of buffalos running, stampeding, right off the cliff, without even a reason -just following the one ahead of us who is following the leader at the head of the herd who is leading us all to our doom.

And so I wonder. How the heck did we get here? How did we all lose our smarts at the same time? How did we all forget what is important in life? How did we all forget to know, deep down, in the very core of our being, that all people are humans. All are equal, if not in intelligence, or innate gifts and talents, in abilities, whatever the defining terms of their identity, all belong to the same unifying class - that of equal participants in the world, members of humankind, equal in rights to all. But we forgot. Out of laziness. Out of apathy. Out of anger. Out of idiocy. And we are idiots, clinging to that idiocy to the point of no return.

Today we are still following old, antiquated thoughts. We are defining groups of people as untermensch, not deserving of the same rights and privileges as the rest of humanity. So we are still killing members of another sect of Islam. We are still killing members of another African tribe. We are still killing Uyghurs and deporting them at best. We are still fatally holed with bigoty against skin colors, against religions. And we are perpetually trying to do away with that pesky nation that continues to flout all attempts to destroy it - the Jews.

 When will we stop this? When will we all fall deaf to the clarion call of life endangering idiocy? Only the good Lord above knows, for it is beyond any rational reasoning to figure out or even begin to understand and know how to approach it with positive results forthcoming. There is such a resistance to this, to the acceptance of all, that we just keep digging our hole, the one we have dug already and insist on deepening. Idiocy. 

Last night one could watch the Kennedy Center Awards. It is always a beautiful production, meaningful and touching at the outpouring of honor and love, of appreciation for the artist and his/her contributions. This year's was no different, perhaps even more meaningful, considering the year and a half we have just undergone, the massive changes it has wrought, and the very iffy future we look upon.

 To look upon what once was, via the honoring of Joan Baez. To look upon the homage paid to Debbie Allen, a most talented choreographer and actor. Don't we all remember her from Fame. To hear the voice of Kelly Clarkson as she sang magically, bringing Garth Brooks to tears, as she sang The Dance, sang of what was, the despair as it was destroyed, the hope of yet more hope, more love, more light. To have a better dance through and of life. 

A future blessed with what is truly important. Returning from a long weekend with grandkids, holding them, their physical selves, I know  the truth of it all. I know the idiocy we are dooming ourselves with; I know we are heeding the wrong clarion call, to follow hatred, anger, nastiness, rioting and insurrection. I see the idiocy produce results that fracture our world more and more, dooming us to yet further life endangering idiocy. When will we learn? When will we know what is important? Garth Brooks said it all:

 “I want to see those people that are at the end of their rope and somehow have found a light through music. Somehow, they’ve made a friend at a concert that changes their life and forever they are best buddies — that sort of thing. I want to see people leaving that stadium loving each other more than when they got there.”

Amen!