HARRISON BERGERON

  For those unfamiliar with the name Harrison Bergeron, here is a small intro. In seventh grade, oh so many, many eons ago, we read a story, actually an excerpt from a novel of that title written by Kurt Vonnegut.  Harrison was a young boy, superb in every which way one could think of, a blessing to family and nation, yet was not so in his ugly world.   Excellence was punished, mediocrity enhanced and demanded, mandated by government policy. 

His rather unfortunate situation cried out for governmental intervention for one could not, must not, stand out in that society for excellence.  Harrison was burdened with handicap after handicap, from physical crippling to mental tampering. It was actually quite depressing to me and has remained with me all these years even as  other pieces of literature faded.

 How could this be? Why would it happen? Who would endorse such a crippling policy? Why, why, why? Was there a possibility of reform, a return to a sane and just society? Even more disconcerting when his society was compared to ours, a time of   nuclear threats, a world consistently stumbling from one war to another, a society riven by civil dissension rising to violence. 

Where were the leaders we needed, those who stood out for their excellence, for their ability to inspire the young?  Those capable were almost immediately removed from the equation, as in JFK and RFK, and well, here we are, all these decades and I fear that poor Harrison and his peers of abilities would be similarly burdened, forced down to the level of the lowest common denominator, to fit into a stagnant manifestly unequal society paraded around, touted as the peak of equality for mankind.    

The debate raged in that classroom, Mrs. Glazer mediating when emotions ran high and strong, and today, we are still debating the same issues. Rewrapped, regifted, it remains the same old, same old. It tires me out, deep down to the innermost core of my being. Why do humans consistently seek out the lowest of mankind? Why do we value the crass, the ugly of soul, those lacking empathy, any shred of decency. Why? We are indeed the authors of our fate, and we have writ so wrongly. Is it time to give up the battle, to lay down one's sword, to set aside ideals, to forfeit the battles without any further efforts? No, emphatically no. Even as the skies darken, the battle must be maintained, ramped up, if necessary, for the principles of Harrison's society, must find no home, no welcome here. Not with us. Nor for our kids.  

 We must abandon the leaders we have chosen, such as Trump along with the cowed and/or crazed members of a relic of a GOP and the equally insane extremes of the Democratic Party. We must find new faces, new minds, fresh ideas, restore the honor and prestige of public service.  Instead, we have shed our aura of leadership and shredded our trustworthiness as we waver in polices, refuse to stand tall and firm when we must do so.     

Even as we engage in yearly or semiyearly cleanouts of homes, of offices, of drawers and closets, we must do the same with ideas stagnant in their uselessness yet active in their production and spewing of poisons into the atmosphere of the world, along with their adherents and champions.  

The time for this battle is upon us, has already begun and unfortunately is proving too powerful for some, too enchanting for others. The effects are clearly visible for any who would open eyes to the truths of reality today. We cannot rewrite the past, should not attempt to do so for therein lurks danger, great existential danger.  We must look to the now and the future and do what must be done.

We must set aside, reject the ideas and policies of the opponents of Harrison, replacing them with   the ideas of excellence and honor and prestige in serving the nation. Hard work but work which is urgently needed. Now. The longer we wait the more difficult it will become until the point of no return is reached. 

Difficult, but there it is. Simply evaluate the past decade and the truth will hit hard, set you free indeed from the errors perpetrating hate and anger, the violence of evil.  

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Yitzy, I spoke much of you yesterday and the tears ran down our cheeks.  You were there, with us, as we spoke of your goodness, tried to understand the non-understandable, the nonacceptable. Wishing we could rewrite the past.

Not to be, but your memory, your life, will always be with us.

Always and forever. Always and forever.