Wednesday's Words for June 23, 2010

A couple of news items caught my attention this past weekend, and I have to tell you, as far as I can see, things are not looking good for humanity.

The first item was a story about how a museum in London has doctored an historical photograph of Winston Churchill by “air brushing out” his cigar.

Now, on first look, this would seem to be a silly story, a case of “socio-political correctness run amok”. But then I got to thinking about it. Someone, somewhere, made a decision that expressed in just so many words is this: it’s better to lie than to tell the truth.

Think about it. Who in their right minds could construe that photo, with Churchill’s ever-present cigar, as being a promotion of smoking? Seriously? Where are our lines anymore? Tampering with the historical record...do we, as a species, understand how dangerous that is? It is many times more dangerous to the health of humanity than is smoking, no question about it.

When you consent to changing the historical record of anything for any reason then you are setting a precedent that will mean future generations may change anything for any reason at all.

Rewrite history, and you run the risk of having to repeat the most horrific lessons of our civilization.

The second story that had me shaking my head was this: “Newlywed rushes bride to hospital, and now he’s in trouble with the law”.

If you’re not familiar with this story allow me to recap: The groom, a gentleman with medical training, saw signs that his bride might be having a stroke. As she had other underlying medical conditions that made her having a stroke possible, he immediately got her into the car and rushed to the hospital. He stopped for two red lights but then proceeded through them. He was chased by a police officer who, when he arrived at the hospital’s emergency entrance, tried to wrestle the man to the ground as he was getting his sick wife out of the car!

What do these two stories, I ask you, have in common? In a word: stupidity.

You see, the problem with “dumbing down” the population, while it may make the masses more manageable in some respects is that very quickly society breaks down. Why? Because stupid people get put into positions of authority, and some of those stupid people are also bullies.

A smart police officer would have seen his “perp” lifting a woman out of the car and put two and two together and would have stopped right there. Maybe if he was a hard-ass he would have given the guy a traffic ticket for running two red lights after the woman was in the hands of the hospital staff. He certainly would not have carried it further. One of the comments of the officer was that on top of everything else this horrible felon did, the man carried the woman into an ER examining room where he had no authority to be! Un-be-lievable.

A smart museum employee would never have dreamed of altering a photograph of historical significance. The museum in London, by the way, is dedicated to Churchill, and his amazing leadership during England’s “finest hour”.

These are just two examples of many similar stories we’ve all heard in the last couple of years. The seizure of a GI Joe figure at an airport, because there is a “ban on guns” is the one that keeps coming to my mind. I would like to know who had the bright idea that the best way to deal with a moron was to give him/her a uniform and some authority?

So I’m really worried, and you all should be worried, too.

We’re getting older, and if God blesses us to live long enough to become elderly people, then our day to day needs will be in the hands of the terminally stupid.

And I’m not altogether certain there is a cure for stupid.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury