“This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.”
Watching the rabid crowd of fake protesters, rounded up by supporters
of, and possibly by members of, the current administration, one wonders. The
participants weren’t whimpering. It was more like drooling snarls, the type of
behavior our parents warned us to look for when we suspected a dog was mad from
rabies.
Where do they find these people? I suspect it isn’t hard. If
one publishes a list of those they hate, I can see hordes of like-minded people
joining them. No, it’s not a good way to select friends. It is a good way,
however, to form a mob. These individuals represent the most heinous forms of
cognitive malfunction. To please the rich and powerful, they are willing to
subject each other, and their own families, to destruction.
A Latin phrase comes to mind: “Acta est fabula plaudit.” It means roughly “The play has been performed; applaud!” It was a common ending to
ancient Roman comedies that let the audience know that the play had ended. Suetonius
in “The Twelve Caesars” claimed it to have influenced Augustus' last words.
They have gone down in History as “Have I played the part well? Then applaud as
I exit.”
I can only trust that the actions of the imbeciles I saw on
TV and in the newspapers this weekend don’t spawn, for America: Acta est
fabula plaudit. Can we yet save her? I just don’t know.
Erasmus, we are told, said “In the land of the blind, the
one-eyed man is king.” That, if true, would offer hope that, in a land of the
morally blind, a person with half a brain could prevail. A story I read in high
school, however, disputed Erasmus. A sighted man showed up in “the land of the blind.”
Low and behold, he not only didn’t prevail, he was judged disabled by the inhabitants
and sentenced, in order to be a worthy citizen, to be blinded. I worry that the
members of the mobs I saw, have brown uniforms at home and are waiting for the
call to meet, while we remain complacent.
Their actions could not win if faced with organized resistance.
Most are probably cowards, unmanageable anarchists, and dependent upon monetary
compensation for their outrage. Their actions could prevail, however, against
indifference.
That’s why I’ve created a new slogan for these musings. It
is from Latin as well and would read, “approbatio silentium.” I hope that translates
into “Silence is approval.” Maybe Erasmus would agree.
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