homme sans tête...
We don't get a newspaper or have a television here in Lomé. That's just the way it is. But there is definitely an upside: we manage to avoid a lot of the useless inane "chatter" that clogs the daily consciousness of our stateside bretheren. Still, we do have an internet connection. And by this connection the so-called "news" of the world does leak its way out to us. These days that leak concerns itself mostly with the idiocies of certain political campaigns, currently underway on the American continent. I have lately realized that all those political labels tossed about so cleverly by the mainstream media are completely fictitious or irrelevant. Things like "red states" and "blue states", "left" and "right", "women voters", "blue collar", "evangelicals", "libertarians", etc., etc., are all vain and useless and completely missing the point. The point is, there is only one demographic in American politics that really matters anymore. And that is the demographic of dumb: dumb, dumb, and dumber. Dumb is the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. today. It is the demography of gun nuts, baby breeders, bible-thumpers, RV's, viagra, botox, breast implants, light beer, fast food, monster trucks, all-star wresting, country western, hip hop, ipods, microsoft, starbucks, and broadcast news. It is the demographic of a people bred in ignorance, who cherish ignorance in all its pretty forms, who revel in their ignorance like pigs in mud. It is a people who somehow believes that the expression "god, country, family" represents the proper order of things, good and just. Huh, are you kidding? No, they are not kidding. This is a people that truly believes in a government ruled by "god's law", a fundamentally judaic doctrine, their Old Testament god of punishment all wrath and fury and global annihilation. The flock of the dumb is fully obedient to this sick judaism, and further conditioned to sacrifice the lives of their very own children to it, without question or protest. These same people may then go on to enumerate "guns, babies, jesus" as a sensible and succinct guide to their core values and public policy decisions. So, on the one hand god should come first. On the other, guns. Which is it going to be, then, god or guns? It is little wonder that America is so stupid and psychopathic and murderous. Their children grow up hearing how their dear mommies and daddies love them so much, more than anything in the whole world. But then what happens? Those same dear mommies and daddies ship their so-loved little kiddies off with their so-loved big guns, to kill kill kill smite kill and be killed in an insane succession of vicious brutal conflicts on all sides of the planet. Oh yeah, and Jesus loves you, too. Don't expect a logical explanation or reasonable discussion within this demographic, on this or any other issue. We are operating outside the realm of reason and intelligence here. This is a people embracing their collective stupidity and calling it "faith". They are a people so utterly addled and muddled with their notions of gods and guns that somehow the two have merged inside their little pea-brained heads and become the same thing. As I look back on it now, the demographic of dumb has been on the rise for as long as I can remember. For example, as a young boy in elementary school, I feared the days report cards came out. I knew I would have to conceal my grades from the other kids on the bus, or else risk the humiliation of looking "smart". (And I wasn't all that smart either, believe me!) Over forty years ago, then, the demography of dumb was already entrenched and spreading its force throughout the land. Perhaps it was always so? Was it just not so blatantly obvious then as it is now? Maybe I was just too dumb to notice. Whatever the case, dumb certainly holds full sway today. Just let someone try to initiate an intelligent conversation on public policy, say climate catastrophe or public health or demilitarization. They will immediately find themselves assailed, marginalized and ridiculed from all sides. It seems that speaking with even the merest hint of intelligence these days provokes the swiftest retaliation and the ultimate insult: being called "elite". That the word "elite" is now accepted as a derogative for "intelligent", is sure proof of the pervasiveness and ultimate triumph of dumb. Being described as "elite" means, you are not "one of the boys". It means, not dumb like us. It means those people of sense and sensibility have become so few and far between, they may as well be considered as foreigners, outsiders, a species apart. (Of course, there are coded nuances in the language of dumb here. When a white man is described as elite, the implication is "weak and probably gay." When a white woman is labeled elite, it means "cold lesbian bitch." When a black man is cast as elite, "uppity n*****!" And so on.) If you are not a card-carrying member of the Church of Dumb, you are not going to be invited to the picnic. Sure, the popular culture may still give some lip service to smart from time to time. But nothing threatens dumb more than smart. Smart can ask questions. Smart wants to know why. Or why not? Smart is unpredictable. Smart can be a dangerous. Terrorists are smart! Smart should be feared! Dumb is better. Dumb is safer. The demographic of dumb is The American Way. And the American Way is designed specifically to produce dumb in mass quantities. Dumb is a compliant and obedient worker. Dumb salutes the flag. Dumb shops at Walmart. Dumb plays the lottery. Dumb consumes on credit. In America today we may find a case study of dumbness, a living breeding laboratory of dumb, a world-class leader in the science of dumbographics, applied. In America, there is but a single political constituency, the dumbocrats. Their government is a dumbocracy. Once you understand this, everything else you ever wanted to know about Americans and their politics falls easily into place. Then it is simple:
That is why, against all reason, an old fart and his sidekick bimbo will soon follow the moron and his dangerous scumbag. On that day the dumb will be loud in their rejoicing, and the decline of a nation will continue apace. Lomé, Togo, July 2008. Zeiss Ikonta 521/2 Tessar (uncoated), Fomapan 400. |
