Abracadabra, Please and Thank You

Let me begin by clearly stating that I'm no saint. I have behaved badly from time to time, and have done things that, in retrospect, I am ashamed of. I always try to do well and live right, but I do occasionally fall off the wagon of good behavior.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, what the heck is wrong with people nowadays?

People of every age, religion (especially religion), color, and culture are behaving like total, self-absorbed, self-righteous idiots. Look at the world around us ...

Because Der Furor needed to blame his mismanagement of the Coronavirus pandemic on something other than his lack of leadership and common sense, he harped on the theme of a Chinese virus - the "kung flu." And what happened? Brainless morons assumed this meant it was okay to assault elderly oriental people on the street, because their fearless leader gave them license to do it.

We might have beaten the pandemic with the vaccines developed in record time by dedicated scientists ... but because so many people have been conditioned to believe that their personal freedoms and desires are more important that the lives and safety of those around them, and because there are politicians to whom their power and agenda are more important than the lives of their constituents, more than 610,000 Americans are dead, and the number continues to climb in states where rights and freedoms are more important than the common good.

"Karens" and "Kevins" (the male equivalent) feel empowered to launch their fears and prejudices like weapons at any time and place, making them look like spoiled and undisciplined children.

The absolute right to unrestricted ownership of guns has led to terrible carnage on our streets, but because the Second Amendment is more important than the preservation of life, there is no chance of rational thought or discussion of ways to minimize the danger.

People treat each other badly in general because they see their leaders behaving badly without consequences. Remember that video of Der Furor shoving the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of the way so he could preen at the center of a group photo? And look at the behavior of fools like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, and Ted Cruz. Is this how we want our children to behave?

My parents always stressed the importance of good behavior and acceptance of responsibility for our actions. They were unfailingly polite and generous and expected us to be the same. Their philosophy was that we should always behave well toward others until they give us reason to do otherwise ... then you have room to launch back. I've tried to follow their example by trying to be slow to anger, but more than willing to make it worth someone's while if they push me to it.

I remember seeing a movie long ago in which a character commented that there were two kinds of people in the world - diplomats and door mats - and that you didn't have to be both. The message was that you could be polite and diplomatic without letting everyone walk over you. It's a good thing to remember nowadays, when it seems that many people equate politeness and good manners with weakness and submission.

On his TV program for young children, Captain Kangaroo often invoked his magic words - "Abracadabra, Please, and Thank You" - as a way of teaching young children the importance of being polite. Where's the Captain now, when we need someone to model good behavior?

This has been a sort of stream-of-consciousness post*, but right now I'm being bothered by the miserable behavior of most Americans and don't know what to make of it. If you see me acting badly, you have my permission to give Calvin a dollar on my behalf ...

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* I hope it made more sense than one of Der Furor's stream-of-unconsciousness rally speeches, if nothing else.