| |
A
Nation of Fools
by Peary Perry | |
Sometimes it makes sense to me to change the title of this column to something
along the lines of “A World Gone Mad” or simply “A Nation of Fools.”
There just seems to be so much to write about that defies sanity in the world
we are now living. I’m wondering if this is normal or is a function of getting
older? It’s hard to decide.
Take political correctness for instance. Last
week, there was a protest from some group or another over the fact that their
race (I won’t mention it, since it wouldn’t be politically correct) comprises
5% of the population of this country, but is represented in TV and movies only
2.5% of the time. First off, who calculates these kinds of statistics in the first
place? Second, their argument makes absolutely no sense. Their point is that all
entertainment media should reflect the racial makeup of our society in every presentation.
How can this be? If someone were to film a movie or TV program about the battle
of Waterloo, in order to be accurate you’d have to use actors and actresses that
were representative of the population at the time. Not what is in our country
at the present. Likewise, if someone produced a film about some Japanese warrior,
should the majority of the actors be Caucasian, since they constitute the majority
of our nations racial mix at this time? I don’t think so. Granted, if you were
doing a program that was based in our current time period, you should consider
making the cast as reflective of our current racial mix as possible, but to impose
those restrictions on all entertainment media is ridiculous.
Cheerleading
in Texas. Is this a joke or what? We have huge problems to deal with in all of
our states. Education being one of the largest. Our kids are getting out of school
without the basic tools needed to compete in a global society and work environment.
We are falling further and further behind other nations in the world because we
don’t want to impose learning guidelines on these little darlings. You can choose
to believe that two and two can add up to anything you want. This might be ok
for your school and your answer might allow you to graduate in spite of being
incorrect, but it won’t fly in the face of commerce when you are competing against
other graduates who know the correct answer. Instead of directing our focus on
cheerleaders and what they do or don’t do, what about directing some focus on
reading, writing and arithmetic? I don’t know about you, but I was under the impression
that unless you made good grades you were prohibited from participation in any
extra curricular activities, so maybe these are the honor students who are shaking
their booties in some obscene manner. This is a problem for the local school board
and the parents, not the state legislature. What a waste of time.
Speaking
of children, the other day there was a news article about some 5 year old who
had to be restrained in handcuffs by the school bus police because he or she (I
can’t divulge what sex they are, due to my being politically correct) went crazy
and could not be controlled by the bus driver. The parents are suing, even though
it was captured on video. What kind of a world are we living in where a five year
old can get out of control so badly they have to be placed in handcuffs for their
protection? Imagine the kind of behavior this child is allowed to get away with
at home. Aren’t the parents concerned over how their child acts?
My final
madness report item for this week is actually in two parts. One, some enterprising
farmer or rancher is charging $100 to each person to allow them to set fire to
his fields in a controlled burn. He has a waiting list of people who want to come
and watch the fields burn. American capitalism in action. The second item concerns
the gambling on cow poop, which took place somewhere (another pc situation) in
the country last weekend. It seems it has been the practice of this community
to feed some cow and then turn it loose on the local football field. The field
is marked off in grids, which are bought for some dollar value. Waiting and watching
for the cow to poop is considered great sport. The grid square pooped upon determines
the winner of the prize. I feel fairly certain this event will make it to television
before too long. I just hope they remember to balance the audience watching this
momentous event according to generally accepted politically correct racial guidelines.
These are indeed strange times we live in.
©
Peary Perry
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
Letters
From North America
- May
10 , 2005 column |
| |
