Remember learning about The Dark Ages in school? We’d read about how sadly ignorant those poor Europeans were, not taking baths and thinking that attaching blood-sucking leeches to their skin would cure their illness. What was wrong with those people!? Civilization was flowering in Northern Africa and throughout Asia with mathematics and astronomy and advanced agriculture and basic hygiene happening. But not in Europe.
Some people seem to think that once we hit the Renaissance and then - bowing to all that’s holy - the Enlightenment we left all that ignorant nonsense in the history books. Those people are wrong.
Just how dark is our current Dark Age?
Where to start? Well, let’s be bold and go full-on topical. Let’s talk about how people of color are treated throughout the “civilized” Western world for a minute. And here’s an idea, let’s get really specific here and look at the appalling way black people are treated in the U.S., not just by the police but by everyone from government policy-makers to that questionable person at the DMV who can’t be bothered to pronounce Cha’rell’s name correctly.
Apparently, we do really need to keep explaining to the police that it’s not ok to choke black men for no particular reason other than the officer is stressed out. Hmmm.
How can we still be living in a time when being black and having a tail light out on your car can conceivably get you shot dead by the police? Why are so many (white) people more horrified that Macy’s and Target got looted than the fact that getting shot by the police is the leading cause of death for black young men?
And the fact that this has been a matter of life and death for black people for four hundred years speaks loudly to our shared and utter disregard for the well-fare of “the other”, those who don’t look like us or sound like us or eat the same things we do.
Really? Still???
Discuss.
Here’s how dark
And then, moving along because we have a lot of ground to cover here, there is the ongoing and completely unnecessary cutting of infant boys’ genitals, a practice that remains widespread throughout the Greatest Country On Earth. What the hell is that about? We can self-righteously (and rightly) demonize the practice of cutting girls’ genitals in other parts of the world but blithely continue cutting off a vital and important part of unconsenting baby boys’ bodies here? Why exactly? It’s been abundantly proven that there is no legitimate medical reason to continue this mutilation of infant boys. Yes, I said mutilation.
Hey, come on now, everyone knows little boys want their willies to look just like Dad’s!
Riveting as this topic is, the number of ways in which it’s clear the Dark Ages never went away is staggering. For example, there’s the centuries’ old practice of denying women the right to self-determination. A topic guaranteed to have a significant portion of the population frothing at the mouth. Kind of proves my point, right?
Do we really still have “expert” panels of all (white) men making decisions that cannot be appealed or overturned about what women can and can’t do with their own bodies?
We’re not talking about Saudi Arabia here or Afghanistan. Those countries are looked down upon by the, ahem, enlightened in this part of the world. Remember us? We’re the ones who managed to put a truculent, ignorant failed real estate developer in charge of the entire enterprise. And when it comes to denying women access to basic health care and completely legal abortions, we’re talking about states like Texas. In the United States of America. You know, the Home of the Free and the Land of the Brave.
Yeah. That.
And, hey, there’s nothing like a vast global pandemic to shine a light on every imaginable species of ignorance and human foolishness. Well, here we are. Sure, the name might be “United” States, but going back to when we were thirteen rapacious little colonies the working mantra for this behemoth of a country has always been Every Man For Himself.
And in states like Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, and the Carolinas, our friend the virus has been very happy. These states and others were raring to open things up the moment there seemed to be a slight lull in new infections. Then some of those states were wondering if they’d have enough hospital beds as new cases continued to spike since Memorial Day when everyone went to the beaches, pools, and their favorite BBQ joints.
Ok, it’s somewhat understandable that people in places with few cases of the disease (so far) are resistant to wearing masks and observing social distancing. But, come on people, even Fox and Friends delighted in showing repeat footage of the refrigerator trucks that were being filled with the dead behind hospitals in New York City. People who think they’re safe because they’re far away are clearly still living in the Dark Ages. Here’s a newsflash for you, Mister and Missus Merika: Viruses, they travel.
But what to make of the many people who continue to not bother with masks, or wear them under their chins or without covering their noses, while standing around in groups throughout New York? Are you kidding me? I’m not just talking about the past week or so but from the first weeks of the pandemic when we were seeing upwards of 800 deaths a day.
Stay away from me, you ignorant peasants!
What else?
Oh, my sad-faced friends, the list is very long. You might want to go take a nap or make a snack instead of depressing yourself further here, but then again since I’m taking a certain misshapen pleasure out of writing this sucker, maybe some readers are having a similar experience.
If so, hang on! Here is a far from exhaustive rundown of Dark Ages mentality that just will not go away:
Buying red hats and getting ready for the next big rally
Thinking that having a gun in the house will protect you and your family
Hitting your kids
Not getting vaccinated for Covid and bragging about it
Not voting
Not getting your kids vaccinated for childhood diseases
Thinking that a pediatrician molests little kids and vandalizing their home
Wanting low taxes and fully funded civic and social services
Trolling online with misspelled insults
Getting Medicare, Social Security Disability, Food Stamps and castigating those “Socialists”
Freaking out about immigrants “stealing” jobs while ignoring a tech sector that continues making jobs obsolete
Insisting that you made it all on your own without help
Making sure your local school only teaches sexual abstinence in sex ed
Telling random women on the street that they should smile
Listening to Infowars and believing that shit
Enjoying dog or cockfights
Popping the old lady upside the head if she looks at you funny
Lionizing rich people
Getting defensive and bent out of shape at people who use the word “lionize”
Watching reality television
Getting into fistfights at your kid’s softball game
Expecting your partner to always agree with you and getting riled up if they don’t
The Grand-daddy of them all: Organized Religion
This one has it all. Misogyny, toxic patriarchy, mind-control of the masses, and infant genital cutting. And, yes, I’m lumping The Big Three together in this take-down. If any one person walked into a doctor’s office and said that they genuinely believed in the stories told by these three major monotheistic religions, that person would be institutionalized toot sweet. The fact that millions and millions of people adhere to these belief systems without question bodes ill for our future. Ok, I do give them props for the music and the art. After that, though, we are talking serious Dark Ages mentality here.
I could go on, but I’m tired of this subject. I’m tired of living in a world where millions of people are just counting the days until we can “get back to normal”. I’m tired of that normal.
If you’ve read this far, chances are you’re tired, too. I’m going back to bed. Wake me when the real enlightenment arrives.
If it does. I’m not optimistic.
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