Lists

Lists have been made throughout history. Many of us make a list of daily tasks, tasks at work that need finished, and lists of who is naughty and nice to give to Santa for the holidays. There even was a cute movie called the ‘Bucket List’, which included all of the lists of opportunities in life to enjoy before dying.

But then there are some lists which offer little joy and many times create havoc, hate and chaos. During the hay days of the Pogroms in Russia Jews living in villages were on the list of homes to be destroyed because they were Jewish homes. In Nazi Germany there were lists of Gays, Jews, Gypsies, and Artists who needed to be captured, killed or taken to concentration camps. In New England during the 1600’s there was a list of potential witches who needed to be burned at the stake. In the south during the 20’s and 30’s the Ku Klux Klan made a list of Negros who dared stare at white women found them dragged them into the woods and hung them. In the 50’s Senator McCarthy created his own list of Commie loving Americans, had little evidence for most except for heresy and made life miserable and morose for so many. Richard Nixon developed his Enemy’s List and as President tried to make a living hell on earth for anyone who happened to cross him or have any discourse that he felt was demeaning.

And now we have Glenn Beck and his magic chalk board, with any kind of list imaginable, but anything listed as evil, awful and Un-American. Mr. Beck, like a magician, will pull from his top hat topics and ideas based on fear and loathing and tell his lemming like public these people are bad, these ideals stink and these folk need to be feared. And like a bad magician everything Glenn does has the acrid smell of fake smoke and mirrors. He will saw the truth in half, will make honest disappear, and will pull the wool over the eyes of dimwits who want nothing more than to be told who and how to hate.

Supposedly humans have evolved and each time a mistake is made we learn how not to repeat that same stupid experience. Supposedly humans have the capacity to discern bad from good, fact from fiction, right from wrong. Supposedly humans have the ability to learn from our own self made mistakes. Supposedly!

But here we go again with lists and in particular Glenn Beck’s list. Here we go permitting a moron to mangle the truth, fabricate the facts and outright lie about what is real and what is not. Here we go giving permission for an angry man, a bigoted man a self serving and selfish man to dominate the social scene in this country and dictate through diatribes the immediate future of a great nation. How does that happen? How do the smart lay back and lounge while a fire eating dragon lunches on misconceptions, madness, slander and lies?

Most lists created to alienate people are developed by men and women who are paranoid, delusional, self appointed prophets, and phonies. Most lists created to emphasize “we” versus “they” are concoctions of charismatic monsters who want no more than to destroy consensus and clarity. Most lists created to divide and conquer are extensions of imaginations of mad men/women who hide behind fabrication and turn to dust when faced with truth. And yet, once again a vast amount of Americans are listening, learning and leaning on the words of a list maker, Glenn Beck.

When does this stop? When do the political pundits, the social commentators, the religious leaders, the intelligent of this nation band together and say we have had way too many lists in the history of nation and this latest list has to cease?

Free speech is a blessing of America, but hate speech must be countered by a culture to ensure that free speech does not blur into ending speech for some and allowing loathing and lies for others.

Lists have been around civilization for a long time and many of those lists have led to disaster, destruction and doom. Have we not learned anything from history, anything at all?