(Originally posted March 18th, 2011)
Tragedies have a tendency to bring out the good in people. It sometimes seems contrived, but it’s always positive when individuals reach out to a nation of strangers they’ll never meet and help them any way they can. Sure, it’s easier for some than others, but for many kind souls it comes naturally.
Problem is, in spite of their tangible contributions, they usually get lumped together with those who believe prayer solves catastrophes. And, look, I’m not saying they’re bad people. I know they have their beliefs in rosaries and divine intervention (which never happens), but everyone can pray until they’re blue in the bible. It won’t alleviate any environmental disaster or ascending death toll, even if we send it over by the boatload, which is an absurd notion in itself.
Oh, but I’m forgetting the dregs of society. The bottom-feeders. The village idiots/town drunks. That shithead from high school who cheated off your in civics and somehow managed to become a McDonald’s night manager or TSA security agent. Yeah, you know the one. Well, that person, and all persons just like them, had their own contribution to make in the recent woe of the Asian Pacific rim. And not at all surprisingly, it was xenophobic, vitriolic, and punctuated poorly beyond all comprehension.
Predictably enough, they took to the internet in droves and essentially smeared feces all over the walls. Facebook, YouTube, the ole’ reliable Fox News message boards…all flooded with the witty acumen of impossibly dim troglodytes. Of all the hundreds of entries I’ve poured over in the subsequent days, this one embodies the jittery insecurity rampant in this particular group. Bear in mind I couldn’t make this up, as hard as I may try.
“oh shit tsunami impact on japan I think about it revenge from Pearl Harbor I think gods planned USA always respect”
And to imagine, this guy is actually walking among us, indiscernible from one idiot to the next.
In this, and other poetic musings like it, there are three distinct themes I notice.
What still has so many people so pissed at Japan? The majority of the bad energy seems to come from individuals who don’t even know what Saving Private Ryan is, yet they have the culture and knowledge to firmly assert, from a strictly world-political standpoint, that Japan rightly had an 8.9 earthquake with their name on it. Furthermore, to contend that Jesus, in all his benevolent glory and Levi jeans, saw fit to kill off about 10,000 innocent Japanese for that crap they pulled decades back….well, exhibits a grotesque misunderstanding in Jesus, Karma, and plate tectonics.
Somehow, this theory that every time there’s an unspeakable tragedy oversees, it’s a message from God to get their act together. Well, I’ve come to the conclusion this isn’t some growing trend, but that there’s always a massive reserve of dolts with some severely harebrained ideas of how existence and reality apply to them. They just need a voice, and they can always count on finding it in Glenn Beck (and many others like him), for not much reason other than he a) is on TV and b) is a regular dummy just like them, because he actually suggested and reinforced that this was a very strong sign from God. Completely serious. Google it. Watch it. And later on this spring and summer, when half of Missouri or Arkansas or Iowa…what have you, is submerged in 100%, Jesus certified American water; ask yourself if he’s punishing them for being so sinful. Also, ask them whose boats they attacked.
Tragedies have a tendency to bring out the good in people. It sometimes seems contrived, but it’s always positive when individuals reach out to a nation of strangers they’ll never meet and help them any way they can. Sure, it’s easier for some than others, but for many kind souls it comes naturally.
Problem is, in spite of their tangible contributions, they usually get lumped together with those who believe prayer solves catastrophes. And, look, I’m not saying they’re bad people. I know they have their beliefs in rosaries and divine intervention (which never happens), but everyone can pray until they’re blue in the bible. It won’t alleviate any environmental disaster or ascending death toll, even if we send it over by the boatload, which is an absurd notion in itself.
Oh, but I’m forgetting the dregs of society. The bottom-feeders. The village idiots/town drunks. That shithead from high school who cheated off your in civics and somehow managed to become a McDonald’s night manager or TSA security agent. Yeah, you know the one. Well, that person, and all persons just like them, had their own contribution to make in the recent woe of the Asian Pacific rim. And not at all surprisingly, it was xenophobic, vitriolic, and punctuated poorly beyond all comprehension.
Predictably enough, they took to the internet in droves and essentially smeared feces all over the walls. Facebook, YouTube, the ole’ reliable Fox News message boards…all flooded with the witty acumen of impossibly dim troglodytes. Of all the hundreds of entries I’ve poured over in the subsequent days, this one embodies the jittery insecurity rampant in this particular group. Bear in mind I couldn’t make this up, as hard as I may try.
“oh shit tsunami impact on japan I think about it revenge from Pearl Harbor I think gods planned USA always respect”
And to imagine, this guy is actually walking among us, indiscernible from one idiot to the next.
In this, and other poetic musings like it, there are three distinct themes I notice.
- You had it coming, Japan.
- Jesus, still American.
- I just found out how to make words show up on glowing paper.
What still has so many people so pissed at Japan? The majority of the bad energy seems to come from individuals who don’t even know what Saving Private Ryan is, yet they have the culture and knowledge to firmly assert, from a strictly world-political standpoint, that Japan rightly had an 8.9 earthquake with their name on it. Furthermore, to contend that Jesus, in all his benevolent glory and Levi jeans, saw fit to kill off about 10,000 innocent Japanese for that crap they pulled decades back….well, exhibits a grotesque misunderstanding in Jesus, Karma, and plate tectonics.
Somehow, this theory that every time there’s an unspeakable tragedy oversees, it’s a message from God to get their act together. Well, I’ve come to the conclusion this isn’t some growing trend, but that there’s always a massive reserve of dolts with some severely harebrained ideas of how existence and reality apply to them. They just need a voice, and they can always count on finding it in Glenn Beck (and many others like him), for not much reason other than he a) is on TV and b) is a regular dummy just like them, because he actually suggested and reinforced that this was a very strong sign from God. Completely serious. Google it. Watch it. And later on this spring and summer, when half of Missouri or Arkansas or Iowa…what have you, is submerged in 100%, Jesus certified American water; ask yourself if he’s punishing them for being so sinful. Also, ask them whose boats they attacked.
No comments:
Post a Comment