In My Opinion

I’ve thought a lot about the state of affairs in America and in my opinion, that state of affairs is pretty bewildering. Once again, I’m reminded of the Aesop fable, The Boy, the Man, and the Donkey, or The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle, or Hans Christian Anderson’s, The Emperor’s New Clothes. 

In The Emperor’s New Clothes, the vain emperor, who spent the kingdom’s money on his own personal wants, bought into the lie that two tricksters sold him. They promised they could weave him a marvelous suit that only the elite could see. Anyone who was stupid or incompetent couldn’t see it. Of course, the emperor, wanting to be thought of as the most intelligent, beautiful, forward-thinking of anybody, put on this suit of clothes that were invisible. Thinking he was dressed in a most superior way, he paraded downtown. All the people, not wanting to be thought stupid or inferior, were afraid to admit the emperor was naked until a little child, who was honest about what he saw, said, “He’s not wearing a thing!” Then, of course, the emperor realized he had been duped and was a laughingstock.

The moral of The Boy, the Man, and the Donkey, is that in trying to please everybody, the boy and the man pleased nobody, including themselves or the donkey. They lost their donkey and he floated away downstream.

The Mixed Up Chameleon tried to be one animal after the other and wound up being a funny-looking animal who couldn’t do any of the marvelous things of the other animals, and, worst of all, couldn’t be his own amazing self. 

This is probably frowned upon now, but not so long ago, individuals wanted to excel, to be the best they could be. They had heroes who were worthy of being emulated. Individuality was good; being a part of the herd and “group thinking” was recognized as bad. 

Pride in one’s country was a good thing. The past was honored if it was honorable; it was exposed as dishonorable if it was dishonorable. No one suggested tearing down a statue or erasing facts from history books. We looked at the bad things as reminders of how far we had come and the fact we were working toward being better. We also recognized that we were individuals and different people had different heroes, heroes that were not to be derided or obliterated.

The best people were hired for jobs. No one cared about race or religion, just whether the airline pilot, the doctor, the teacher was the best that could be hired. Would you want to trust your life to someone with inferior knowledge just because he fulfilled an imaginary quota? And, if you were looked over for a position in favor of someone less qualified, how would you feel? Would you be inspired to keep trying?

Who are these new voices who are wiser and kinder and more forward thinking than the men and women of all colors and beliefs who have built this great nation? From whom did they get the right to demolish ideals and beliefs that have stood for centuries? And, why on earth are so many people, not wanting to be thought stupid or incompetent, or unkind, buying into this? We have become a fearful nation, afraid of saying what we really see or believe. In trying to please everyone, we are pleasing no one and wreaking such havoc as I’ve never before seen. This is where we are, in my opinion.