July 9: Do Nothing Stupid, Straight White Men, Laughter

Santiago does some wishing . . . 

I can do nothing with him and he can do nothing with me, he thought. Not as long as he keeps this up.

Once he stood up and urinated over the side of the skiff and looked at the stars and checked his course. The line showed like a phosphorescent streak in the water straight out from his shoulders. They were moving more slowly now and the glow of Havana was not so strong, so that he knew the current must be carrying them to the eastward. If I lose the glare of Havana we must be going more to the eastward, he thought. For if the fish's course held true I must see it for many more hours. I wonder how the baseball came out in the grand leagues today, he thought. It would be wonderful to do this with a radio. Then he thought, think of it always. Think of what you are doing. You must do nothing stupid.

Then he said aloud, "I wish I had the boy. To help me and to see this."

People frequently do stupid things.  Say stupid things.  Endorse stupid things.  If the last five or six years have taught us anything, it's that people will support stupid, even if it flies in the face of incontrovertible fact.  

I went with my family to a parade today.  Tonight, I'm attending a fireworks display.  In the parade, there was the usual array of political candidates marching and shaking hands and handing out brochures.  I have no problem with this.  They can wear their red-white-and-blue ties and tee-shirts and walk behind a car that's blasting Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U. S. A."  That's how they drum up support.

On the way home from the parade, my son started making up new lyrics to Greenwood's song:  "I'm proud to be an American, where straight white men are free!  And don't forget those who lied to steal women's liberty!"  I grew up with a profound respect for those who serve in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States.  My dad served in the Army during the Korean War.  But, we laughed pretty hard this afternoon when my son started singing his version of that song.

Here's the thing:  my son gets it.  He believes in freedom, and he is very aware of the sacrifices people have made for him to live his life openly and without fear.  He is also aware that, currently, there are some pretty stupid decisions being made in the highest levels of government--decisions that will affect him and his loved ones for years, if not decades.  

We laughed this afternoon because the only other options are disillusionment and despair.  Given those choices, I will always choose laughter.  If we laugh at stupidity, we can chip away at its power over us.  Because laughter is contagious.  One person starts laughing, and then another person joins in.  And another.  And another.  Pretty soon, everyone is laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.  

Laughter is a powerful tool against the stupidity of the world.  Comedian George Carlin once said, "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."  If we can laugh at those large groups of stupid people, perhaps sanity will eventually prevail.

So sing it will Saint Marty:  "I'm proud to be an American where straight white men are free!"