One of the cartoons in yesterday’s comic section of the paper, had the cartoon characters climbing up the peak to confer with the political correctness guru, who then informed them that calling people stupid was no longer acceptable. Instead the new politically correct terminology was “smartless.” People didn’t habitually act in incredibly stupid ways. They just fell victim to the state of smartlessness. So I thought I would illustrate how being “smartless” can often result in tragic an horrific events. Because being smartless is just another way for humans to avoid reality and dive head first into a state of delusion.
Lets go back to the 1930s when Hitler and the Nazis where gaining more and more power and control over the German population. Jews were already being persecuted, by either being hauled off to concentration camps or just outwardly murdered by Nazi thugs. (By the way, the same held true for homosexuals and political dissidents or opponents of the Nazi regime.) During this period, a new term was coined in German-“JudenFrei.” It meant that an organization, town or city had been ethnically cleansed of all Jews, and was now JudenFrei. For example, Berlin became JudenfFrei in May,1943. Being JudenFrei was cause for great celebration among the German populace. There was partying, beer drinking, fireworks, and dancing in the streets once a town or city achieved that goal. Because most Germans had already been hypnotized into a state of delusion by the skillful demagoguery of Adolph Hitler.
In actuality, the only real effect for a town to become JudenFrei, was the loss of income experienced by that town’s merchants and shopkeepers. Since Jews and others on the Nazi hit list no longer lived there, they could no longer spend their money on the goods and services available in that town. But who cared about reality in those days. After all, Germany was becoming more prosperous in the 1930s, due primarily to the huge increase in weapons production, as the Nazi war machine went into overdrive. Now there were good paying jobs for everyone. Hitler had told them that Germany was becoming more powerful and respected by the rest of the world. Especially, after the shame and disgrace Germany had been forced to suffer at the hands of the Allies after WWI, by having to sign the Treaty of Versailles which required Germany to disarm, and become a second rate country. Hitler used Germany’s supposed humiliation caused by having to sign the Treaty of Versailles as a demagogic sledgehammer on his way to achieving ultimate power.
One thing the Nazis were especially proficient at was filming Hitler and his entourage as they wended their way through an endless stream of parades. Even with cameras that would be considered obsolete by today’s technology. When those cameras spanned over the crowds, one can see hordes of young frauleins, maybe 12, 14, or 15 years old, waving and smiling in adoration, as Hitler’s motorcade slowly went by. After all what was there not to like. As long as you weren’t a Jew or homosexual or didn’t make waves. As long as you didn’t mind persecution of those that were, or a total lack of freedom of speech and press. In other words as long as you were in total denial and lived under the comfy blankets of delusion. But it wasn’t stupidity; it was just being smartless.
Such delusional stupor continued on in Germany into the early 1940s, as WWII commenced, and the Nazi war machine conquered virtually all of Europe. Only Britain and Russia were left standing, and they were hanging on by their fingernails. Then at long last, the U.S. entered the fray, the Allies regrouped, and the tide of war began to turn against Germany. Allied bombers, as they gained strength, began to bomb German cities around the clock, until they became heaps of rubble. Young frauleins were no longer gazing at Hitler in adoration, but instead, were keeping their heads down and trying to avoid being blown to bits. The average German was now being forced out of his comfy state of delusion and had to face reality whether he liked it or not. If he wanted to survive, he could no longer afford the luxury of being smartless. He was now experiencing first hand, the suffering, misery and death, that the Nazis had inflicted on the rest of Europe. That’s the thing about avoiding reality. Eventually it does catch up with you, and then the misery is usually twofold.
But we don’t have to go back decades ago to view how the human condition often leads one into a state of “smartlessness.” It’s currently going on right before our eyes in the Ukraine, as well as in other countries, including ours, of course. As I’ve recently written, the Crimea region of the Ukraine, by overwhelming majorities, has just voted to place themselves under Vladimir Putin’s boot. I’ve written previously about the dictatorial thug that is Vladimir Putin so I won’t rehash it again. Except to say he runs Russia Mafia-style where he is the Godfather; and that the Russian economy is so bad that, as a result, the Russian birthrate is declining rapidly, to the extent that Putin himself is deeply worried. This is what the people of Crimea have so joyfully voted to become part of. Great celebrations over the Crimean vote, not just in Crimea, but in Russia too. Putin’s favorability ratings have skyrocketed due to Russia’s sudden acquisition of additional territory. Just as they celebrated Hitler’s early conquests, in Nazi Germany.
In a few months, when the situation in Crimea dies down, (assuming that it does) the average Russian and Crimean will be forced to come out of the comfy warmth of their delusions. They will be forced to face the rotten state of their lives, and how bad their economy and living conditions really are. They will have to face the fact that their only relief is to drown their sorrows in Russian-made vodka. But it’s not their fault. They were victimized by being in a state of smartlessness.
realityincorporated 