Drop That Foolish Delusion??? -- Part II -- Slugs

II.  Many Bloodsuckers

On the last Wednesday of September this year, this writer was blessed to attend Bible Study with the family of God known as South Main Baptist Church.  Pastor Steve rendered a wonderfully inspiring and thought-provoking introduction of the Gospel of Mark.  At some point during the Bible Study we were reminded of an upcoming election, and that candidates  would be out in full force, making promises that none could keep.  When asked which party might that be -- Republicans or Democrats, there rang throughout the Fellowship Hall a one-word, unanimous answer:  Both!  That is true.   So, after toiling over which Slug (sorry-butt sluggard) or CTI (critically thinking idealist) to highlight first, I want to thank Pastor Steve for inspiration.

Before we delve into this writing -- THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE SLUGS MOST CALL POLITICIANS AND I CALL MANY BLOODSUCKERS.  The problem is that the CTIs who happen to have been elected to their positions of responsibility and authority, are few and far between -- like -- a needle in a haystack -- a cool drink of water on a hot summer's day -- just plain rare!

So, why does this writer label most politicians slugs?

A.  They develop amnesia quickly, so we ask: Now, why did you say you were seeking to be elected to this particular office?

B.  They are redundant, regurgitating and rechewing the same drivel, and we ask: Wasn’t it the last election, and the one before that, and the one before that, that you said you were going to strengthen our border security – or was it the one before that??  Wasn’t it the last election, and the one before that, and the one before that, that you said you were going to reduce crime – or was it the one before that??  Wasn’t it the last election, and the one before that, and the one before that, that you said you were going to strength our educational system – or was it the one before that??

C.  They steal.  Okay, that’s a bit much for some; let’s try this: they reallocate funds that were supposedly intended for a particular purpose, to some other concern for which they were really intended in the first place.  Otherwise, they see to the allocation of funds to sometimes frivolous, nonviable purposes that serve an elite group, or to some worthwhile project that benefits the many after the elite group has made their profit from the project.

D.  They are lousy lovers: they tell us what we want to hear, then do what they want to do, oftentimes to our utter detriment.

E.  Many have outlived their usefulness, and now appear to be resting on their laurels.  The problem with that is there are no laurels upon which to rest.

F.  They simply don’t do their jobs.  Some assume the offices to which they were elected but the duties of which they are incompetent to properly execute.  Others are busy padding their pockets and investing in their own futures.  Some just spend as much time on the golf course as possible.  And, in Houston, that’s pretty darn near a year-round activity.

Before any reader starts speculating about the identities of the folks of whom I write, consider that at the age of 56, I’ve seen a lot of ballots and a slew of politicians, and have read of as many who preceded my voting age.  Just know that there is no political party within which slugs nest exclusively.  They are as diverse as this country of ours.

So, why devote the time and energy to write about these many blood-sucking slugs?  That’s simple.   This is not for them; it is for you, the reader, the electorate.  Unfortunately there is a much larger populace than that of slugs.  We are they: the apathetic, the complacent, the folks who keep returning washed up, dried out, used up, weren’t-worth-a-plugged-nickel-from-the-beginning, lazy, incompetent folks to office.  And then we complain.  How dare we!!!???

And finally, a word to politicians: Just like all Cognac is brandy, but not all brandy is Cognac, slugs are politicians, but all politicians are not slugs.  Then again, if you are a politician and can be identified by one or more of paragraphs A, B, C, D, E and F above, perhaps you are indeed a slug.

Grace & peace,

Andrea Hoxie

Drop That Foolish Delusion???

I.  Introduction


This writer is a voracious reader without the time or visual strength to read voraciously. Thank God for technology that spawned CDs, MP3 players, public libraries and www.onthegobooks.com!  


The current read/listen is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.  Have you read it?  Or, perhaps, you may have read her Atlas Shrugged.   Both of these mammoth works of fiction are fraught with critically thinking idealists ("CTI"), on the one hand, and sorry-butt sluggards who never seem to transcend a state of group mentality ("Slugs"), on the other.   My dilemma is that while I tend to agree more with the CTIs rather than the Slugs, I find the CTIs to generally be a cold, unfeeling, dispassionate bunch.  That makes me a little uneasy, as my cold, unfeeling dispassionate self is quite a bit smaller than my warm, feeling, passionate Andrea -- at least so I believe.  [Some folks may beg to differ; so be it.]  Still, the Slugs tend to trample on my last nerve with their whining, conniving, manipulative, selfish-in-the-name-of-the-people and deceitful ways.  Oh, but for a bit of balance!  It is my sad acknowledgment that Slugs tend to outnumber CTIs in all areas -- family, work, school, whatever/wherever (perhaps the 80/20 rule applies here?).  


The Slugs of the world would have us all believe that the only way to make it in this little world (it is, indeed, quite small when you look at the big picture) is to follow the masses in all respects.  And to the extent one's dreams, desires, ambitions, aspirations, and even opinions and thought processes are skewed from those of the masses, there is no place for that kind in the world.  


The Slugs of this world -- the ones who would dare say drop that foolish delusion -- be damned!  There is a price to pay for that kind of edict, and many CTIs have paid dearly.  Still, if one who is a peace-loving, nonconforming traditionalist, often misquoted and misunderstood, still refuses to march to the beat of anyone's drum except one's own, as led by one's God, then so be it.   What for most is a foolish delusion may be a solution to a problem that benefits not the CTI so much as it does the masses -- including the Slugs.  It is the lack of confidence and downright slothfulness of the Slugs that stifle the nurturing, growth and development of the masses.  And the masses are too blind, starved and stunted to see and understand their deprivation.


In the coming blogs we will examine some CTIs and and Slugs -- some from works of fictional and some real*, with the intent of trying to find some balance between the two.  I hope you will stick around for the next few entries.    


Grace & peace,


Andrea


*Out of basic human respect, no real person will be labeled "Slug" or "CTI."  Then, again, if it looks like a Slug, acts like a Slug . . . well, you get the point, don't you?