The Moron Why

In the old days before we became obsessed with self-esteem and cultural sensitivity and falling over ourselves like department heads from the Ministry of Silly Walks, those long-ago days, some used the "scientific" designation from a scale of intelligence measurements, the term "Moron." A moron is far brighter than an idiot, on this scale. A moron has the smarts of a kid aged eight to twelve. Few of us would look at a ten yer old and conclude that he's a moron. Rather, we would think of him as a ten year old who hasn't developed as yet in the brain. A twelve year old, borderline, still moving toward maturity, still not acceptable to adult company as an equal but not a physical moron in that he cannot become anything more. Of course, we don't refer to people as morons any longer, except half the nation who refers with abandon to Geo W. Bush as a moron. That's not to say they think Bush is a moron, and so because they probably don't know what a moron is. The word is a general insult that means as much to most as "fascist." Like this: "Bush is a fascist moron." His wife is a witch and his friends are Jews. It's what we might expect from kids on the playground, those not really adults at all, those who still have a long way to go before they develop their brains to the point they stop, at which point we judge them as adults of whatever capacity. So, look at twelve year old, technically as developed as an adult moron, and look at the average 18 year old, only six years away from being a moron. Do those six years transform a moron into a genius? I don't think so. I think we're faced with a young adult who still has a long way to go to grow into adulthood. Often, and more than often, 18 year olds, 20 year olds, even older people, seem to think, a result of sudden adulthood, that they are geniuses now that they aren't morons any longer. Used to be, days long ago gone, that those smarter than morons weren't suddenly geniuses in sociology class at a local community college, they were "borderline deficient." Today, the scale is different: those who, like Sarah Palin, have values and morals are "idiots," so stupid and incapable of thought that they cannot live rightly in the world, life not fit for life, as it were. So it is a good thing to firebomb Sarah Palin's church, never mind the people inside at the time. I am an idiot, obviously, for I do not understand.

I encountered a young woman recently who sat, chin in hand, who knitted her brow and looked deeply thoughtful, so thoughtful, in fact, that one could use her very face as the the epitome of "thoughtful faces" in any modern ad. campaign, and she said, softly and thoughtfully, clearly and publicly thoughtful, lest there be some misunderstanding among her audience that she is deeply thoughtful, "Yes, but the question is, 'Whyyy?' " Dear reader, you and I will both feel let down emotionally when I relate that no one clapped. Her performance was so intensely "thoughtful." I wanted to clap, but I was shy. Yes, but the question is, "Why?" Why was I shy? Is it a result of my childhood? or is it because of capitalist exploitation? The question, dear reader, is "Why?"

Smart people are deeply interested in the nature of things, and they are not satisfied with the "common sense" of the masses who so foolishly and naively accept the given narrative of the ruling classes. No, smart people ask, "Why?" and they come up with smart answers, such as "The Jooos!" "Sarah Palin is a christo-fascist!" "Bush is a moron." Oh, dear reader, I beg to pause for time to write, "Yes, but the question is 'Whyyy?' "

For some of us, the question is not "Whyyy?" The question is, "Shut the fuck up."

The question is why anyone adult and functional in the world listens with indulgence, and often approval, to kids who perform the ritual, "Why?" I term this the "Moron Why." I have no tolerance today, today after the murder of over a dozen U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, by a known jihadi, enraged Muslim shouting "Allahu Akbar" while he gunned down a further 30, wounded, some of whom are destined to die from those wounds, "Yes, but the question is, 'Why did he feel compelled to shoot unarmed people?' "

Why is the "Moron Why" of a child not yet adult enough to join the adult world. we have a nation of adult morons, trained to be moronic, trained to assume they are sophisticated, that those who question them or even ignore them are "fascists and morons." A moron, even if the term is out of favor, has a meaning, and it applies to those who ask the "Moron Why."

My question remains: "Shut the fuck up!"