Up Yours, Warren!

It is always a time of turmoil and confusion. The winds of change are constant and yes, sometimes violent and usually unpredictable. Cherished beliefs and hallowed institutions should often be called into question. Leaders who don’t know how to lead are weak and ineffective. This causes great anxiety and one reason Xanax is one of the most widely prescribed medications today. Many lack the intellect to analyze the complex issues with certainty and the wisest do hedge their bets against the future.

In those days people gathered into many different groups to confront the shock of change. Some gathered around those who perennially do not care, some around those who pursue stupidity, yet others gathered around the practical doers of deeds and still others sought refuge with the purveyors of bullshit.

When complex problems arose and solutions could not easily be found, which is often, the purveyors of bullshit would say childish things like “there are two paths to the future, one sought by the predictors of the inevitable and another by the pursuers of the possible”. To anyone who proposed to take action, they would say “we can distill the world into simple inane fallacies with which we can seem to make valid logical conclusions, but which are actually nothing more than empty rhetoric”. To anyone who tried to unite people in a direction other which they wanted to go, they would imply “you are a predictor of the inevitable and therefore, I am right and you are wrong. Do not question me”.

Now it came to pass that whenever the purveyors of bullshit were believed and followed, people became alienated and angry, organization became confusion, important considerations became meaningless, risks ignored, outcomes unquestioned and yes, the voices of innovation and hope became silent, because no one would listen for fear of being labeled in such a silly and reckless manner. And while the others were left to mop up a big soppy mess, the purveyors of bullshit were out sailing on their boats.

Now at that same time and that same place, there were the practical doers of deeds. When problems persisted and changes brought confusion, they were often dismayed because they knew that much of this was caused by the purveyors of bullshit and those that listened to their meaningless arguments and misleading words. Despite this, the struggled on in their sense of duty and responsibility, because they knew that the purveyors of bullshit were really weak and powerless and that one day they would sail off into the sunset.

Thus, they always had hope. To the purveyors of bullshit they would say, “shut the fuck up” and point out to the others how they were really full of shit. To those who questioned pre-assumed suppositions, they listened. To those who did not attempt to pigeon hole people as being in one camp or another, they said hey, lets work together, it will be fun.




And so it came to pass, that reason returned. People were encouraged to think. They were no longer bullied by the people who had to put them down to make themselves more important, because they saw them for what they were: purveyors of bullshit. And then people felt supported and uplifted by their leaders. New leaders emerged. They felt like they were making a difference and that their efforts mattered. Until, in wonder, they could say, “look the power is in our hands”.

Now in truth, it must be said, that this is a bunch of horse pucky too. There are times when everyone’s vision is clouded and their judgments wrong. No matter how hard you try, things may not work out as you plan them. It is beguiling to listen to the purveyors of bullshit because life is simple when we ignore truth. But in their most thoughtful moments most people came to appreciate many great truths in those turbulent times, because there is no simple “one truth”, regardless of what Warren H. Schmidt would have you believe ( notice what his last name rhymes with ).

For it is much less heroic to buy into the bullshit, and thereby become some mindless automaton, than it is to think for yourself and speak up, even if you are wrong.