Dealing with mass insanity

OK, this is a theme that has made its way into these pages from time to time.  But because it doesn't seem to go away, I keep having to revisit it.  And that theme is: the world is a very crazy place in so many ways--some small, some big.

The small ones are like wood ticks on your leg that just don't want to let go.  For instance, there are some of my relatives who believe every word of the Bible is literally "true."  There's an old acquaintance from decades ago who refused to have coffee with me because she's married, and doing so would violate some weird principle about opposite-sex friendships.  A fair number of people in the U.S. actually believe that cavemen and dinosaurs co-mingled.  And my right-wing friend "Kyle" (see other posts) continues to send me stuff that refers to the "Socialist cabal" that is controlling America and anyone he doesn't quite agree with is a "nutjob" (with the exception of Senator Al Franken, who is a "clown"--a clown, by the way, who graduated from Harvard with honors in political science, but never mind those little details!)

And then, of course, there are the even bigger wood ticks, about the size of small puppies and engorged in blood and pus (hmm--love that image).  Same-sex marriage is already not legal in Minnesota, but let's vote on it again just to make extra sure those gays can't marry!  And let's make fast-food chicken restauranteurs our experts on scripture, and morality.  And let's keep making the tax rate for poorer Americans higher than it is for richer Americans.  And let's keep dropping bombs on people from drone aircraft, wherever we choose, all in the name of stopping "terrorism."  There's public beheadings in Saudi Arabia, genocide in Africa, female genital mutilation and gang rape all over the place--and let's not forget the President of Gambia, who believes he has a green herbal paste that's an absolute cure for AIDS!

And you wonder why I think the world is insane?  What I desperately yearn for is someone (a) who can talk sense about all these things and (b) have a platform and an audience through which to do it.  I was hoping that our current President could be such a person.  I think he has tried, but I think he could do better, all the way across the board.  My friends: we are wallowing in ignorance, strange beliefs, and downright evil behavior, and I don't see it ending anytime soon.  Thank goodness, at least, that I'm in education--if there is any long-term remedy for this foolishness, I really do think it resides in the classroom.  But we're at least one or two generations away from any sort of widespread "sanity," I'm afraid.