You know it’s a sign of “the end” when The New York Times® and Time Magazine® earn a link in our blog due to our accusing them of truth telling (for once!)  This short blog has a very interesting surmise.

One telling way to evaluate a given culture’s values is to merely note with acuity and humility the list of pop culture invectives it tosses around most frequently over a given period of time.

Along the same lines as an earlier column where I asked why we as a culture seem to have no psychologically approved pejoratives for those whose alleged OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) has them engaging in all manner of repetitive evil or incompetence (versus those who are doing good, like, triple checking the front door locks, say, for the security of loved ones, for example), I now have a pressing, similar question which I’ve not heard mentioned elsewhere:  ”Control freak” sounds so negative; what exactly is the opposite of the often-alleged, and much maligned control freak?

To get us started the following example will be instructive:  Recent discussions among members of a local music act concerning its overall direction found that those who want little or no leadership (or “control”) to interfere with their individual senses of “artistry” used the term “control freaks” as an attack against those attempting to coalesce the group’s talents in a deliberate direction to escalate its overall excellence and appeal.  These same critics never saw fit to inveigh similarly against their own “controlling” efforts to influence the group’s path, albeit in divergent directions. Now, for the big DCQ (daunting cultural question), courtesy of TheBSshow.com®: How is one of these competing forces less invasive, less leading, (i.e. less “controlling”) than the other?  Answer:  Twenty-first century humans are stupid, underdeveloped, and immensely prideful. Oh, and, the two are not different — each of the competing contingencies is essentially vying to have its own way. Thus, the opposite of a control freak is a control freak.

This ubiquitous, perception-related, malady of judgment which we have foisted upon ourselves, is, at the least, logically contradictory if not downright duplicitous. It diminishes honesty and the pursuit of clarity and order. That cannot be good for fans of Goodness, can it? Or for those starving to bask in its benefits.

Where does such broad acceptance of obfuscation come from and why are we (and by “we” I mean everyone except me, and possibly Bjorn, co-hosts of The BS Show® and TheBSshow.com®) so often such suckers for it?  I’m going to pretend that I don’t want to know.

But you, dear open minded follower of The BS Show With Bjorn And Shawn® may help, though, to ameliorate this rampant sickness. Start by confronting those anarchy freaks, anything goes freaks, trippy dippy hippie freaks, and the me-myself-and-I freaks in your circles on a case by case basis and insisting they explain how (and perhaps apologize for) their habit of disparaging others with the toothless defensiveness of this infantile pejorative “control freak” helps them, their discourse, or the course of human events.  

If they call you a name instead of addressing the argument, it may be that the effects of left-leaning fanaticism are blocking their progress toward Goodness, such that, your most commensurate rejoinder may be, “I know you are but what am I?” 

Should it turn out that financial guru Bernard Madoff is guilty of stealing upwards of $50,000,000,000 of his clients’ investments one can, in keeping with the en masse left-leaning, hyper-tolerant mania which is sweeping these United States these days, only hope (and keep a nice thought, too) that we’ll carefully mind ourselves as to the severity of our reaction as a nonjudgmental family of well-meaning beings.

Obviously, to many of us, education is “still the key” to, umm, blunting our wonderfully evolved race’s inclinations towards, umm, misunderstandings about one man’s mistaken misappropriations of the monetary assets of others, so it will remain especially important that our progress towards progressive values not be derailed by the inflexibility of old fashioned (think “right-wing, conservative”) moral expectations nor by the assuring but coercive rigidity of a so-called high standard of justice.

After all, hasn’t each of us woken up on the wrong side of the bed and needed a little extra tolerance for the disarming lack of balance which ensued? Isn’t it New York Times® columnist David Brooks who presumes to remind us how divisive it can be to rush, or even crawl, towards a black and white  assessment which might be perceived as not inclusive of others? 

Before any of us offends another’s inclusive sensibilities by acting bigoted (or acting at all close minded) towards a Bernard Madoff let us resolve to not become so partisan that Mr. Madoff is suddenly made to “feel like the other.” (Remember one present day “expert’s” lesson drawn from Kristallnacht?) Do we, as a beautiful gathering of tolerance-loving beings want to risk having those as erudite as David Brooks’ passel of colleagues at The New York Times® react by showing us that we are, in Brooks’ pejorative, “reactionary?” Chance forbid.

So this week when water cooler chit chat surrounding Bernie Madoff’s alleged faux pas takes a turn towards outdated, judgmental standards, and the quest for alleged moral clarity, which, taken together, might tempt you to abandon the enlightened warmth of everything “progressive” merely to join those hateful, ethics-touting control freaks who smugly offend others as if they have a duty to judge well, well, you and we at TheBSshow.com® can band together in protest. We can say, “Hey guys, isn’t this critique sort of inappropriate? Might not others feel offended by your bigotry towards Bernie at this sensitive time? Can’t you see how such hatefulness can be perceived as divisive. Can’t we all just come together?”

Yes! Yes, we can. Together, we can all work — oh, wait, now many of us will absolutely have to work because our $50 billion has been pilfered, but, leaving that aside, what was I saying? — oh, together we can progressively progress towards, umm, more togetherness, and finally learn that when we positively come together (or in this case work together) it’s not only easier to continue avoiding harsh judgments, it’s also easier to reach into others’ pockets, er, I mean, easier to share that enlightened open mindedness of the message of acceptance which feels stronger than fifty billion fallacious platitudes which, though vacuous at best, nevertheless help us to forget how ridiculously dangerous, wrong, and infantile our constant sidestepping of moral issues is. 

What’s the old bumper sticker slogan?  ”If you think morals education is expensive, try Bernie Madoff’s.”

©2008 TheBSshow.com and The BS Show With Bjorn And Shawn®. All rights reserved.

The BS Show is not responsible for any physical or ideological regurgitation on the reader’s part, temporary or otherwise, caused by the ruthless lucidity of holistically reasonable analysis put forth herein. The reader is advised that any acquisition of genuine wisdom will lead to a proportionately sharper mind, softer heart, and richer life, not to mention irreversible erosion of those myriad beliefs often founded on fundamentalist secular extremism (FSE) and the like, whether or not the reader’s indoctrination was administered by those in authority at universities or otherwise. In that regard the reader assumes all responsibility for the immeasurable risk(s) associated with finding the courage to question the presuppositions of those FSE teachings at the suggestion of The BS Show®.  :-)

Co-hosts Bjorn and Shawn wish you and the growing base of fans of The BS Show® a very Merry Christmas ‘08! Of course, when prigs like we say “merry” we mean Good, Beautiful, and True. With hopes that you are, or endeavor to be, generally safe,* wise, joyful, deep, and holistically rich at this often reflective time of year.

If we might offer one more word of comfort here in A.D. 2008: Remember that those who currently constitute the overwhelmingly largest and most powerful sectors of our media in the USA are, in the assessment of Dennis Prager (and The BS Show®)  not particularly deep. Much of what purports to be “news” and reporting is unnecessarily rancorous, sensationalistic, petty, misleading, necessarily biased, and driven to attain ratings. Often at the cost of truth (and decency, a word which is code for goodness). Be encouraged to not let these supercilious dunderheads displace the best of your sensibilities and judgement with those of too-shallow, often-deceitful time wasters.

Just this morning I heard one nationally syndicated talk radio’s sub-host blather on (and on and on) about the nuances surrounding President-elect Obama’s method of transportation to his family vacation in Hawaii. Golly, we as a culture have rarely sounded more like so many undeserving morons barking inanities and throwing noxious ideological trash from the cheapest seats in the Colosseum. Having met a few of the guys whose profession it was to live and breathe security for the highest level of diplomats 24/7 how’s about we leave the protection of the next U.S. president up to them. I can only pray that America’s best hope, its salt of the earth types, turned off the nattering like I did, or were too preoccupied with the business of rearing children, visiting their grandparents, loving their families and friends, or reading the classics to kids to be distracted by it.

Anyway, we at The BS Show® especially thank Mr. Jared Kleier for this year’s support, and everyone else who came to the aid of this bodacious and sagacious endeavor, for their constructive input and encouragement on this, our first year in the menacing yet fulfilling world of “civilization preservation” via vlogging and porchcasting. In the words of that incredible songwriter Jeffrey Steele, “Ya Gotta Start Somewhere.”

Now, the reader is instructed to dispose forthwith of the anti-social behavior which is your internet obsession, by logging out of this world and logging, with gusto, into the real one. Seriously, bye bye. Get off of your computer! Move it. Move it. (C’mon, somebody, that’s good coaching!)    

* Safe, as in safety, which, in no small part, derives from President Bush’s policies, the U.S. military, and the good folks at Blackwater. Don’t “hate ‘em with your hate” until you’ve met a few and thanked them this Christmas.

©2008 TheBSshow.com® and The BS Show With Bjorn And Shawn®. All rights reserved.