PART 1:
PART 2:
PART 3:
EPILOGUE:
©5/19/2020 Ruth Ann Scanzillo/ YouTube.
For more meanderings through the truth, and even some good music, feel free to visit RuthAnnTalks at the Tube. Thanks. ❤
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Category Archives: civic commentary
No Limits.
Somebody has to say it.
Most trained educators will attest: those of limited intellect m.u.s.t. be led and protected by responsible minds. When I say “responsible”, I mean the kind of minds which comprehend the scope, nature and implication of such limitation.
Trained educators understand that those of limited intellectual capacity usually have the most difficulty comprehending abstractions. Theirs is a literal world, populated only by concrete objects which they can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Likewise, they react only to that which expresses concretely.
What is also important to realize is that those who are limited react as collectives; they either seek their own, or manifest genetically in large percentage within extended families. Next, while they do possess an occasional degree of awareness of their limitations they usually, if “outed” (and, given the opportunity to do so), express via angry or defiant outburst. When found in large gatherings, these are a palpable force. Even more critically, they react according to the limits of their understanding, and this point cannot be overestimated.
No child will obey unless either forced to do so by some perceived threat, or made to understand thoroughly the consequences of refusal. Those of limited intellect behave in similar fashion to children – but, have a far greater impact both on their surroundings and those who inhabit them.
Enter the kind of threat posed by the novel coronavirus, Covid-19. This threat is far from concrete, as perceived; it cannot be seen, touched, tasted, smelled or, apart from its symptoms, felt. Its power is abstract, and respecting that power REQUIRES comprehension of its unseen, undetectable properties.
I do not feel that those in current power within our government have behaved responsibly toward such individuals. Either policy or statistics wonks, they have failed to comprehend the nature of this percentage of our population – its inclination to band together, its almost complete lack of abstract reasoning potential, and its resultant stubborn refusal to comply with what seems to the rest to be simple orders restricting behavior.
I feel the threat of this absence of accountability toward our weakest population. It affects me every day, either by means of verbal retaliation or by actions which show defiance against orders laid out by our leaders. When a child doesn’t understand the consequences of action, such a child will go about his or her merry way, acting according to desire or preference. This is what we are seeing across our country: people who don’t fully, completely realize what is happening, and who are acting accordingly. It is this population which poses the greatest threat to public health, both to itself and that representing the rest.
Somebody, please; take a moment to sound this alarm. Make the Covid-19 pandemic rules clear enough for a fourth grader, and be SURE to include cause and effect on every point. Provide graphic representations, and post them on telephone poles and exterior doors of public places. Create sound bytes for radio, 15 second public service announcements, billboards – and, flood the communities which are underserved with them all. It only takes one insufficiently cognizant person to infect thousands and, when that happens, no limits are too great.
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© 5/20/2020 Ruth Ann Scanzillo. Sharing permitted upon request of the author, whose name appears above this line. Thank you for accepting responsibility.
littlebarefeetblog.com
A Newer Normal.
Admit it. None of us, not even the radical bell ringers, knew we’d all be living like this. Not masking and hibernating, counting the daily dead. Not three months ago.
Yet, when the whole thing finally levels out and we attempt a return to “normalcy”, I have a prediction. I think there will be a major paradigm shift in the mentality of our entire society. I foresee entire groups of people who are inclined to turn their backs on information, who actually prefer a level of denial because it’s more comforting (because denial can be very comforting; we’ve all lived in denial once or twice and everyone knows what it feels like to choose it), those who have been openly defiant in dialogue with others and are now facing the gravity and the grim statistics of what is upon us might finally find themselves in a minority, as we move forward. And, I don’t mean because of mortality, God forbid; I mean that those who affect, even dominate, the social discourse might be among the very ones who were shunned or dismissed prior to this catastrophe. And, one of the positive outcomes might be a return to respect for the kind of authority that is based in fully informed mindset. Those who seek out information that is factual might finally become the ones to whom others refer for advice and counsel.
Naturally, some might say I’m being self-aggrandizing, hoping that people might finally listen to ME. But, the whole thing is SO much bigger than me – and, you. Nevertheless, I do predict a shift. Those who’ve been clamoring out loud, those in parts of the southern coast who are still beaching, malling, partying and pooling…….still people in this country who are turning their backs, while the Pentagon is busy ordering up 100,000 body bags in anticipation of the need to separate the dead from the living – a hard reality to face, but these will have to be fearless; and, the way to be fearless is to be prudent, and the way to be prudent is to become fully informed, even when the information you glean perhaps defies your politics, even your religious beliefs. The way we protect each other is by being prudent and caring about the kind of advice that is sound – based in measurable information. We really, really do need to care that much about one another and, in so doing, risk the derision and mockery which is often a result of such attempts to actually demonstrate care. We might learn to redefine what it means to love one another.
And, maybe that’s the point.
Maybe we’ll learn how to love each other effectively – openly, with trained skill in communication and a willingness to be receptive to anyone who provides this kind of care. I hope our prayer will be for everyone, including those who have laughed at and derided us. We have to pray for our enemies – not pray for their demise, but pray for their protection. Because it’s all about changing hearts. I was trained on fundamental Gospel preaching, trained to believe that hearts have to be changed – that people have to change from the inside out. And, I’m still laying hold of that. We really do have to change from the inside out.
Here’s to loving effectively and caring authentically. Be well; be safe; keep your ears open, and your eyes wide. If you face reality, head on, you might discover that you seek out only those who will tell you the verifiable truth.
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© 5/3/2020 Ruth Ann Scanzillo.
littlebarefeetblog.com
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