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So the point of this essay is for you to speak up, and take action. Human goodness does exists and can persists. When you are finger-pointing, the accusations may be coming right back at you. Labeling others negatively is a psychological defense mechanism. Critical thinking is more productive. Don Marquis quipped “If you make people think they are thinking, they love you; if you make them really think, they will hate you.”
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We look to literature and music to uncover the hidden psyche effects of name-calling. Dostoevsky’s THE IDIOT refers ironically to the protagonist prince whose goodness and open-hearted simplicity lead many of the more worldly characters he encounters to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence. Open your eyes to be comprehensively aware of those you want to label “idiots.”
Jakob Augstein observes: “If we’ve learned anything from the best-selling Diary of a Wimpy Kid children’s book series, it’s that those who see themselves surrounded by idiots are usually idiots themselves.”
Our rock poets deal in this realm. Frank Zappa sang, “I will love everyone. I will love the police as they kick the shit out of me on the street.” He was influenced by Lenny Bruce, who said that we can call cops three names: police, pigs or peace officers. Why not stress “Peace”?
Consider William Blake’s “We become what we behold.” Blake expounded: “What is Grand is necessarily obscure to Weak men. That which can be made Explicit to the idiot is not worth my care.” and “To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit — General Knowledges are those Knowledges that Idiots possess.”
Gandhi encouraged practicing St. Augustine’s “Hate the sin, not the sinner.” Instead of calling someone an “asshole,” replace it with “don’t act like an asshole.” Get the big picture. “To define is to kill. To suggest is to create. – Stephane Mallarme.
I saw Frank Zappa sing “Broken Hearts are for Assholes,” and as he sung “You’re an asshole” pointing at people in the audience. Then he suddenly pointed as himself. Lay your cards on the table. Self reflection is important. Our recent Beyond Baroque event on Zappa’s Freak Out Hot Spot map delved deep into his criticism of corrupt authority, shaped by the Watts riots and his own personal encounters with the police. His satirical songs expressed a distrust of law enforcement. Big thanks to Dan Konoske, and Domenic Priore (whose recommended book Riot on the Sunset Strip: Rock’n’ Roll’s Last Stand in Hollywood covers LA’s youth rebellion) who comprehensively covered our cultural landscape in this inspired and inspiring presentation. How does our environment shape how we express ourselves?
Zappa’s witty lyrics in “The Idiot Bastard Son” capture the sentiment: “The child will thrive and grow, And enter the world, Of liars & cheaters & people like you, Who smile & think you know, What this is about, The song we sing: DO YOU KNOW?, We’re listening . . . THE IDIOT BOY!”
The struggle for artistic expression and the tension between the community and the authority is a major issue in Venice. How can we get enlightenment from the arts?
“I am not … a “good man”! … And I’m not a bad man. … I am not a “hero” — and I’m definitely not a President — and no — I’m not an officer! … You know what I am? … I AM … an IDIOT! … with a box — and a screwdriver — passing through, helping out, learning. – Steven Moffat, Dr. Who.
We can also learn from Bob Dylan, who turns 84 years young on May 24, 2025. Read these profound words from his 1974 song IDIOT WIND: “It was gravity which pulled us down, And destiny which broke us apart, You tamed the lion in my cage, But it just wasn’t enough to change my heart, Now everything’s a little upside down, As a matter of fact the wheels have stopped, What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, You’ll find out when you reach the top, You’re on the bottom.” Learn how to embrace contradiction.
Jonathan Cott observed that it was the first time that Dylan condemns himself in one of his songs, with the closing line “We’re idiots, babe, It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.”
My friend Keith Nighenhelser adds, “In Shakespeare’s King Lear, the Fool gives the advice ‘Have more than thou showest, speak less than thou knowest,’ or as we would say, ‘have more than you show, say less than you know’ — suggesting that you might have good reason sometimes to let others see you as an idiot. And to beware of the ones who tempt you to call them idiots — consider whether they might be fooling you.”
“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” – Mark Twain. Take a tip from the satirist Wes “Scoop” Nisker: “If You Don’t Like the News Go Out and Make Some of Your Own.”
When Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature in 2016, The Guardian cited “Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth, You’re an idiot, babe, It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe” as one of his greatest lyrics.
So take a big deep breath before you fly off the handle and call people names.
“Love is my name” – Thomas Merton.
I welcome your input, Gerry Fialka pfsuzy@aol.com 310-306-7330
Idiocratic Addendum: I must be dumb all over. The word “idiocratic” is often confused with “idiosyncratic,” but it’s a relatively rare word, meaning “pertaining to rule by idiots”. It is important to distinguish it from the more common “idiosyncratic,” which means peculiar characteristics. How can we connect these weird happenings and push the project forward? What becomes wide spread is worth of study, and grounds for further research.
In his brilliant play and film “Born Yesterday,” Garson Kanin threw a poison dart aimed at the lazy American public: “A world full of ignorant people is too dangerous to live in,” How can we flip that danger into security and safety? Turn breakdowns into break throughs. Weakness into strength. McLuhan said you can’t write the “Great American Novel” because the “front page of newspaper” is the Great American Novel (GAN). I update that aphorism: “The Youtube thumbnail is the GAN.” What is your update? It could also be “the protest sign is the GAN.” Did you apply magic makers to pizza boxes? Righteous review: “Let them eat Teslas” – “Hate won’t make US great” – “Think it ain’t illegal yet” – “Make America Think Again” – “Make America Humaine Again” – “Ugh Where Do I Even Start” – “Speak the Truth, even if your voice shakes” – “We don’t want your Nazi cars, let’s send Elon back to Mars.”
Explore productive discussion via literature. Malcolm Muggeridge wrote this review of FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce in “Time and Tide,” May 20 1939: “How many mornings Mr. Joyce devoted to coining this particular word, I do not know; perhaps it only took him one morning or just an hour or so; but in any case he was wasting his time as surely as, more surely than, a village idiot trying to catch a sunbeam.” How do we get enlightened? If you don’t have dreams, your dreams can’t come true. Prankster/poet St. John Gogarty wrote that FINNEGANS WAKE was a gigantic hoax written by an idiot on the backside of beauty.
Feed forward? See that there is beauty by finding the light in the darkness. Coretta Scott King declared, “When we nurture hatred inside, we harm ourselves more than those we hate.” How do we learn? Learn to listen? Learn that there is a middle ground and it not us vs. them? Can the positive approach have good effects?
What are the new questions and new metaphors? Why did McLuhan say this as a question: “You mean my whole fallacy is wrong?” Send Gerry your feedback.
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