Wednesday, July 21, 2010

IDIOT LAND vs. MYSTERY LAND

The Idiots speak louder than other people. They have stronger opinions. They love to hammer you with them. They love to speak of things they know very little about. Especially about politics and religion. They dominate the conversation in the hood and on our airwaves. They make us a look stupid. They make us stupid just by having to listen to them. As soon as you respond to the idiotic discourse you are slimed with stupidity too. It gets so you think most of the country is just Idiot-Land.

But then again, most of the people you spend time with are interesting, and thoughtful, with nuanced views of life. You end up in heavy and inspiring conversations in coffee shops and artist studios and out on the street. You realize that most of the people you know aren't Idiots. They just don't speak that often or that loudly and they aren't on TV or radio. You spend lots of time with folks in intimate conversations speaking about the important things and it's clear that there aren't easy answers, just a lot of really interesting, life-shaking questions. And you and the others know there's mystery in life. And that's OK.