|
EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY
RAY BRADBURY SAW IT ALL COMING
When did our children stop
being children? When did our leaders become child-like bullies?
by Gary L. Coffman
If you
have not read Ray Bradbury’s chilling short story, “The Veldt,” you
should. In fact, it should be required reading in every school in America.
The story revolves around the family of George Hadley, who live in a world
where technology provides instant gratification for all their needs and
desires.
In particular is the
nursery room which seemingly whisks the occupant away to anywhere in the
world by means of three dimensional television walls replete with stereo
sound. Originally meant as an entertainment, it becomes a reflection of sick
minds and, ultimately, the enactor of their delusions, even to the point of
parricide.
The story was deliciously
chilling when I read it as a teenager; reading it now as a senior citizen,
it has become sickeningly real as a metaphor of America.
Wendy and Peter
Hadley, George’s spoiled offspring, have lost the need to do anything
for themselves. Their slightest desire is fulfilled by a technologically
compliant house that would make any grandparent seem like Scrooge in
comparison. Consequently, they have failed to develop any sense of
responsibility for themselves or for others around them. Entertainment and
amusement in the nursery are their raison d’ etre. The real world is
anathema to them.
Whatever, or whomever,
threatens to pull the plug must be eliminated, even their parents, who do
not wish to believe they have lost control of their world. To the children,
complete gratification and maintenance of their fantasy world is not only
their constitutional right, it is their birth right.
What does this have to do
with America’s children? Take a good look around you, or better yet, hang
around a school during lunch time (avoiding arrest, of course), and note the
number of children being children against the number of children posing as
adults, as they see it. It may shock you.
| We are living in a Gilded Age, but beneath the
surface, at home and abroad, the world of Dickens smolders beneath
the surface. . . |
When did our children stop being children and become nubile nymphettes
and manly “studs” before their time, hell bent on publicly living out the
fantasy and being stunned by the outcome? When did a child stop being
appreciated for its character instead of its car, electronic gadgetry, and
grotesque and mutilating sense of fashion? When did children learn real
violence as a means of conflict resolution? When did children give up that
innate curiosity about the world in favor of self-absorption, deluding
themselves that no one has anything new to teach them and that education is
bogus? I guess we could ask the Menendez brothers for starters. But there
are many others we could consult; perhaps the parents who no longer can
control their children, or who live in fear of them.
Yes, there are good kids
out there, but their numbers are dwindling in the face of a relentless
onslaught of commercial interests who have brainwashed our youth that play,
beauty, materialism, and extravagance are all that matter; intelligence,
diligence, cooperation, and compassion are for wimps. The catch word of the
day is EXTREME; anything goes!
Which brings me to the
real point of this rant: "The Veldt" as a metaphor for America, even a
caveat. What does all this about children have to do with America? Take a
close look at America’s behavior in the world today and the responses of our
leaders to crisis/challenge/contradiction, and you will see a very spoiled,
petulant, self-centered, and arrogant leadership that cannot be anything
other than that of a child, and a very dangerous one. As a nation we have
lived in the lap of luxury so long, we take it as a given that it is our
right forever.
Shamefully, we Americans
live for play, pleasure, and ostentation, and whoever would threaten that
life style must be dealt with severely, within or without our borders. The
strata of society that holds this truth to be self evident is in charge, and
will brook no objection that it is their birthright to remain so.
We are led by a
President, who when he speaks raises doubts about his literacy, cultural and
otherwise, yet has the temerity to call himself an "Education President",
who proposes a "No Child Left Behind" policy that he will not adequately
fund.
We are led by a
President and cabinet who believe pillaging our national resources to
shore up their rich supporters is in the national interest, and that going
to war with an oil rich Third World nation is an act of self defense (Not to
mention it would provide us with a steady supply of cheap oil from a puppet
government).
Like any child who cannot
see beyond the next commercial break, he has blithely sallied forth to war
in the mistaken belief he will be welcomed by a grateful throng of whom he
has not the slightest cultural understanding because that would require
careful reading and study, which is “bogus.”
And, of course, there is
always the plan, or is there? It seems the plan, as with most children, is
to improvise as you go. Throw precaution to the winds. Things will work out.
And like many children, he will lie, throw a tantrum, or pass the blame when
things go awry. Whose fault is it? Why, it must be those very Old European
governments who had more sense than our government does, who wouldn’t play
our way, but preferred reason, patience, and facts to wishful thinking.
Our current government
lives in and operates from a world of childlike surrealism. What satisfies
our fantasy is just, what confronts it is evil. Bully your way to greatness.
The problem with bullies, is that their coerced “willing” coalition
dissolves one by one, and the bully stands alone, humiliated, confused, and
dangerously angry, while still, very, very stupid.
But bullies don’t
operate in a vacuum, outside of their heads. There are always the
“wannabes,” who will covertly scheme, vilify, and even murder by proxy, to
maintain the “world order” according to the gospel and “The Chosen One.”
Such a scenario may be playing out even now in the press. Where is the calm,
considered reason of adulthood in this fiasco? There is none, because
children are in charge, pretending to play out the roles they have been
assigned by a duped citizenry, who do not want to believe they are dupes and
have lost control of their “children.” If America thinks it won World War
II, it should have second thoughts. Fascism is alive and well in America.
We are living in a Gilded
Age, but at home and abroad, the world of Dickens
smolders beneath the surface, and if the needs of that nether world are not
addressed, it will rise up to smite us - again. America needs to step
outside the veldt nursery and take an honest, studious look into the mirror
of reality, because I would like them to meet the Hadleys.
Gary L. Coffman is a writer, poet, and retired English teacher.
GARY L. COFFMAN ARCHIVE:
SURPRISE, SURPRISE:
Roberts Rules of Order Revealed
Throw
The Bastards Out!
Mein Chumpf: A
presidential prayer diary
And
the Nominees Are. . .
Karl Who?
Ray Bradbury Saw it All Coming
BACK TO PAGE ONE |
guest commentary