Living in Arrogant Valley

By Ed Raymond

fargogadfly@gmail.com

In the DSA of Traumatized Homo Sapiens an Illiterate Sociopath was President

According to experts, the Bible contains several versions of an old proverb (Luke and Matthew) that resembles an old English proverb written by John Ray in 1678 that states: “A man be better half blind than have both eyes out.”

Germans have a proverb that says: “Those that rule and be deaf, must see and be blind.” My French ancestors came up with “When a blind man bears the standard (flag of power), pity those who follow.”

But English writer H.G. Wells made one version popular when he published The Country of the Blind and Other Stories in 1911: “In the Country of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King.” Here is an edited version of the story plot:

Nunez is climbing a mountain in Ecuador when he slips at the top and falls into a deep valley which is cut off from the rest of the world. The valley is filled with refugees who have all gone blind from a mysterious disease, from a war caused by Spanish explorers. Even newborns are born blind. Although blind, all residents have adapted well without sight. The houses are windowless and all paths have curbs.

Nunez, because of his unique ability to see, thinks he can teach and gain rule over all the residents. Because they have no concept of sight, Nunez cannot convince them and gets angry and frustrated. They calm him and he slowly adopts their way of life.

Nunez falls in love and tries to explain his sight to his beloved. She does not accept his “wild idea.” He asks her father for permission to marry her but is rejected because he is considered “unstable.”

He reluctantly accepts the idea that his eyes be removed so he can be like others. Before the operation he tries to escape the valley with his love. They do escape the valley, but the story ends when a huge rock slide is started that may bury the blind in the valley forever.

Like Nunez, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis Have a Set of Unusual ‘Skills’

A hundred years after Wells wrote his fascinating and meaningful short story about evolving Homo sapiens, we can draw another title from the proverb “In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.”

It would look something like this: “In the Divided States of America filled with traumatized Homo sapiens, we have had an illiterate socio-psychopath as president”----and he’s trying for another term.

In the most recent edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) which psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose mental conditions, there is a comprehensive list of the signs of sociopathy and psychopathy.

The current leader of the Republican party, Donald Trump, fits every sign, and Ron DeSantis, who is trying to replace him, runs a close second.

Signs of Sociopathy and Psychopathy

1. Ignoring social norms and laws, or breaking rules at school or work, overstepping social boundaries, stealing, stalking, and harassing others, and destroying property.

2. Dishonesty and deceit, including using false identities and manipulating others for personal gain (Remember when Trump would use a false name calling newspapers to describe what he was doing for mankind?).

3. Difficulty controlling impulses and planning for the future, or acting without considering the consequences.

4. Aggressive or aggravated behavior, including frequent fights or physical conflict (Like most bullies, Trump is a coward, avoids physical fights, but has a big mouth while suggesting others should be beaten up! DeSantis is guilty of laughing at Gitmo detainees while they were being tortured by George W. and Dick Cheney-approved torturers).

5. Disregard for personal safety, or the safety of others (Trump is afraid of germs, shaking hands—but loves to grab pussies).

6. Difficulty managing responsibilities, including showing up for work, handling tasks, or paying rent and bills.

7. Little to no guilt or remorse, or a tendency to justify actions that negatively affect others.

8. Shows no interest in the lives of others.

9. Comes across as arrogant and superior, with firmly fixed opinions.

10. Lacks humor, intelligence, knowledge of history, and has difficulty learning from mistakes.

11. Has tendency to intimidate and threaten in order to maintain control.

12. No sense of morality or empathy, and many cannot see the difference between right and wrong.

13. There are more signs, but I thought a dozen were enough

Ron DeSantis reminds me of Al Capp’s creation Joe Btfsplk in his comic strip “Lil Abner.” Joe always has a small, dark rain cloud hovering over his head symbolizing his bad luck. To pronounce Joe’s name, you must close your lips around the tongue and then blow out air. It’s called a “raspberry.”

Billionaire Bohemian Grovers Blindside Workers by Being Blind Around Them

Everybody loves summer camps, so billionaires fly their private jets to a 2,700-acre camp in Northern California called Bohemian Grove that has 300 ft. tall redwoods and dozens of camps ranging from rustic to five-star cottages with all amenities.

The camp, which has 2,600 active members and a long waiting list, is for the rich, elite, and powerful. Texas billionaire Harlan Crow brings Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the camp..

The campers with their $200,000 watches and $2,000,000 cars discuss how they can continue to rule the world, drink booze by the quart, and pee wherever they please. A great place to spend a couple of weeks in the summer.

To fully understand what happens at Bohemian Grove, read Sophie Weiner’s article “My Summer Job at the Bohemian Grove, Serving Milkshakes to the Shitfaced Global Elite.”

It’s a real eye-opener about the guys with two eyes who are absolutely blind to the needs of the workers who are now suing the camp for millions in back pay because the rich cheat them on wages, refuse to pay overtime, and force them to work long hours.

You might enjoy reading about former Florida Governor Jed Bush arguing with Sophie whether he can get a milkshake before 8 pm.

There are about 2,700 billionaires in the world, some with high school diplomas, some with PHDs, and a few with IQs below 100. Only about 10% have joined an organization that believes in paying higher taxes in the DSA—and damn few who desire to give all their money away before going to Nirvana.

At least two billionaires have empathy. Warren Buffett says: “My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest.” Holocaust survivor George Soros gives $1.5 billion a year to pro-democratic groups.

How many have empathy for those poor workers who coddle them and fill every desire? Why are the high school and college kids who make the camps heaven for them forced to live in hell?

The billionaires violate practically every labor law on the books! They approve of falsifying payroll records and forcing workers to work “off the clock.” Workers are paid for eight hours but work 16 hours without overtime pay. They work without breaks. There is no internet or cellphone service.

It seems that many of the visiting billionaires must be classified as sociopaths and psychopaths. Perhaps we should say: “In the country of two-eyed workers, the billionaires are blind.”

In Churches With Christian Mothers, Why Are Blind Men Leaders in All the Pulpits?

The Vatican has taken the position for 2,000 years that women cannot be in Catholic pulpits or wear red hats because none of the apostles named by Jesus Christ were women.

That never made sense. Women have different goals and think “different.” The male half of Peter’s church has screwed up sex for 2,000 years, and Roman Catholic theologians are basically responsible for the religious and sexual mess we are facing today in the “Christian” Divided States of America.

One would think the Vatican would change policies and canon law after paying out billions of dollars for sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by “celibate” priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes, including the twelve popes that were gay, one bisexual, and one transgender.

Should we expect that male Homo sapiens bellow like elk only in the fall mists for sex? Our closest relatives in the Christian Chain of being are mountain gorillas, chimps, and bonobos that have sex often for pleasure, reproduction, to settle arguments, and for the hell of it.

According to the news about sexual abuse, Catholics are only beginning to pay for their priest’s sins. How many dioceses have gone bankrupt?

Did Jesus Christ spend more time with women than men? Some Bible nut should attempt some research.

Since Pope Francis uttered this famous question: “Who am I to judge?” when asked about homosexuals and same-sex marriage, I fully expected that statement about his position represented advancement in the sexual morass created by 265 popes before him.

According to the Vatican News Francis has increased the number of women working in the Vatican from 19.3 % to 23.4%. It didn’t cite actual numbers. It could be three or 30.

One reporter said: “After ten years, we still don’t know whether he is a misogynist/liberal/conservative/Marxist/capitalist after all is said.”

Francis has been very complimentary about women: “Women are like strawberries on a cake. Every time a woman comes to do a job at the Vatican it gets better.” Quite an admission. But when it comes to having women in the Roman Catholic pulpit, he admits it is a “theological problem.” Then he waxes eloquent in a long discussion about the Petrine and Marian principles in the church.

The Petrine dimension of the Church was, according to Vatican scholars, succinctly expressed, but when Pope Francis got to the Marian principles and dimension. I was not impressed.

One of the first lines: “The Marian dimension of the Church is christological, pneumatological, ecclesiological, and anthropological” set off my crap detector so much the clanging hurt my ears. I have written millions of words in my day so I find it relatively easy to recognize bullshit.

I bet 99% of the Roman Catholics in the world would not have a clue what the Marian principle is about. If you don’t want the reader to know what you’re writing about, you quibble, dodge, equivocate, deceive, dissimulate, and obfuscate.

There are an estimated 4,000 religions in the world. Most have a few truths and many beliefs. But just a few years ago when Franklin Graham of the Southern Baptists declared that Donald Trump was the Chosen One even if he is a narcissistic nutcase who loves only one, suddenly U.S. Christianity ceased to be a religion and became a political organization.

The Southern Baptists, Methodists, and other fundamentalist “Christian” churches now have internal battles about women and the LBGTQ+ community. Should they remain as servants in the kitchen or serve as leaders and philosophers in the pulpits of churches?

Will Francis answer the question before he dies?