The Man Behind the Curtain

One of the more iconic scenes in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz is that of the Wizard refusing Dorothy and her friends an audience, until Toto pulls back the curtain, and Dorothy discovers the sham; this man is not the great and powerful Oz after all, but a simple conman from Nebraska.  “Pay no attention”, he utters in desperation, “to that man behind the curtain.”  The fire, the smoke, and the bellowing, disembodied voice are all for show.  Alas, the jig is up, and the Wizard is exposed for the mere mortal he is.

We see that same sham on a daily basis.  Those supermodels in our favorite magazines are air-brushed, the products we buy are no longer “new and improved”, but have become “revolutionary”, and those we naively elect to represent us are lackeys for the ultra-wealthy.  Ours is a society where image and perception have trumped substance and reality.

Take the average corporate mission statement; a hodgepodge of pithy corporate-speak which bears no resemblance to the actual corporate “culture” which exists.  Our typical election offers the voter a “choice” between what I like to call the man wearing the blue tie with a red stripe and the man wearing the red tie with a blue stripe.  They are simply two sides of the same coin, and the notion that there is a choice is therefore a ruse.

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is credited with the saying: “There are no facts, only interpretations”, and I tend to agree. One could substitute the word “perception” for “interpretations”, and the phrase would still hold true.  It’s all window dressing; it’s sleight of hand.

We are free to see the world and its machinations as we see fit, and to those who prefer to view it through rose-colored glasses, I wish you peace and serenity; you have made your choice.  To those who would label me jaded and cynical, I offer no argument.  But to those who’ve not yet made up their mind: Pull back the curtain, punch through the façade, scratch the surface and examine what’s beneath.  It’s not what you think.

Things That Still Work

People love to talk about things that are broken. Stuff that just doesn’t work anymore. And, if you take a minute to look around, you’ll find lots of things that don’t work anymore. A quick inventory included anything any level of government is in any way involved in, “Obama is a foreigner” conspiracy theories, the dog-and-pony shows that pass for elections, and 87% of pay phones.

But, rather than dwell on our failures, I propose we recognize and (in most cases) embrace things that still work:

The Internet:
Yes, it’s flawed; it’s saturated with annoying ads, and there are cyber-snakes hiding behind every URL and link. In order to fully appreciate the internet, one would had to have grown up in an era when if you wanted to know the population of Madagascar, or the lifetime batting average of the Cleveland Indians you’d have to trudge to the public library, find a reference book the size of a mini-fridge and look it up. If you wanted to know what the weather was going to be like the next day, you’d have to stay up and watch the eleven o’clock news. Now, with the click of a mouse, one can have the greater part of the collective knowledge of humankind at their fingertips. And, for now anyway - it’s free.

Duct Tape:
Usually misspelled duck tape, it’s still as sticky as the day it was invented, and has found thousands of useful applications.

Compassion:
If we’re defining working here as achieving the desired results, then compassion still fits the bill. The ability to empathize and care about another human being is a mutually beneficial situation, and as long as that is the case, compassion still works.

Listening:
Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. We love to talk. We love to hear ourselves talk. But, all the talking is for naught if no one is listening. And listening is a lost art. Listening for nuances, for intonation, for what‘s not being said. Listening to capture the essence and message of what’s being communicated. Listening can be a powerful thing.

Deceit:
Manipulation of the truth for one’s greater gain has been with us since the dawn of man and, sadly, is still practiced successfully every day.

Volunteerism:
In good times and bad, we’ve demonstrated that we will cheerfully and enthusiastically give of ourselves for the sake of giving, expecting nothing in return. My hat’s off to those of you who choose to do so.

My 1960’s Vintage Canary Yellow Osterizer Galaxie Dual-speed Blender:
Made in the U.S.A. baby!