MAY 26, 2020 – What now unfolds is Rotten Apple vs. Over-ripe Banana.
Rotten Apple is crawling with worms, mushy with rot, and devoid of any “core” values. This fruit’s so bad, it’s not fit for pigs. Many people who’ve seen an apple know at a glance that this one is inedible. (That I can’t say “most people” reflects the rotten state of affairs among a large segment of our citizenry.)
We who know a rotten apple just by looking at . . . a rotten apple . . . were shocked and dismayed when Rotten Apple—brown, mushy, and worm-infested—not only won a trip to the State Fair but won Grand Prize. Since 2016 we’ve been wracking our brains: as daily news brings fresh wafts of un-fresh odors from the worms and mushy rot, how can tens of millions of people still see a shiny red apple with a bright green leaf still on the stem?
But in retrospect it’s clear—we who disdain Rotten Apple lack imagination. From every conceivable perspective, we see Rotten Apple for what it is—a rotten apple. Thanks to our blinders, we assumed that pro-Rotten Applers also see . . . an apple. But they don’t. They see an obscene gesture, a raised middle finger, emblematic of American adolescence, American go-it-alone culture and tradition—but this time round, with a twist. The “rugged individual” mentality has joined with two other critical phenomena—“nowness” and “if things go bad, someone else is to blame.” When it comes to “someone else,” what bigger target to blame than “big government” and all those “fruits” in Washington? If “they” weren’t so corrupt and incompetent, problems would be solved.
When Rotten Apple came along, posing not only as “anti-fruit” but as an obscene gesture, this turned out to be exactly what the “MeNow” movement had been yearning for . . . and deserving. “Down with fruit!” they chanted. “Up with the middle finger!”
But really now, middle-fingered people. Think back on all the people you looked up to—your favorite grade school teacher who instilled a love for learning; that coach who showed you skills, taught you the rules of the game, and told you to work hard and play fair; that girl or boy scout troop leader who prepared you for adventure, led you into it and out of it successfully; that Sunday school teacher who explained the Golden Rule; that quality boss or work colleague whose critical thinking and integrity revealed to you the distinction between genuine quality and pure B.S.; that mother, father, grandmother, grandmother, who by words and deeds showed you right from wrong, good from bad. Taking into account those influences, ask yourselves, Does an obscene gesture solve problems? Does it protect, preserve, advance the national interests as those interests overlap with your individual interests?
As distressing as middle-fingered people are purists who examine all the brown spots on Over-ripe Banana and sigh, “Brown spots vs. brown mush? Twiddle-dee vs. Twiddle-dum.”
No. Brown mush isn’t edible sauce, but from a spotted banana you can make edible bread.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
