There's a lot of BS in this modern world of ours.
People thought the president is a secret Muslim. Others (or maybe the same people) are buying up guns and ammo left and right because they think the items will become illegal. Despite all evidence to the contrary, some parents refuse to get their kids vaccinated because they're convinced the shots lead to autism. And for every big Ponzi scheme that gets broken up, there were hundreds of people suckered by the scammers.
This is why I think April Fool's Day is a worthy tradition. It's the one day a year when all the rubes wake up a little more watchful, a little more careful than usual, lest they be tricked. The only problem is, they go right back to being gullible putzes on April 2.
Today's diary is a bit misanthropic in places, but it ends on a happy note. I hope you enjoy the toboggan ride.
If every day were April Fool's Day, maybe fewer people would believe that they won the Irish lottery despite never having bought a ticket, or that a deposed prince from Ghana wants to wire them 3.2 million pounds sterling.
And yet, people still pay good money to get their lower intestines flushed out with water, or take ridiculous herbal "remedies" to cleanse themselves of sight-unseen "toxins."
They stay up late at night worried about the latest moral panic. Are my kids "sexting" in class? Are there subliminal messages in songs by the Jonas Brothers? Will the "Twilight" books have them biting their friends on the neck?
They hold political beliefs that have little to no relevance to the real world or their own lives. Anyone objective would have to say to a straight, married person who is against gay marriage, "So you don't like gay marriage. Then don't have one! No problem."
These are the same people who buy processed, prepackaged, additive-riddled foods loaded with fat, salt, preservatives, calories and no valuable nutrients, but think they can cancel all that damage out by ordering a diet soda.
Or, equally bad, if they're health conscious, they won't eat anything that ever gave a lab rat cancer after they injected 25 pounds of it through a tube to some poor rodent every day for its entire life. And they're not shy at all about telling you why you shouldn't either.
And it's actually pretty hard to find someone who doesn't believe in at least one wacky theory that has little to no basis in fact -- climate change denial, ESP, creationism, water fluoridation, the 9/11 false flag theory, or the Five Jewish Bankers Who Control the World.
And they get suckered! Oh, do they ever get suckered. Sometimes it's a harmless scam. They lose a few dollars and life goes on. Sometimes they go off their meds and drive a car off a bridge. Sometimes they vote for an incredibly stupid ballot initiative. More often, they simply annoy you with their batshit ramblings at parties and you are forced to smile politely.
So on a day like today, my mind wanders off a bit and wonders what life would be like if people took a moment to sift new information a bit -- nothing too stringent. Just a sort of mental wash, set on the gentle cycle, that would enable them to occasionally go, "Wait a minute, that's wrong."
Maybe then they'd see when some ad agency fatcat was singling them out for an easy buck. Maybe then they'd notice when a lazy politician was shifting blame or outright lying. Maybe then they'd stop and actually think of the consequences of the ideas they support and the votes they cast.
I'm not saying I'm so damn smart. In fact, I'm pretty high up on the gullibility scale. I'll probably get tricked later today, just so the Universe can get back at me for acting all high-n-mighty in this diary.
It's not about how credulous you are. It's about the working order you keep your own personal bullshit detector in. Don't be paranoid. Just ask a well-timed question now and then. Ever so often, question a thought you have. Challenge a long-held idea or belief. You might be surprised where it takes you.