WEEKLY SOUTHERN ARTS
"Sometime the boogaloo 
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The Willful Ignorance of       Intellectual Children 

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In 70 years, give or take, the Soviet Union could not extinguish religion, try as they may. Nor could they remake society, based on a complete misreading of human nature, which is precisely what true socialism does. This did not stop them, however, from killing tens of millions of people in an effort to build the great socialist utopia.

China was worse, with as many seventy-five million deaths. In fact, everywhere true socialism has been tried, it has led to mass suffering, poverty and shortages of everything. This was true in the past and it is still true today.

Just look at Venezuela. All that had to happen to destroy Venezuela’s socialist ambitions, was the falling price of oil, due to competition. And their command economy fell off the cliff, into the abyss. Today, even as the total meltdown of their country happens right in full view of the world, people ask “What happened?” Not surprisingly, Venezuela’s socialist visionaries cling to power no matter how great the suffering gets. Because ideology and power are deadly bedfellows.

Some of the same things happen in democratic cultures, but never to the same degree. America’s constitution acts as an invisible force, restraining the power of would-be tyrants. Meaning, their ambitions and egos are restrained, limiting the damage that they can do. At least, that used to be the case.

I recently saw a video of Barack Obama suggesting that republicans out there in the hinterlands were disgruntled, because they wanted it their way, politically speaking, or no way at all. That was alleged to be the basis for their widespread disillusionment. The president offered Obama Care as an example. “It was a kind of half measure in an attempt to fix our healthcare system.” He said. This great beast, apparently, came as the result of the need to compromise with the opposition. "Had “I” president Obama been left alone to create a healthcare system from whole-cloth, unfettered by angry disgruntled types, it would have been far more elegant."

“Elegant” that was the term that he used.

This is the way a child thinks. President Obama has zero healthcare experience. Has never created a business. Isn’t a doctor, not even a nurse! But, somehow, he knows how one-sixth of the American economy should work, in all its minute detail.

Should we be surprised by his arrogance?

Prior to becoming president, he was a part-time college professor, with one term as a state senator and one term as a U.S. senator. Not once, in that time, did he produce a single bill of note. Prior to that, he was the president of The Harvard Law Review, in spite of meeting none of the requirements scholastically that previously had been required. And never once produced a single piece of written scholarship, which is what scholars are supposed to do.

So, what made him think he should president? This same self-deception enables people, regardless of background, to believe that they would do great things if only given a chance.

Earning a chance, well, that’s another matter.

Should we be surprised, then, when he believes that he could create an elegant healthcare system for one of the largest nations on earth, even though he has no experience in this field? We can look at the monstrous albatross that he did give us as a reference point if we want to see his handiwork. Which, by the way, was created without a single republican vote or opinion.

Now, as if that weren’t enough, the president wants to redefine gender based on some very, very soft science and a massive ego. 

A million years of gender roles obliterated in a heartbeat. This isn’t really surprising, coming from a man who has never really accomplished any of the things that should’ve been required, in order to get him where, he has gotten to. So, as a final act in the Obama presidency, he wants to redefine human nature.


My god, the arrogance is staggering. Only to be overshadowed by his ignorance. But his followers will never tell. And, besides, there’s always Bush as an excuse—and that will be all they need. If not, Trump will do just fine.

​Mark Magula