… I’m tired.

… Scratch that. I am sick to death!

… I’ve had it up to here! (See Squidward’s hand? Mine is way higher than his head.) My patience is utterly sapped by the current cultural disposition that demands an unrelenting, dictatorial homogeneity of thought disguised in the garb of all-inclusive diversity! No divergence of opinion, no allowance for ideas that fail to toe an invisible line some unknown autocrat has drawn … for our own good, of course.

Day after day, rappers and celebrities heedlessly employ the term ni**er in their music and discourse, sometimes humorously, other times hatefully … and always with casual disregard. Yet esteemed writers like Mark Twain have been censured and deprived of their historic respectability in the literary canon for daring to have written works that express the everyday conversations of their time!

And speaking of language, I want it back! I hate that a word like niggardly has been tainted by someone’s misguided belief the word is an extension of the previously mentioned epithet.

… I’m angry there are “scholars” today who condemn C. S. Lewis, accusing him of veiled sexism in his portrayal of fictional female characters! How could he possibly have imagined such an idiomatic and ideological shift would so sever his world from ours?!

… I’ve had my fill of people who cry “racist” when legitimate criticism is directed at a US President who happens to be half-black. Okay, some people who hold opinions about our Commander in Chief might just be racist … but maybe they’re anti-white. (Conceding the man is half-black, doesn’t that also mean he’s half-white?)

… I’m done − I say, D-O-N-E-! − with know-nothings who presume to dictate which objects / topics / associations /relationships / clubs / etc. should be subject to micro-analysis for potential charges of racism / sexism / homophobia / heterophobia / jingoism or any other “no-no” based solely on someone’s contrived standard that presupposes their moral high ground, their hyper-sensitive intuition and their discernment. (Their attitude about your thoughts to the contrary are irrelevant and unwelcome, by the way!)

… I am especially exasperated with overindulged, politically-correct busybody trolls on the internet whose self-appointed mission is to act as doorkeepers and arbiters of right and wrong (as defined by them). Anxiously trolling electronic media, they pick fights with any writer who fails to adopt their oh-so-enlightened views of the world.

Yes, I am a knuckle-dragging neanderthal so I’ll never view the world through some troll’s warped lens. Certainly, I agree slavery was evil and continues to be an evil that unfortunately still exists today. But the so-called “systematic victimization and oppression” committed in the past … is past. Let it go! Learn from the past and refuse to slavishly perpetuate this tiresome victim narrative!

I find it tedious when people still insist today that Thomas Jefferson (or any other historic figure from that era) should be denigrated for owning slaves and/or having conjugal relations with slave women. Though in all times and all places, multitudes of powerful people have treated others despicably, the troll’s broad brush of disparagement blackens all figures from that time, not just the evil ones.

Sin is part of the human condition. Hearts are wicked and the base instinct of rule or be ruled will prevail. The powerful have never been shy about wielding the sword to their advantage. (Is it any different today? I don’t think so.)

… I am weary to the bone − yes, yes, yes! − with shameless academics who shirk their responsibility of imparting critical core knowledge to their students, preferring instead to indoctrinate students with a peculiar brand of deconstructive psychobabble that renders said students into useful idiot-hood.

Assuming every element and symbol of American thought is once and for all reduced and stripped of its “hierarchical,” “colonialist,” “patriarchal” (and other objectionable) constructs, what then? Do we gain nirvana or just end up as a mass of individuated ignoramuses? Instead of being propagandized, wouldn’t students be better served by learning how to think clearly and to develop lifelong problem-solving skills?

Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’ve described this as a rant and it is. But none of what I’ve said is meant to be malicious or hateful. That’s not who I am. If you consider my rant oozes with “intolerance,” I welcome your views. But be forewarned. “Tolerance” usually receives short shrift in my book. Why shut down the marketplace of ideas in favor of aberrance?

[On the other hand, if a troll reader is determined to deconstruct my rant and delve into my deepest “issues,” I trust I’ve provided sufficient material for the endeavor.]

Am I the only one ready to push back against a prevailing ideology that no longer makes sense? If my observations provoke similar thoughts for you, then this was a rant worth having. Glad I got that off my chest!