Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I is for Ignorance

When I was growing up, and I’d get angry about someone’s stupidity, my mother used to say, “Now, don’t blame them, it’s not their fault they’re stupid.”

When I was older, I asked her, “Well, what about ignorant people? Am I allowed to blame them?”

“Yep,” she said. 

So, there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. If you are an ignorant monucka, I will kick your ass.

Now, I know nobody’s born knowing everything and I’m not without a sense of fairness. So, if there’s something you don’t know about, fair enough. I’m not going to kick your ass just for not knowing things. Hell, there are things I don’t know, like how to speak Spanish or travel in time.

It’s willful ignorance that gets me polishin’ up my ass-kickin’ boots. We’ve all met someone who doesn’t know and refuses to learn. Even worse is the person who doesn’t know, but insists that they do know and blows a gasket at any suggestion that maybe they don’t. Remember how, back during the election, all of your Facebook friends became instant constitutional scholars? That’s what I’m talking about.

I actually saw a great demonstration of this on a friend’s Facebook page last week. My friend had shared a meme about how the AP is going to stop using the term “illegal immigrants.” There were a few comments about how great it is that the Associated Press is making a change that will help writers to more correctly use English. Then some blowhard chimed in with his half-educated opinions about how it’s his right to call them “illegals” because “freedom of speech lol.” If there’s one thing I’m sick of, it’s jerks misinterpreting the First Amendment.

There's nothing in here about me not slapping you.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Freedom of Speech espoused his view that all “illegals” should be put to death if they’re caught being illegally in the country for a second time! Hold the phone, buddy, crossing a border without papers is akin to first-degree murder? But they don’t pay taxes at all, and they have no rights here, so we can kill them and there’s nothing anyone can do about it (his words, not mine. I’m paraphrasing though because he didn’t spell too good.)

He supported his argument with quotes from Starship Troopers and anecdotal evidence from his mother, and who am I to call his mother a liar? When presented with actual research to the contrary, he pronounced it all “incorrect,” and declared, “I’m rather bored of this conversation, though.”

Ah, the classic “I don’t wanna talk it anymore” defense! He explained, “I’ve had [this conversation] plenty of times and no matter what it’s always the same story.”

Yeah, but in the sequel, you get your ass kicked.