’54 was a plague year. It was not so much a twin to 2020-2021 but a mirror image- a perverse reversal. As there are now, there were two plagues stalking the land. One plague was Polio. Poliomyelitis, we also knew it as Infantile Paralysis, was rampant and the population most at risk were the children while Covid 19 is more of a threat to the elderly. Newspapers and magazines often featured horrifying pictures of rooms full of machines- giant gleaming steel tubes mounted on wheels with a child’s little head protruding from one end of each. They were called Iron Lungs and they were the only way to keep the children who were worst effected by the virus alive.
One of the odd symmetries between the two plagues is that in many states (New York and Massachusetts for example) 2020 many of the vulnerable elderly were shut into nursing homes with sick patients and healthy ones unsegregated leading to wild infection and death rates in that group. In the 1950’s schools and summer camps were open about as usual filling up more Iron Lungs with little heads.
So, I didn’t end up in an Iron Lung, but I did give my parents the biggest scare I ever could have without Polio. But they were scared for themselves. As I mentioned, I am “a Hyperactive”. I’ll make the case that Hyperactives are often well-meaning as kids. They just take a lot of joy in life and do not get stifled easily in that joy. As adults do, we learn to compensate with age and experience. We “get serious” and “fit in”.
My problem in 1954 was that at 5 years old, I passed an IQ test with a high enough score that my parents were able to place me in public school a year earlier than usual. So, there I was, I was not only hyperactive, I was a silly baby among older, more mature classmates.
It was not easy. Early in the school year, I got myself blacklisted by McCarthyism. Every morning, we all stood and recited The Pledge of Allegiance. This one morning, I stood with the rest of the class put my hand over my heart and began to repeat the words. I actually remember what happened next all these years later…
The “other” plague besides Polio in 1954, you see, was a political one; McCarthyism.
If Polio was a mirror image of today’s Covid19, McCarthyism was the same for today’s Progressivism and its evil avatar, Wokeness. This plague is sweeping innocent people before it. It is carrying our nation, actually, our whole culture to the very brink of totalitarianism… RTWT AT Between Two Childhood Plagues – The Deeper Thought
As it turns out, all this movement needs do to smear and destroy anyone who opposes its “progress”, is to say “That’s not who we are”. That insidious non-sequitur has been used to compel huge numbers of people to at least pretend to believe that some very normal and reasonable beliefs that were universally accepted only years of months ago are not just wrong but outside the pale of acceptable humane ideation- “not who we are”. Here is a partial list of those ideas:
It is the right of a sovereign nation to maintain control of its borders
There are two genders, male and female not withstanding a natural range of gender confidence or dysphoria
The wish to have a means to keep public washrooms from being used by sexual predators to prey on women and children
That people who work hard to succeed should be able to keep, protect and enjoy the fruits of their efforts
Not every black male that is shot by a policeman is a victim of systemic racism even if he was in the act of endangering other black people, black police officers or even white people
Looting of retail stores and violent vandalism against public monuments are not “understandable reactions” and need to be punished
Small and privately owned businesses should never be driven out of business and otherwise sacrificed to test unproven and unscientific theories of pandemic management
The educational system from top to bottom should be a place of free exchange of ideas not indoctrination and safe spaces from scary ideas.
While Yaacov’s essay is well written and accurate in regards to the trends he notes, I think his use of McCarthyism as a horse to whip is erroneously utilized. There were, and still are, many communists; though these individuals would not call themselves communists but rather “progressives;” ensconced throughout the institutions of politics, the media, education, etc. The Gramscian march through all of these previously mentioned institutions is complete, now, and the military is close to being overrun by the Gramscian march, also.
Communism, as an idea, and it’s numerous commie light manifestations of socialism, i.e. “progressivism,” as so inculcated American minds, they are unable to see the truth. McCarthy was not on the incorrect track in attempting to root out communists in America, perhaps if McCarthyism would have been allowed to bring to light how deeply communism had already burrowed into America, we would not be where we are today.
The United States as a republic is dead. If this was not a true statement of fact, then there would not be 5,000 plus military troops in Washington D.C., standing guard for the current commies, the “progressives” infesting the Capital of this once great nation.
Kevin in PAFebruary 19, 2021, 9:51 AM
I enjoyed this new (to me) site. Once again, G. you amaze at the level of your resourcefulness.
I do have a slight bone to pick; I wish everyone (especially deep thinkers) would stop referring to the Ruling Class as the “Elites”. There is nothing elite about these grifters. They are underachievers and frauds.
I think Ol’ Remus said it best:
From the Woodpile Report; “Elites. You keep using that word. I think you do not know what it means. Who you are calling the elites are merely the upper class. Let’s deploy our ten-foot pole and see who these people are.
For the upper-class wealth means money. They typically aspire to be world-class financiers making money by moving money, which aligns best with their only real talent, clever manipulation. For the elites, wealth means long-term tangible holdings, the money follows. It’s the difference between a seller of traveler’s insurance and the absentee owner of a resort.
Marcus Crassus set the rentier uber-model, it remains unaltered to this day. Caesar Augustus, an alert student, was the wealthiest man who ever lived, not by accumulating financial instruments but by holding actual assets. He personally owned Egypt, for one. Augustus’s Pax Romana ensured orderly exploitation of these holdings and of the empire generally, which sustained the prosperity of free Roman citizens for two centuries.
Legitimacy of the elite, and therefore of government, rests on this arrangement.
The upper class however are the perpetual novus homo; resentful and grasping with some showy pose as cover. Being seen in the right company is important to them. It’s why we have the Kennedy Center and PBS and the Met Cloisters. It’s why the media uses the term “socialites”. The elite are the right company and therefore prefer to remain unseen, especially with their rapacious and dependably rancid lessers, the upper class.
When considering the upper class, Pablo Escobar was more gaudy than outlier. People know these things instinctively. No wholly sober person confuses Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey or George Soros or Michael Bloomberg with the elites.
There are smaller pieces of evidence. The upper class will drive the latest Mercedes or Prius, the elites a tired Tahoe or a classic Rolls, without differentiating much between them. The upper class buys costly antiques, the elite grow up with them. The upper class drinks notable wine from swanky stemware, the elite drink ‘good enough’ scotch from whatever is handy. It’s the difference between affecting provenance and having provenance.
The upper class will attend an Ivy League school and be awarded degrees without much expectation or evidence of achievement. Later in life, they may receive an honorary doctorate or other celebratory confection, but intellectual curiosity is no more common here than it is in the lower reaches. Elites aren’t collectors of certificates, if they have a degree at all it will be from a school known more for its climate and ambience than academic rigor, preferably abroad. The intent is to keep the transition from adolescence to adulthood a private matter.
The elites are aware of our existence largely through hearsay, having disengaged from the life of the nation within a century of its founding, driven away by militant factions and other lunatics, the upper class among them. The elite are as disconnected from the class structure as are homeless drunks and share a similar indifference. But to their credit, while they’re neither virtuous nor commendable, it isn’t the elites who are peddling woke causes or looting whole industries or buying boltholes in New Zealand. It’s their cunning and voracious aspirants, the upper class, which to our everlasting shame is our ruling class.“
Everywhere we hear and read references to the ruling class as “elite”. Please stop. They are anything but elite.
@Kevin in PA: In his book CLASS, Paul Fussell made the same distinction. He called the elite the “top-out-of-sight” class because of their disconnection with the rest of society, and described them very much like you did. The “Old Money”/”New Money” labels are useful here as well.
I noted over in Night’s of White Satin; where you come from & where you are definitely colors the way you see and hear things.
In ’54 I was around 16, never thought of polio as a plague, just a fact of life. Polio crippled kid in school; me or someone else would always carry his crutches up the stairs, even if it mean we’d be last for class, t’weren’t no thang.
McCarthyism? Knew the term, didn’t effect us none. Looking back, very little that the feds did in D.C. has any obvious effect of the the way’s we’d go about our lives.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
The words graven on the escutcheon of The Deeper Thought are “Think again before you believe what you are told- especially in media and politics.” 
![That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/welcometohell-150x150.jpg "That Was the Whopper Weekend That Was [Illustrated]")
![Allen Ginsberg: The Interview, <strong> ➡ 1972 ⬅ </strong> [Republished by unpopular demand]](https://americandigest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ginsbergnirvana-150x150.jpg "Allen Ginsberg: The Interview, <strong> ➡ 1972 ⬅ </strong> [Republished by unpopular demand]")
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Many, Thanks for the link! It is a honor.
Well deserved, Yaacov.
While Yaacov’s essay is well written and accurate in regards to the trends he notes, I think his use of McCarthyism as a horse to whip is erroneously utilized. There were, and still are, many communists; though these individuals would not call themselves communists but rather “progressives;” ensconced throughout the institutions of politics, the media, education, etc. The Gramscian march through all of these previously mentioned institutions is complete, now, and the military is close to being overrun by the Gramscian march, also.
Communism, as an idea, and it’s numerous commie light manifestations of socialism, i.e. “progressivism,” as so inculcated American minds, they are unable to see the truth. McCarthy was not on the incorrect track in attempting to root out communists in America, perhaps if McCarthyism would have been allowed to bring to light how deeply communism had already burrowed into America, we would not be where we are today.
The United States as a republic is dead. If this was not a true statement of fact, then there would not be 5,000 plus military troops in Washington D.C., standing guard for the current commies, the “progressives” infesting the Capital of this once great nation.
I enjoyed this new (to me) site. Once again, G. you amaze at the level of your resourcefulness.
I do have a slight bone to pick; I wish everyone (especially deep thinkers) would stop referring to the Ruling Class as the “Elites”. There is nothing elite about these grifters. They are underachievers and frauds.
I think Ol’ Remus said it best:
From the Woodpile Report; “Elites. You keep using that word. I think you do not know what it means. Who you are calling the elites are merely the upper class. Let’s deploy our ten-foot pole and see who these people are.
For the upper-class wealth means money. They typically aspire to be world-class financiers making money by moving money, which aligns best with their only real talent, clever manipulation. For the elites, wealth means long-term tangible holdings, the money follows. It’s the difference between a seller of traveler’s insurance and the absentee owner of a resort.
Marcus Crassus set the rentier uber-model, it remains unaltered to this day. Caesar Augustus, an alert student, was the wealthiest man who ever lived, not by accumulating financial instruments but by holding actual assets. He personally owned Egypt, for one. Augustus’s Pax Romana ensured orderly exploitation of these holdings and of the empire generally, which sustained the prosperity of free Roman citizens for two centuries.
Legitimacy of the elite, and therefore of government, rests on this arrangement.
The upper class however are the perpetual novus homo; resentful and grasping with some showy pose as cover. Being seen in the right company is important to them. It’s why we have the Kennedy Center and PBS and the Met Cloisters. It’s why the media uses the term “socialites”. The elite are the right company and therefore prefer to remain unseen, especially with their rapacious and dependably rancid lessers, the upper class.
When considering the upper class, Pablo Escobar was more gaudy than outlier. People know these things instinctively. No wholly sober person confuses Bill Gates or Oprah Winfrey or George Soros or Michael Bloomberg with the elites.
There are smaller pieces of evidence. The upper class will drive the latest Mercedes or Prius, the elites a tired Tahoe or a classic Rolls, without differentiating much between them. The upper class buys costly antiques, the elite grow up with them. The upper class drinks notable wine from swanky stemware, the elite drink ‘good enough’ scotch from whatever is handy. It’s the difference between affecting provenance and having provenance.
The upper class will attend an Ivy League school and be awarded degrees without much expectation or evidence of achievement. Later in life, they may receive an honorary doctorate or other celebratory confection, but intellectual curiosity is no more common here than it is in the lower reaches. Elites aren’t collectors of certificates, if they have a degree at all it will be from a school known more for its climate and ambience than academic rigor, preferably abroad. The intent is to keep the transition from adolescence to adulthood a private matter.
The elites are aware of our existence largely through hearsay, having disengaged from the life of the nation within a century of its founding, driven away by militant factions and other lunatics, the upper class among them. The elite are as disconnected from the class structure as are homeless drunks and share a similar indifference. But to their credit, while they’re neither virtuous nor commendable, it isn’t the elites who are peddling woke causes or looting whole industries or buying boltholes in New Zealand. It’s their cunning and voracious aspirants, the upper class, which to our everlasting shame is our ruling class.“
Everywhere we hear and read references to the ruling class as “elite”. Please stop. They are anything but elite.
America has been taken down by a Marxist coup and military troops are guarding the area to keep the coup safe from any patriot’s threats, so what are patriots going to do about it now? probably nothing. https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/news-nation/the-republic-is-dead-there-won-t-be-any-white-hats-riding-to-the-rescue-either-fight-now-or-prepare-to-die
@Kevin in PA: In his book CLASS, Paul Fussell made the same distinction. He called the elite the “top-out-of-sight” class because of their disconnection with the rest of society, and described them very much like you did. The “Old Money”/”New Money” labels are useful here as well.
I noted over in Night’s of White Satin; where you come from & where you are definitely colors the way you see and hear things.
In ’54 I was around 16, never thought of polio as a plague, just a fact of life. Polio crippled kid in school; me or someone else would always carry his crutches up the stairs, even if it mean we’d be last for class, t’weren’t no thang.
McCarthyism? Knew the term, didn’t effect us none. Looking back, very little that the feds did in D.C. has any obvious effect of the the way’s we’d go about our lives.
Yep, them were great days!