Phyllis Beveridge Nissila

Are there any grown-ups in the house?

I mean, has the extreme climate crisis movement come to either the planet perishes in a few months unless we immediately enact yet another wild-eyed idea to save it, in this case one proposed by a, well, wild-eyed young thing at a Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY) town hall meeting the other night who insisted we reduce CO2 by eating babies (view her shocking presentation here) or DIE in, not 12 years, or 11, or even 1 year, but maybe even by early next year?

The seemingly terrified youngster even had a T-shirt emblazoned with her proposal.

At first, I thought the girl was a troll channeling the brilliant satirist Jonathan Swift whose essay, “A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick,”^[1] (spoiler alert: by selling them to the wealthy as entrées) commonly referred to as “A Modest Proposal,” but even AOC, not one to shy away from hyperbole herself (not as satire but for, like, serious reals!), even seemed taken aback. A bit. After the protester stopped her rant (reluctantly) even AOC suggested there is still some hope.

But if the young, seemingly terrified cannibalism apologist was serious and not just a plant to expose the Green New Deal Theater of the Absurd, the grown-ups in the room, indeed, on the planet, need to step in.

Quick.

If, that is, there is still time for such as the young activist and millions of other politically vulnerable youth lacking logic, real education, and emotional stability, so that they can get the therapy they need to be able to overcome life lived constantly at the base of the brain, where, these days, there are seemingly no holds barred to “solutions”.

Even if it means, at least to the young activist at the AOC town hall meeting, eating babies…

I am reminded just now of an incident from when I was 3 years of age. My oldest brother was in the kitchen with Mom who was taking great pains to make sure he was ready for his very first day of kindergarten, at age 5. My other brother (4) and I were in the living room wreaking absolute havoc with toys and furniture, but not too loudly else Mom would hear and come in and put a stop to it. However, a part of me wished she would!

Caught in the middle of this kid chaos when my conscience kicked in, I wanted to both continue with all this freedom while I knew it had to stop. Previous lessons had taught me this. Only I couldn’t seem to make my little self stop!

Even though I knew I would soon be in trouble (when Mom finally did come in) for taking all the cushions off the couch and using them to (quietly) jump on while crashing the boys’ trucks off the top of the radio onto a pile of stuffed animals and removing the stuffing from a teddy bear or two, even that young I had a “feeling” that messing around like that was just wrong.

My brother and I soon found out I was right.

I keep this incident in mind when I hear and read the chatter about children being born pure and spotless and that it’s nurture, not nature, that prompts a dark side.

A lot older and somewhat wiser, now, I would trace this notion to roughly the (modern) era that decided absolutes are passé not permanent, ethics can be derived from situations not sense, and, well, anything like a god or even God, Himself, is/are now dead. Reason, the King of All Enlightenment, er, depending upon the situation, rules.

Trouble is, without a foundation of unswerving principles, aka the “A word” (“absolutes”), we base our actions on, well, whatever sells well. Emotions, for example.

Appeals to pity and unsubstantiated panic work (as well as any number of other breaks in logic, aka, fallacies).

And when education veers off from “how to think” to usually politically-charged “what to think,” well, the end game can and often has/does take us off the rails to the unknown.

Well, some of it is known, such as the horrifying proposal by the youngster–with the merch to go with–that perhaps she fell victim to by listening to a cannibalism-monger, er, Swedish Scientist, who has a whole lecture and power point promoting consuming human flesh as a solution to the dangers that face the planet.

(Not to mention the danger that would face certain very unfortunate people).

Who knew the Green New Deal would also include Soylent Green—like, for reals!–?

In short: I think it’s time we resurrect God, as it were, and His guiding principles that, no matter if we sin (or eat babies) because of nature or nurture–or off-the-rails politics–at least we have some way to check and balance our behavior before we really destroy the planet–and ourselves. The Ten Commandements would be a good place to start:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

My mother, God rest her soul, would absolutely agree.