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Indifferent predicament
Owr society is perpetuating a problem by helping the lazy
GREGG STEARNS is a
junior English major and
the Daily Nebraskan Web
editor.
Everyone knows about our coun
try’s current education dilemma.'
There is not enough funding for
special schools for “gifted” kids, and
citizens are complaining about
increased funding, and therefore
taxes, for special programs for “chal
lenged” kids.
Solving this completely is
beyond my capacity, but identifying
the cause of it isn’t. The reason isn’t
poor teaching habits or “problem”
students.
It’s stupid people!
Please, stop laughing, and give
me a chance to explain.
Thousands of years ago, the men
tal skills of humans were still evolv
ing, and we were hunters who had to
fight daily to survive. We functioned
much like the animals of the planet,
fighting for territory and searching
for food. Fight to survive, or become
worm food.
Fast forward to 1998.
People now think they are the
superior creatures on the planet.
Because of technological advances
and new ways of thinking, we have
moved beyond survival of the fittest.
No longer must we hunt to survive.
Life is easy, simple and laid-back.
And it is ruining us.
In the old days, people who
slacked off and had no common
sense to strive for survival merely
died. If you were lazy, you didn’t last
very long.
But now, people who choose to
be indifferent to the world still sur
vive. Why? Because those of us who
do what we must to make our lives
better pay taxes so these slothful
people can maintain a decent life.
The welfare system isn’t the
major problem, although by elimi
nating it, those who don’t work
would either take initiative or die off.
The world is becoming a place
where screw-ups are allowed to run
amok, and the working class has to
help them out.
I’m sure a lot of people think this
is some harsh thinking, but the truth
remains that as a nation, we’re taking
care of a part of the population that
doesn’t want to work.
The government allows this to
happen, yet it’s obviously flawed.
After all, when students don’t do
their work for classes at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, no
one picks up the slack for them.
A lot of people don’t want to
work. Hell, even I don’t want to work
until I’m 65, but I’m not about to
mooch off the populous for the next
45 years either.
It’s called dignity.
And it’s the people getting mar
ried and having kids, raising them
without instilling any kind of intelli
gence or zest for life into them, who
allow this cycle to perpetuate. The
parents are so involved in “Days of
Our Lives” and “Jerry Springer” that
their kids’ education doesn’t rank
high on their priority list.
That attitude quickly rubs off.
The kids go to school, without
any kind of enthusiasm, and do poor
ly. It is hopeful the teachers will see
this in the kids and try to correct it.
However, it’s hard to convince kids
that school is worthwhile when they
go home to parents who don’t care
either way.
I’m sick of seeing people place
all the blame on schools, the govern
ment and teachers.
We need to look at home to fix
the problem. So many parents don’t
offer the right kind of motivation to
their kids; hey don’t push them to
read books or be creative or ask
questions.
That leads the kids to be just like
their parents: dull, lazy and unwise.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not say
ing that all parents are bad, because
that’s obviously wrong.
Rather, I am urging those of you
with kids to make sure they are
steered in the right direction. With a
positive look on education, kids do
better in school, have more fun and
become better people.
I know I’m not the best student
out there, but at least I’m trying.
My parents should take a lot of
the credit for that. There was never a
doubt that I’d go to college, and here
I am. My parents cared about my
education, so I did as well; and that
attitude has gotten me a long way.
A lot of my friends weren’t as
lucky as me. Their parents took a “do
whatever you want” attitude.
One of my close friends never
graduated high school and still lives
at home with his parents and delivers
pizzas 10 hours a week for cash. I
don’t blame him. I don’t even place
all the blame on his parents.
It’s the crazy society we live in
that allows us to forget that life is
more exciting when you know what’s
going on in the world.
Call me a moron and throw this
paper in the trash if you think I’m
wrong.
But if you really sit and think
about it, you’ll realize just how crazy
we’ve become. We all need to slow
down and get back to what’s impor
tant: learning and gaining knowledge
through experience and providing a
positive learning environment, at
school and at home.
Instead of sitting and watching
some simplistic sitcom tonight, go
read a good novel or whatever type
of book pleases you.
Don’t get caught up in the chaos
of mind-numbing habits. Those with
kids, don’t let them fall into the pit of
ignorance either.
Give our kids the tools to fix
what we’ve damaged. -
bmurly socialism
Kids' cartoon is an advertisement for communism
TODD MUNSON is a
junior broadcasting
major and a Daily
Nebraskan columnist.
It seems lately that if you want get
a rise out of someone, talking about
religion is the best way to do it.
Allow me to hop on the bandwag
on.
But since my religious philosophy
is “whatever floats your boat is cool
with me as long as you don’t come to
my house to give me a pamphlet about
it,” I’m going to talk about a religion
nearly every person can relate to -
Saturday morning cartoons.
Until the concept of sleep appreci
i ation was discovered, nothing could
equal the joy of waking up before
dawn and, with a box of sugar mutated
into cereal in hand, camping out in
front of the television until 11 a.m.,
. when all the stupid educational
shows with a message came on.
Gosh there were some great
ones: “Pole Position,” “Fat Albert
and Friends,” “Mighty Mouse”
and the “Muppet Babies.”
Then there were some not
so-great ones: ‘Turbo Teen,”
“Heathcliff,” that capitalist
swine “Richie Rich” and
“Dungeons & Dragons.”
But one cartoon stood
head and shoulders above the
rest in every aspect: popularity,
merchandising and, most impor
tantly, twisted messages.
Know which one I’m talking
about?
I’ll give you a hint. Think “la la la
la la la.”
Of course I’m talking about the
“Smurfs,” you silly monkeys.
No other cartoon, including
“Alice in Wonderland,” could match
the sick and evilly twisted world that
was the “Smurfs.” And, like all good
instances of subversion, the “Smurfs”
were quite subliminal.
Don’t believe me? Keep reading.
You’ll either agree with me or think
I’ve sold my body to science one too
many times. What you’ll definitely
agree with, though, is that I have way
too much free time.
Let’s start in a semi-logical order
by examining the creator of the
“Smurfs,” Pierre Cullimore or Peyo,
the name he preferred.
Peyo. Hmm... add a “t” and an “e”
and you have peyote - the perfect hal
lucinogen for someone to take if they
wanted to create something as
whacked out as the “Smurfs.” Think
about it; the show’s focus is on little
blue men who live in mushrooms, of
all things.
The most disturbing aspect of
Peyo was discovered after his death in
1992. In cleaning out his estate, it was
discovered that the creator of this
highly “moralistic” cartoon was actu
ally a Nazi affiliated with the Ku Klux
Klan who was a communist.
Keeping in mind that Peyo was
down
with the commies, the Nazis and the
Klannies, let’s look at the Smurfs
themselves. Except for Papa Smurf,
they all dress the same. That is, they
all wear identical pointy, white hats.
Papa Smurf, their leader, is the only
one to dress in red.
It’s been a year since the last cross
burning at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, so let me refresh your KKK
knowledge. All KKK members wear
pointy white hats, except for their
leader, the Grand Dragon, who wears
red.
Then there’s Smurfette, in her
white hat Her blonde locks bounced
with every step as she did nothing
more than look pretty and water flow
ers.
But she wasn’t complete without
her high heels and above-the-knee
miniskirt. For being the only female in
Smurf Village, she fits into a perfect
stereotype of the ideal Aryan Princess.
On the socialist side, the Smurfs
are the perfect socialist model. There
is no currency, and everything is
snared among mem. in
their white outfits, they
are all but indistinguishable from each
other, working as automatons to pro
vide for the good of the village.
The anti-capitalistic message the
Smurfs preached was epitomized in r
Greedy Smurf. As a lover of money,
Greedy Smurf was disliked by the others.
Then there was Vanity Smurf. He
wore a flower in his hair and liked to
look in the mirror a lot. Do you think
he represented homosexuality? Of
course he did. He was treated poorly
by his fellow Smurfs, sending a mes
sage to children that homosexuality
should not be tolerated.
Proof positive that the Smurfs are
communists is found in Brainy Smurf,
the one Smurf who dares to question
anything and think for his own.
Cosmetically, Brainy is a dead
ringer for Leon Trotsky, the Russian
revolutionary who was exiled to
Mexico for disagreeing with Stalin
and later assassinated. Like Trotsky,
Brainy is ostracized by the
autonomous Smurfs for dunking too
much.
Out of all the Smurfs, who was val
ued most? Why, it was hjai^tyiiprk
ihgHah^y Smigfj^vho colil^fix
thing and questioned ' ^
munist society hard work and manual
labor is valued above all. Conversely to
being taught to hate homosexuals,
Handy Smurf taught kids to value
labor and despise laziness.
The Nazism aspect of the Smurfs
is portrayed in the villain Gargamel
and his henchman cat Azrael.
From an animation perspective,
Gaigamel’s dark hair and prominent
features give him a stereotypically
Jewish look.
In addition to his looks,
Gargamel’s name comes from a
Jewish heritage, as does Azrael, who,
in Jewish mythology, shares the same
name as the angel who separates the
soul from the body after death.
What made Gargamel so bad? All
he wanted was to catch the Smurfs
and turn them into gold. Rather enter
prising if you ask me.
Again, Gargamel was an exam
Inle to kids that greed (read capi
talism) is bad, and Jewish peo
ple, according to Peyo, are evil
monsters.
The anti-Semitism contin
ues with Gargamel’s magic. He
was always whipping up a new
spell to use on the poor inno
cent Smurf. Among the Nazis,
it was a common belief that
Jews were evil sorcerers.
There you have it, undis
puted evidence that the
“Smurfs” was the creation of a
sick and twisted individual
who used these cute, little crea
tures as the platform for brain
washing the children of
America.
If Peyo had been a little
better with hiding his Nazi
paraphernalia, the truth may
have never been known.
I suppose there is a bigger
lesson to be learned: When
watching anything, approach it
like you would a transvestite:
Don’t trust what’s on the sur