Of Green Shoots of Hope and Yellow Submarines
Feedback from "Central View" readers is virtually unanimous in condemning the unreliability of the so-called mainstream media (MSM). But there are some rays of hope as found by the distinguished journalist and former Secretary of the U.S. Senate, Kelly D. Johnston. Writing for substack.com, Johnston sees some "Green Shoots of Hope." See: Suggested readings.
Yet, readers often ask: "How can my neighbor believe the rubbish he believes when the facts are so obviously the other way?" For a possible answer, as usual, we look to History and, perhaps surprisingly, to the Beatle’s 1966 hit song: "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine."
The Beatles always contended that Yellow Submarine was written to attract children to an, otherwise, more sedate adult album. But legions of psycho-babblers say the Beatles were telling us that each of us lives surrounded by our own bank of fog. Intended or not, there is truth to the idea that many of us live unmindful what is happening to those around us.
For example: In World II, a Dutch officer and a British officer teamed up to escape from the German POW prison at Colditz. For most of its four years as a prison for escape-prone Allied officers, Colditz was run by an honorable, non-Nazi Prussian officer who made sure, after close inspection, that every POW received his periodic Red Cross comfort package. The packages always contained some chocolate bars.
As the war dragged on, Allied efforts to deprive the German economy of food, including chocolate, were effective. Of course, the allied POWs, whose Red Cross packages always arrived, were not told that Germans outside the prison were starting to starve.
Disguised as civilian laborers, the two escapees were seated on a bench awaiting the next train toward neutral Switzerland and freedom. Across from them were two middle-aged German women. Trying to look nonchalant, one of the escapees pulled out a chocolate bar and began to eat it. Mein Gott! The German women, who had not seen a chocolate bar in two years, starting raising hell and yelling for the police. Fortunately, the two escapees slipped away from an almost certain recapture and, eventually, made it to freedom.
Obviously, the POWs had been living in their Yellow Submarines and the two chocolate-starved women in their Yellow Submarines. And so it is today among the consumers of political information and, more likely with the MSM, political disinformation. Depending on the limited time away from the mundane chores of earning a living, most working Americans do not have time to sample all sides of the issues of the day and fall into the easy trap of watching the evening news from the left-leaning, big-time news networks which are being increasing exposed as the propaganda arms of one particular political party.
So, there’s the answer to why your neighbor’s head is filled with absolute political rubbish. The people who make America work, come home, open some kind of beverage, and sit down exhausted before the TV. After 27 minutes of "news" content, they feel like they have done their civic duty and get ready for supper.
Suggested reading: Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, by Ben MacIntyre, 1965. "Green Shoots of Real Journalism, Part I and Part II, by Kelly D. Johnston at: https://kellyjohnston.substack.com/?utm_source=discover_searc. ♪♪ "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine,"♪♪ by the Beatles, 1966
©2023.William Hamilton.
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