Modern-day "Doasyoulikes"

Canadian man asks rude U.S.
Border Inspector to say “please,”
gets pepper sprayed and handcuffed.

Modern-day “Doasyoulikes” (with thanks to Wikipedia)

You may not be familiar with the children’s novel, The Water Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby, written by the Reverend Charles Kingsley and first published as a book in 1863. This was a kind of Victorian moral fable that was extremely popular even into the 1920’s. It fell out of favor most probably because among other things Kingsley wrote that Americans were lazy and chaotic, Jews were greedy, and Catholics were undesirable, especially French Catholics. Kingsley also wrote about how badly England treated the poor and how terrible child labor was. But basically the book is about Christian redemption.

The hero of the story is a young chimney sweep, Tom, who, after being chased out of Ellie’s upper-class house, falls into a river, dies, and becomes a “water baby,” where he cavorts with other water babies and proves himself to be a moral creature. The leaders of his new life are Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby, Mrs. Bedonbyasyoudid, and another woman, Mother Carey. When his original master also drowns and is at the end of the world being punished for his misdeeds, Tom travels there to help him. By thus proving his willingness to do things he does not like, if they are the right things to do, he earns a return to human form and becomes “a great man of science.” He also is re-united with Ellie who had also fallen into the river.

Kingsley, from his observations on the domestication and breeding of animals, had come to the conclusion on his own that the dogma of the “permanence of species” could not be true, and that creatures could change over time, depending upon their behavior. Thus he became one of the earliest champions of Darwin, and Darwinism, which at that time still included Lamarckism. Most readers of his book did not realize that it was partly written as a satire and critique of the many scientists of his day that refused to believe Darwin on evolution. This can be seen in his creation of a group of humans, the Doasyoulikes, who, because they are allowed to do anything they want, gradually lose the power of speech and degenerate into gorillas (the “degeneration theory,” or reverse evolution).

It strikes me that the Doasyoulikes bear an eerie similarity to the current Republican party. First, they have demonstrated their unwillingness to do anything they do not like, even if it is clearly the right thing to do. More importantly, because of the excesses of Limbaugh, Hannity, and others who speak for them, they are gradually losing their power of speech. And while they may not as yet have degenerated into gorillas, I suspect that is currently in process, although gorillas may be too high on the evolutionary scale for them… baboons, perhaps. As my neighbor once aptly observed, “who knows what goes on in the minds of baboons.” Finally, I think the fact that the Reverend Kingsley, and many other learned men in the late 1800’s came rather quickly to believe in evolution, says something about the backwardness and ignorance of our current Republicans, many of whom still do not believe in this by now almost universally accepted theory (accepted, that is, by people who actually think).

One further Kingsley argument that seems to me relevant here is Kingsley’s claim that no one can say something they have never seen (like a soul or a water baby) does not exist:

“How do you know that? Have you been there to see? And if you had been there to see, and had seen none, that would not prove there were none…And no one has a right to say that no water babies exist till they have seen no water babies existing, which is quite a different thing, mind, from not seeing water babies.”

So…it seems to me, if Republicans claim to have not seen any Democratic successes, that does not mean such successes do not exist (or could not exist). But if our modern-day Doasyoulikes are allowed to do whatever they like, they will perhaps prove that successes do not exist (if they can be prevented).

Rush Limbaugh, the apparent head of the Republican party, and enormous sack of pig pucky, said, in his usual snide, mean, and thoughtless manner: “It will become the Ted Kennedy Memorial Health Care Bill.” I think that would actually be quite fitting, as Ted Kennedy has worked his entire political life to bring about universal health care, while Limbaugh and his ilk have done nothing but spread mindless hate as far and wide as they can. Along with his knighthood, it would enhance Kennedy's legacy of doing everything he could to benefit us all. Name one good thing, just one, that Rush Limbaugh has ever done. There is an old gambler’s saying that, unhappily, Limbaugh will never respect: “If you can’t beat it, don’t knock it.”

LKBIQ:
If we are going to teach creation science as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction.
Judith Hayes

TILT:
The Mexican Grizzly Bear is extinct.