Strangely Naked

I’m beginning to think our brain filters are too thick. Maybe people are thinking too hard about things before saying them. Maybe if we all had a much thinner filter on the thoughts in our head before they reach our mouths, if people just said the first or even second thought that popped into mind, we’d have an easier time knowing who the rotting human tumors of society are.

Yes, initially it would be jarring, hearing racist garbage from idiots, hearing criticism from peers, unadulterated ignorance vomiting out of the mouths of your close relatives. But after that initial shock, we’d KNOW who the human-shaped bags-of-garbage are, be able to more easily identify the societal waste. All of these impulses to hide our thoughts are what are allowing things like political pundits to exist.

Think about it (or don’t because this may be an ill conceived thought of my own), the ability to not say the initial impulsive thought is what also allows people to become complicit in horrible acts. When someone asks you to take place in something horrible, the initial thought is/should be negative judgement, but then people think how they can profit from just turning a blind eye.

Bill Cosby being a sociopathic rapist (sort-of alleged by a tidal wave of women) was made possible by compliance. From what I’ve read, most of Bill Cosby’s (pseudo-alleged) rapes involve slipping something into a drink. Which makes the entire multi-decade predatory excursion all the more disturbing. The first time Bill Cosby sought out roofies had to involve a lot of levels of confused complaisance.

“Excuse me,” said the Cos (pronounced “cause”), “I would like to procure some Rohypnol, goo jell-o puddin.”

“Hold on, are you,” begins asking the presumably shady person the Cos has profiled to be a person who could procure drugs like Roofies, “America’s dad, asking to purchase a date rape drug? Ew.” That’s the initial thought and if it were voiced, that would have probably been the end of it.

“Skibiddy skoobiddy, gotta go now.”

That’s all the seller had to do was recognize the Coz, voice the confusion and he’d flee. “So what’s to stop his underlings from buying these for him?” Oh, I don’t know, general humanity?

“Yes sir, my sweatered overlord, I shall get you paper towels, launder your clothes and…hold on, did you say you want me to buy you a well-known date-rape drug? I’ll find another person for whom I shall be a human donkey.”

It’s insane to me to think that there are people out there who would be willing to be the purchaser or seller of date rape drugs to anyone, let alone one of the most famous people in the world. We’re focusing a lot of attention on the Coz–and rightfully so, he’s a monster–but let’s not lose focus on his enablers.

The point is, if people were more willing to speak their minds, maybe disturbing things would happen less because they’d be confronted by the truth. Of course there are people who, upon their initial thought would do the horrible thing or say the unspeakable, but it would help us see the currently-cloaked monsters. And maybe, just maybe shame people into learning so that their first thought doesn’t make them seem like ignorant jackasses…but experience tells me otherwise. Oh well, it was a good thought, my first one, though, maybe I’ll rethink this.