29 Jan 12

ā€œSend in the clowns. There ought to be clowns…

Donā€™t bother. Theyā€™re here!ā€

From ā€œSend in the Clowns,ā€ by Stephen Sondheim, from the 1973 musical, ā€œA Little Night Music,ā€ (an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s film, ā€œSmiles of a Summer Nightā€
Judy Collinsā€™ rendition from 1975 is still the best-known.

These comments from a friend who is security director for a large corporation with multiple facilities:

ā€œOur HR department has deluded itself into believing that acts of violence can be prevented by written ā€˜policy,ā€™ in much the same way that battered women believe a piece of paper will magically stop their tormentor from returning and taking up where he left off. It works about as well in both instances!

My running argument with these naive nincompoops continues to be the abject uselessness of endless reams of oh-so-artfully-written ā€˜policy,ā€™ including gun-bans for company property, in preventing workplace violence. I point out to them the disproportionate low numbers of state CCW licensees who are involved in crime of any kind, in comparison with the general population. But, like bored Liberals everywhere, they squander their entire lives looking for high-minded excuses to stick their uninvited noses into other peoplesā€™ lives!

In fact, I have had more than on HR-guy who indicated that he wanted to go out into the company parking lot, randomly grab an employee, terrorize him into opening his vehicleā€™s trunk for a ā€˜consentā€™ search (under the threat of being fired, of course). And, if they saw a firearm, they would ā€˜confiscateā€™ it. A millennium ago, these same people were gleefully torturing the innocent, many to death, in a majestic effort to persuade them to ā€˜confessā€™ their faith in the Catholic Church!

I patiently explain to them that, in most jurisdictions, this action, at least today, will get them arrested (this time by the real police) and charged with theft, maybe even robbery!

My fight is usually not with the overtly wicked, but with the consciously ignorant, vain, and hyper-conceited!ā€

Comment:

ā€œCapitalism harnesses human self-interest. Socialism exhausts itself trying to kill it. Leftist politicians, who seize and dole-out other peopleā€™s assets, initially see themselves as humanitarians. Eventually, they conclude they are a superior class, and treat themselves accordingly. They make laws to which they are not subject. They vote themselves, and their stooges, exclusive privileges and benefits. They no longer ā€˜serve.ā€™ They rule!ā€

Bowles

/John