This song by the Indigo Girls, “Jonas & Ezekiel,” popped into my head for biblical reasons.1Jonah was asked to go to Nineveh (Mosul in northern Iraq) to preach and prophesize about how its people needed to repent and change their ways for the better. Likewise, Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Judah’s capital city Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple, along with the exiling of Judahite upper classes into Babylonian captivity.
Song: “Jonas & Ezekiel” by Indigo Girls
Song’s Fun Facts
Here are a few fun facts about the inspiration for the lyrics of the song from Angel Fire.
- “We played Dartmouth College and met some real free thinkers up there. I took a long bike ride on Highway 5, on the border of New Hampshire and Vermont, and this song uses references from that and from earlier road trips– things I heard in conversation, things from the news… It’s a political song about people who put their faith in prophesy, who’re walking toward disaster instead of doing anything about it. ~Amy”
- “Jonas and Ezekial are names that Amy saw on tombstones in a slave cemetery. They are possibly also references to the biblical characters of the same name, although the names are spelt differently in different translations of the Bible.”
- The ‘activist with a very short life’ is a reference to Bob Sheldon, the owner of Internationalist Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sheldon was an active anti-war activist at the time of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was shot while alone in his store on February 21, 1991.2I’m not familiar with this story. I do know Mr. Sheldon was a Commie.
Left-Right Perception Shift
Interestingly, segments of today’s society (legacy media, a nontrivial cohort of modern-day Democrats, some social media, etc.) would consider the 1991 Amy Ray and me “right of center,” perhaps even “far right.”
Look at how so many audience members are “conservatively” dressed in that music video. Moreover, take note of Amy’s patriotic, dare I say MAGA, outfit! You know her Tesla or bicycle would get vandalized by the modern-day, violent, hardcore “Leftists.”
Attack on Symbols, Words, and Traditions
Back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the Confederate Flag symbolism positively represented Southern heritage and its history.
What the flag symbolizes for the millions who revere, cherish, or love it, however, is the heroism of those who fought and died under it….
Vilification of that battle flag and the Confederacy is part of the cultural revolution in America that flowered half a century ago. Among its goals was the demoralization of the American people by demonizing their past and poisoning their belief in their own history.
Mises Institute: Marxism and the Cultural Revolution
Nowadays, after the cultural marxists attacked the symbol and inverted its meaning to be a negative connotation, especially noticeable after the Obama Administration got into power, those who use the symbol are villified. Variants of this Marxist and Communist infiltration and subversion have been around for millennium, just under different names.
Marxists’ Tactics for Revolution
Here’s a snippet from an article titled “How Marxists Take Over (and What to Do About it),” published by Frontier Centre for Public Policy:
Bezmenov [an ex-KGB officer of the former Communist Soviet Union] said that Marxist overthrow begins by undermining the values of the targeted society. “Ideological subversion is the process, which is legitimate, overt, and open; you can see it with your own eyes….”
The ex-KGB agent said the “great brainwashing process” begins with a “demoralization” process that takes “15-20 years . . . the minimum number of years which [is required] to educate one generation of students in the country of your enemy, exposed to the ideology of the enemy.”
Bezmenov said the demoralization stage was already “over-fulfilled” by the 1980s. “Most of it is done by Americans to Americans, thanks to [a] lack of moral standards,” he said. He had no hope for those educated in the increasingly Marxist universities of the West who were now in positions of power and influence across America. “You cannot change their mind, even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove that white is white and black is black, you still cannot change the basic perception and the logic of behavior…. the process of demoralization is complete and irreversible.”
Nevertheless, as one of the oldest members of GenX, I’m old enough to recognize how society’s perceptions in many respects have markedly changed about people like me who have “changed by not changing” all that much over the years.
A Cartoon
The cartoon in Elon Musk’s tweet from about three years ago seems accurate concerning the Left-Right perception shift over even a shorter period:
Some “Change” By Not Changing
Although I was perceived as “moderate left” back in the 1980’s and early 1990’s, rightly or wrongly, my core beliefs really haven’t shifted that much.
For instance, I still…
- Oppose NAFTA, unfair trade, and unfettered “free trade.”
- Strive to treat people with respect and kindness.
- Consider overturning the tables and cracking the whip as a viable option.
- Contest government and corporate corruption.3Yale Law School: Of Corporatism, Fascism, and the First New Deal.
- Am leery of those who hide behind institutions to engage in misdeeds and hypocrisy.
- Embrace the idea of a small, limited federal government.
- Defend the Constitution – especially regarding personal property and income (no taxation on either), money (only gold/silver – 100% backed), and banking (no fractional reserve banking – it’s essentially a Ponzi scheme, a counterfeiting of real money).
- Appreciate Amy Ray’s voice and the music of the Indigo Girls, at least the early years.4And, I still don’t subscribe to Amy Ray’s activism and certain viewpoints.
Limitations of Labels
Perhaps I was mis-labeled to an extent in my younger days.
I do recall visiting Boulder, Colorado in the mid-1990’s whereby some of my acquaintances were nicely and respectfully challenging me for my unyielding support of Ross Perot’s philosophy and proposed policies. Today, at least online, my same viewpoints as highlighted above garner personal attacks by unhinged people, and some of them I actually know in real life, which is astonishing to me.5All Leftists, by the way.
The bottom line is neither I nor Ross Perot was wrong. Matter of fact, Mr. Perot was—and frankly is—a Prophet in the political sense.
Footnotes
- 1Jonah was asked to go to Nineveh (Mosul in northern Iraq) to preach and prophesize about how its people needed to repent and change their ways for the better. Likewise, Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Judah’s capital city Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple, along with the exiling of Judahite upper classes into Babylonian captivity.
- 2I’m not familiar with this story. I do know Mr. Sheldon was a Commie.
- 3Yale Law School: Of Corporatism, Fascism, and the First New Deal.
- 4And, I still don’t subscribe to Amy Ray’s activism and certain viewpoints.
- 5All Leftists, by the way.
