latest news, humpty dumpty saved in heroic effort by rescuers.

 

1. Kill the link between a culture and it’s past and you kill the culture. 

   I’ve just been reviewing some of Yuri Bezmenov’s videos.  The man gave us the straight story and we ignored him.

   Posted by Dr. Jeff       06/10/2012  at  01:28 PM  



2. Well said Doc. Very well said. And btw, that link has been getting chipped away at for some time. Methinks it may now be a sliver.

   Posted by peiper       06/11/2012  at  05:34 AM  



3. These “children’s verses” are not that at all. They are pieces of history that deserve to be taught.

   You can take two approaches to them: one, they come from a pre-literate society, where a bit of rhyme helps everyone to remember the words, and the words tell a news story; two, they come from a pre-freedom society, where speaking your mind about those in charge could get you killed, so the verses tell their tale or spread their opinion indirectly.

   Sure, they make nice little rhymes for children, and because of that all the children know them, and remember them FOREVER, and pass them to their own children. And the meme lives. This is a perfect example of extelligence: some bit of knowledge kept alive in the culture if not in any one person’s mind.

   Whoever Humpty Dumpty was, he was an indecisive ruler (sat on a wall) who eventually made the wrong decision (had a great fall) and lost the battle or the crown (all the king’s horses and all the king’s men: that’s an army we’re talking about).

   We all know “ring around the rosey” refers to the Black Plague that struck Europe in the Middle Ages. That was 600 years ago.

   “London Bridge” may date back to Henry III or even further, memorializing a Viking raid on the city in 1014.

   The meaning and origin of “Mary Mary Quite Contrary” is still up for debate, but the one fact remains: the little rhyme is ancient, whatever it’s original allegorical meaning may have been.

   Change the words, change the meaning ... and destroy a tie to Western culture that goes back hundreds and hundreds of years. Granted that English has only been English as we know it since about 1550. These rhymes may or may not work in Middle or Old English.

   Posted by Drew458       06/11/2012  at  09:53 AM  

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