Developments This Week

In case anyone hasn't been watching democracy has really been slipping in the world. We saw this in the June 2022 posting, "Remembering What Freedom Is About". Tunisia has long been considered as the greatest democratic success story of the "Arab Spring". But this week the country approved a new constitution where, among other authoritarian changes, all police forces answer directly to the president.

Tony Dow, who played "Wally" on the late 1950s television series "Leave It To Beaver" has died. I have long thought that "Leave It To Beaver" was subtly destructive. Wally's younger brother used the nickname "Beaver" because he didn't like his real name of "Theodore".

The teenaged Wally was always good-natured and well-behaved. It was his two friends that were what was so destructive about the show. One friend was Eddie Haskell and the other was "Lumpy" Rutherford.

Eddie Haskell wasn't really bad, at least not by today's standards. But on the show he was always sneaky, mischievous and, conniving. Eddie Haskell was the "bad guy" of the show.

Why is it necessary to have a "bad guy" on the show? In any group of people there is often someone who is demonized to play the role of the "bad guy". I have seen this in real life on many occasions, someone who is not really but is made out to be bad because someone has to play the role of the "bad guy" ( or sometimes girl ) in the group or community.

Wally's other friend was "Lumpy" Rutherford. As the name implies "Lumpy", although strong and athletic, was less-than-intelligent and was apparently several years behind in school.

Of course, like a diamond against a black background, these two less-than-worthy friends make Wally seem that much better.

Wally's younger brother, "Beaver" ( Theodore ), has a friend, Larry Mondello, that is portrayed in the show as mischievous, overweight ( by the standards of the day ), less-than-intelligent, and from a dysfunctional family.

This demonization and portraying people as inherently unworthy is what helps to create people who ultimately commit mass shootings. "Leave It To Beaver" is from an era before there were guns everywhere. But if there was a version of the show in the 2020s, Eddie Haskell and "Lumpy" Rutherford might become mass shooters.

Bad and unworthy people are crutches to help a story along. It takes a really brilliant writer to create a compelling story with no bad or unworthy people. Have you noticed that no serious story has ever been written that takes place in Heaven?