Like Ghosts from Another Time

A reminder that you cannot destroy truth by burning pages

Over the last decade or so, but especially over the last four years, It has become glaringly obvious that government, media and virtually every institution we once trusted now view the populace as a whole with contempt. We are merely numbers on a spreadsheet. Statistics for the next marketing campaign. Pawns and rubes to be manipulated for the gain of the elite. 

Many will say that this is nothing new, that it’s always been this way. They will sometimes point to specific moments as markers for where it all went wrong:

Perhaps this was inevitable ever since the founding of the Federal Reserve... 

Or maybe it’s been like this since JFK was assassinated?..

Maybe 9/11 was truly the beginning of the end?…

I won’t argue for any specific timeline when it comes to the gradual loss of our humanity. I also do not claim to have a firm grasp on the exact causes myself. I only know that I personally began to feel it acutely around ten or twelve years ago, and that I think even the most reluctant of us saw it truly kick into overdrive at the outset of the pandemic.

From the beginning of 2020 to present it has felt, for anyone paying attention, that we have all been a part of some bizarre psychological assault. As though we were now all subject to an experiment we did not consent to. One which is meant to break our grip on reality, and pressure us to forget our humanity and dignity.

New rules had come down from on high. They were to be followed without question. The Experts had weighed in. They would now decide the shape of society. The Experts would dictate which businesses could operate and how. The Experts would tell us whether we could continue to pursue our livelihoods. These newly appointed regents of our society would determine whether or not you were essential.

There was an endless barrage of nonsensical and contemptuous language emerging from the authorities directing this nightmare. The word “Essential” in particular stood out to me.

Essential. As in necessary. In this case someone needed in order for society to remain functional.

But then, what would that make those people who were deemed non-essential? Frivolous? Un-necessary? No Longer Needed? Obsolete? 

I was reminded of a classic episode of The Twilight Zone which was called "The Obsolete Man". The events of the last four years have caused the story to remain fresh in my mind.

The episode stars Burgess Meredith as Romney Wordsworth, a librarian who finds himself on trial in an authoritarian state in the not-too-distant-future.

Wordsworth is brought before a menacing and bombastic chancellor who will decide his fate.

The charge he faces? Obsolescence.

*The following is an excerpt from their exchange:

“Chancellor: And you persist in declaring your occupation as being that of a librarian. Is that correct? 

Wordsworth: Yes, sir, that's correct. 

Chancellor: A librarian. Having to do...with books. 

Wordsworth: Yes sir...books! 

Chancellor: Since there are no more books, Mr. Wordsworth, there are no more libraries, and of course, it follows, there is very little call for the services of a librarian. Case in point: A minister. A minister would tell us that his function is that of preaching the word of God. And it follows that since The State has proven that there is no God, that would make the function of a minister quite academic as well.... 

Wordsworth: There IS a God!! 

Chancellor: You are in error, Wordsworth. There is NO GOD! (To the crowd) The STATE HAS PROVEN THAT THERE IS NO GOD!! 

Wordsworth: You cannot erase God with an edict! 

Chancellor: You are obsolete, Mr. Wordsworth! 

Wordsworth: A lie, no man is obsolete! 

Chancellor: You have no function, Mr. Wordsworth. You're an anachronism, like a ghost from another time.... 

Wordsworth: I am nothing more than a reminder to you that you cannot destroy truth by burning pages! 

Chancellor: You're a bug, Mr. Wordsworth. A crawling insect. An ugly, misformed, little creature that has no purpose here, no meaning! 

Wordsworth: I am a human being... 

Chancellor: You're a librarian, Mr. Wordsworth. You're a dealer in books and two cent finds and pamphlets in closed stacks in the musty finds of a language factory that spews meaningless words on an assembly line. WORDS, Mr.WORDSworth. That have no substance, no dimension, like air, like the wind. Like a vacuum, that you make believe have an existence, by scribbling index numbers on little cards. 

Wordsworth: I don't care. I tell you: I don't care! I'm a human being, I exist!....and if I speak one thought aloud, that thought lives, even after I'm shoveled into my grave. “

Watch the rest. It’s great.

Now, replace the word "God" in their exchange with words like "Reality" or "Truth". You will then have an almost identical picture of what we have all been enduring for the last four years:

"Reality is what we say it is, not what you see and hear with your own eyes and ears. "

"The edicts we pass down are infallible truths and failure to abide will result in your ruin."

"Want to continue operating your business? We'll decide if you're essential."

"I'm afraid your business isn't big enough and doesn’t hold the right political sway. We find you to be non-essential. Shutter your business and send your customers to the big box stores, they have been found very essential"

" A safe and effective solution now exists for the problem we have created"

"Free and totally voluntary, come forward, please"

"Please. Come forward...This is for your own good. Of course we care about you."

"The voluntary phase of this rollout is complete. You will take this vaccine"

"Our patience is wearing thin..."

"Perhaps you need some motivation?..."

"Do you like being able to provide for your family?...”

"Don’t you value the lifetime worth of work you've put into your career?..."

"Don’t you want to rejoin society?... The society we have cut you off from?..." 

"Do you want your family to be able to come back together?..."

"Your parents and siblings are very upset with how you're handling this, you know..."

“You’re driving a wedge between yourself and your loved ones…Doesn’t it bother you to do that to them?…”

"Do you want hospitals to stop publicly debating their willingness to treat you?..."

“Do you want your fellow citizens to stop calling you a murderer?”

“Do you like having people call for your death, celebrating it?…”

"Do you want to be happy ever again?..." 

“Just take the shot, and this can all be over...”

"You can go back to your life..."

"Just take the shot...."

That was the nightmare that so many of us found ourselves unable to wake up from. 

"Take the shot. It's your choice, of course...but if you choose not to, you will forfeit your livelihood and almost certainly any ability to obtain another position elsewhere...But it's absolutely your choice.."

Your job or your dignity? The choice was ours. 

I had a little time before the deadline for my decision.

I agonized over it. Get the shot and everything stays the same. My job, my income, my life. All would remain intact. All that work and time and sacrifice would not be wasted.

Except nothing would remain the same. I would know exactly what I had traded for all of those things. What I had been willing to abandon in order to keep what I had. I would not respect myself anymore. I would not be able to say with a straight face that I had any real principles. 

I didn’t take the shot.

I also didn't keep my job. 

Fortunately, I was able to find something else. It paid significantly less and had reduced benefits. Working conditions were considerably worse. But what I did have in that position was the knowledge that I had retained something important within myself. I had not given in.

Their goal was to force us to submit. To demoralize. To humiliate.

In holding to my convictions, I now felt the opposite of demoralization. I felt as though I had passed some sort of cosmic test. I knew others would too. I knew that despite the awfulness of the situation, we could win, even if it was ultimately just a spiritual victory.

That might be all that matters in the end.

Romney Wordsworth was correct when he said that God cannot be erased with an edict. We can, however, allow an edict to erase much in ourselves. Our humanity, our dignity, our freedom. These all mean nothing if we would not sacrifice everything to retain them.

*Excerpt from The Twilight Zone S2:E29 “The Obsolete Man”. Written by Rod Serling. 1961*