ABSURDITY PERSONIFIEDIn awarding my second Golden Fleece this week, I was reminded of the new word I introduced to the site in April of last year – DUMBASSERY. In the year that has passed since that introduction, there have been many new examples that fit that description, both for me and, I’m sure, for you. Dumbassery is everywhere, and growing in intensity and number of cases.
Dumbassery, for those who did not see my previous blog, means what you think it does, and it covers a huge range of human activity, including my own. It deserves due consideration for inclusion in all English language dictionaries as well as the equivalent in the dictionaries of all other languages.
The concept of Dumbassery covers all of humanity, regardless of race, color, creed, location or ability. It could easily become the most popular and relevant word in all languages.
I still think of how many times a week I could use the word on myself. I get in the wrong side of my car because “brain fade” tells me the steering wheel is on the left. This happens to me in the U.S. and the other way around on trips to England. Other examples I quoted before include:
1. Ex-President Trump’s recommendation that COVID 19 could be cured by drinking Lysol, also comes to mind. Its a shame he didn’t believe in his statement enough to actually do it himself.
2. The collective morons who believe in QAnon conspiracy theories, despite knowing that the origins of the cult are a single lunatic, or con-man, sitting in his garage, high on something.
3. The recently deceased, Bernie Madoff, who thought he could get away with the best/worst “Ponzi” scheme in U.S. financial history. Aha! You say. He did get away with it for a long time. True, but that only goes to prove that Dumbassery is not just restricted to individuals. It applies equally to institutions such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC Bank and even the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which investigated Madoff eight (8) times and found nothing wrong with his affairs.
Dumbassery is everywhere.
Perhaps the best example of public Dumbassery that I know of coming from period after I announced the name is the performance of the British Prime Minister. Boris Johnson exemplified his claim to be the best clown United Kingdom politics has produced in many years……..if not ever. Holding and attending “Piss ups” (please excuse my British slang) during COVID lockdown and, worse, on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral, defies belief. Arrogant, certainly. In character, certainly. Stupid, certainly. Dumbassery, absolutely.
The other recent public example of Dumbassery that comes to mind is the action of the tennis player Ivan Djochovic and his arrogant attempt to flout the immigration laws of Australia. I could add that the confused response of the Australian officials ran him a close second for the Dumbassery prize.
That episode made me think that, perhaps, there is a direct link between arrogance and Dumbassery. It seems to make sense. Perhaps I can ask you to comment on this idea. It may be that the only difference between arrogance and Dumbassery is that, in the second case, you are caught. Requires more pondering!
I just realized that based on my association of arrogance and Dumbassery, a recent decision by Vladimir Putin qualifies as Dumbassery. He thought he could get away with ordering the Russian separatists in the Dondas area of the Ukraine to shell a primary school, and then claim that the Ukranian Army was to blame. All designed to fabricate as excuse for invasion.
He got caught because NATO and the Ukraine had sufficient intelligence coverage to determine that the shells came from the wrong direction to have been fired by the Ukraine Army. Even Putin is not immune to DUMBASSERY.
It’s not often that a new word, with such enormous potential, comes along. Dumbassery deserves our full respect, attention, and acceptance as a fundamental description of many human activities
I cordially invite you, my readers, to send me further examples of this very human trait. I await them with great curiosity and interest.
