A Ray of Light

A series of profoundly bad decisions, driven by incomplete and limited health data, broad-based hysteria driven by a dishonest media, and bad advice provided by supposed "experts," shut down our country for months, leading to the economic displacement of tens of millions of people. A kind of darkness enveloped the country. 

As if that weren't bad enough, the police murder of a non-violent check kiter took the dark mood that already enveloped urban centers and made it even darker. Justifiable anger and protest in those cities quickly morphed into rioting, likely driven by violent extremists on the left who took advantage of local anger.

But then on Saturday—a ray of light. Roger L. Simon comments:

Is there a better quote for America today than Oscar Wilde’s “We’re all lying in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”?

We all have that choice—and it’s more than routinely ironic that the very weekend our country is protesting and rioting over the abhorrent killing of George Floyd, we have returned to space thanks to Elon Musk, the quintessential entrepreneur of our time.

Simon thinks back to the darkness of the World War II era and remembers a song that was popular at the time, “Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the positive, eliminate the negative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.”

If we could “accentuate the positive” then, we can certainly do it now. The rioters—whether they are Antifa-types who wish to “smash the state” or just greedy looters—who are running rampant in our cities, do nothing of value for anyone, least of all black people. They depress us, and they depress the decent people of their own communities, and they have, alas, succeeded to a great extent.

America needed a feel-good story right now, and Elon Musk gave it to them.

On the surface, this does nothing for the race situation, but on a deeper level, it does. Everybody dreams—all races and creeds—and Musk has given us an opportunity to dream together, if we decide to take it. We can all be among Wilde’s “some of us [who] are looking at the stars,” should we decide to do it. Skin color does not apply.

If, in fact, violent left-wing, anti-capitalist groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter are behind the urban violence and destruction we've witnessed over the past few days (evidence points in that direction), they (and those who tacitly support them or refuse to condemn their activities) are also responsible for increasing the darkness that has pervaded our society since February. 

It should be noted that a capitalist, Elon Musk, the company he created, and the people he employs are responsible for a ray of light. 

You choose.