70 years ago, there was a disease called "cancer" ...

[dawg]

This disease was brutal, some say like nothing that had ever come before. It killed indiscriminately, wiping 15 million souls from the face of this Earth in a horrible, brutal orgy of suffering. Then, as if by miracle, "cancer" went away.

Biologists and doctors never really understood where "cancer" came from in the first place. Oh, there were theories of course. But no one completely understood how such a horrible disease was able to get so established and to do so much damage in such a short period of time. Was it a genetic thing? Was it related to the environment? Could it happen to people anywhere, or only under certain specific conditions? No one really knew.

Thank God it went away. It was unspeakable.

Now, 70 years later, people are coming down with some unusual symptoms. Loss of weight. Tumors. Some kind of wasting illness. It can't be "cancer", because that was something that happened way back then. In fact, doctors shouldn't even mention "cancer". The problems we see today can't be the beginning stages of *that* because, well .... it just can't be, and it just shows someone's ignorance that they would even mention "cancer". Although no one really understands what caused "cancer" 70 years ago, all the experts are certain that it could never happen again.

Of course, if "cancer" were to come back, it'd sure be great if we could catch it in its early stages.

But that's not going to happen.

[Hannah Bell]

1. kr

[RKP5637]

2. Recommend!!! n/t

[uppityperson]

3. what?

[Still a Democrat]

5. what?(2)

[uppityperson]

8. Ah, figured out the (allegory?) what talking about.

Europe was an interesting place 70 yrs ago. Fear and greed combine with politics in nasty ways indeed.

[dawg]

6. I would have been more clear, uppity ...

but I didn't want to *automatically* lose my argument!

[uppityperson]

9. got it. thanks. Cancer never went away though. Just went underground and in disguise

of other things.

[Vickers]

4. Cancer can't happen here. n/t

[Codeine]

7. Please, please stop torturing these poor defenseless analogies. nt

[dawg]

11. I'll torture them all I want.

As long as they aren't American analogies, it doesn't matter.

[Still a Democrat]

12. Seconded

Sloppy, silly...and on to the Greatest, apparently.

[dawg]

14. Well, since this is a "discussion" board ....

what are your thoughts on the so-called Godwin's Law?

[Cassandra]

10. That's not true. There are plenty of people who understand.

It's not the ideology, it's the psychology and that never goes away.
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

[dawg]

13. On the micro level, I think people understand.

On the macro level, I think they do not. I don't think people fully understand how the "disease" could so thoroughly infect an entire population like it did 70 years ago.

Making matters much, much worse, this notion that we dare not speak the name of this disease exponentially decreases our ability to fight it when it rears its ugly head once more.

The bad news is that I'm afraid the patient is out of remission. The good news, I guess, is that we are likely to suffer from a slightly less potent strain. More like the epidemic that broke out in Spain and persisted all the way to the 1970's.

Still, not what I want for my children.

[uppityperson]

17. How did it?

Fear, economic hard times, charismatic speaker pulling together the cancer lovers? Do you think the instant communication ability will limit the intensity? Though media control, propaganda control is happening. As is the fear and economic hard times.

Us vs "them" analogies throughout sporting events, nationalization?

random thoughts here

[hfojvt]

15. huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1HT27qPsSE

[Fla_Democrat]

16. My father, dying of this disease....

that you claim no longer exists.. would beg to differ.

:mad: :mad:


Perhaps you could play cutsie with someone else's life.

:argh: :argh: :grr: :grr:

[dawg]

19. Sorry for what you and your father are going through ..

I have lost precious loved ones to the real cancer, and that is probably the reason I keyed on that particular disease for my little thought exercise. Also, the fact that it is a condition that can have progressively better and better outcomes the earlier it is detected also made it useful for my tortured analogy.

I do sincerely apologize if reading my post caused you distress. I know what it's like when someone you love is suffering from the real cancer.

:hug:

[Tunkamerica]

21. it's a metaphor

[JVS]

18. Are you talking about Fascism?

[dawg]

20. If I were, that would mean I was a crackpot, wouldn't it ?

Anyone who sees symptoms of that is automatically wrong, or so I am told.

[Kurovski]

22. K&R. (nt)