Photo Elicits Emotions, Some More Noble Than Others

I’d be lying if I said this man doesn’t evoke my contempt.  But I have other emotions here that are actually positive.

One is pity.  As the meme begins, “How sad it must be.”  We don’t know how he was raised, but it probably didn’t involve private education, genteel parents, lots of reading, golf lessons, smart friends, and a four-year stay at a liberal arts college.  This is what happens when a country commits itself to underfunding education for decades on end, and because of that, he’s not entirely to blame for how he turned out.

Another emotion, strangely, is hope.  The United States has come close, both in 2016 and 2020, to having Bernie Sanders in the White House.  What would this country be like under those circumstances?  Well, for one, a great deal of resources would be placed on improving the quality of public education, minimizing the number of poor slobs like this guy in the red hat.