The Answer Hit Me Like a .44 Slug

Do you remember acting up as a youngster and – after being told repeatedly to knock it off – being shocked when the inevitable disaster occurred? And do you remember your mother, having warned you a dozen times, shouting in exasperation, “I hope you’re happy now young lady/man!”? Well, I’d just like to say to Ricky: “I hope you’re happy now, young man!”

Because even a 6 year old knows that if you keep poking a hornet’s nest with a stick, bad things are going to happen.

Unfortunately the hornets attacked the good guys, not the idiots with the stick.

Since Calvin and Hobbes have informed us on many current issues in the past I thought I would look a little deeper into the wisdom of Bill Watterson’s genius. I found this article, “Calvin and Hobbes: America’s Most Profound Comic Strip” and was struck by this part:

The late political scientist James Q. Wilson described “Calvin and Hobbes” as “our only popular explication of the moral philosophy of Aristotle.” Wilson meant that the social order is founded on self-control and delayed gratification—and that Calvin is hopeless at these things. Calvin thinks that “life should be more like TV” and that he is “destined for greatness” whether he does his homework or not. His favorite sport is “Calvinball,” in which he is entitled to make up the rules as he goes along.

Thinks he’s “destined for greatness,” “entitled to make up the rules as he goes along” – for a minute I forgot we were talking about Calvin and thought perhaps we were talking about Big Guy. Butt that’s silly; Calvin is a lovable little 6 year old living in his own world of make believe and Barry is an unlovable 50-something living in his own world of make believe.

The article doesn’t exactly explain why Mr. Watterson decided to put an end to Calvin and Hobbes after a 10 year run, butt perhaps it has something to do with the “subversiveness of creativity” and his sense that it wouldn’t be tolerated in the future:

“Calvin and Hobbes” would have faced big challenges if Mr. Watterson had decided to carry on…today’s cultural climate might have made it more difficult for him to render a boy’s imaginative life in a realistic way. Calvin fantasizes not just about dinosaurs flying F-14s but also about shooting up his school with a tank.

At one point, he tells Susie Derkins—his neighbor, rival and secret crush—“I’m sure it’s frustrating knowing that men are bigger, stronger and better at abstract thought than women.” That these are all jokes matters little. Enforcers of taste are not known for their humor.

Boy! Tell me about it! Enforcers of everything are not known for their humor.

So maybe Bill Watterson realized, as the 21st approached, that Calvin was becoming an anachronism, a paean of political incorrectness that simply would not be permitted in the future. I must say, his “creative subversion” would surely have been seen as a threat in the Age of Obama. With a thin-skinned leader who thinks everything is about him, a comic strip about a delusional child, living in a fantasy world, throwing tantrums and smiting his enemies at will would not be tolerated.

For example, Big Guy would have assumed that this week-long illustrated series was making fun of his Common Core Curriculum – even though it was written 2 decades before anyone codified fuzzy math into Common Core story problems and number bonds. That’s your reality when you’re a delusional, narcissistic megalomaniac

Butt, hey, I’ll play along; Calvin Does Common Core Math Story Problems. Enjoy.

The answer hits all of us like a .44 slug, eventually.

That’s right, I need another $18 trillion. Got it? Good.