This morning, Aine put a Whoopee cushion under my regular chair cushion at my desk. I sat down and the inevitable happened, followed by giggles and laughter from Aine.
“Happy April Fools!” Aine cried out.
I smiled.
April Fool's Day. I had almost forgotten.
It seems like a quaint memory, that tradition of spinning tall tales for the sake of amusement. Pranks and half-truths were once easily seen for what they were. And especially on the news, when April 1 rolled around, some seemingly ridiculous story that was too good to be true, was just that. It was fun because the news back in the day told the truth.
Now, we live in a society in which April Fools is 365 days a year. And the idea is to obfuscate for a profit. Deliberately distorting the truth has also been welcomed as some bizarre badge of honor.
When people ask why there is such polarization in America, the first place to look at would be what has happened to our truth telling professionals, primarily in the electronic media. Stirring the pot with stories that only cater to what people want to hear, the famous “echo chamber” that people in search of The Truth lament about.
And then there are the April Fools on social media. Creating posts that would have been laughed at 20 years ago but sadly are snapped up in the adrenaline rush of indignation.
Finally, we have people who ordained themselves purveyors of truth, with podcasts that again, relish the April Fools who believe every conspiracy theory or half-baked thought as gospel. They bring on celebrities and blowhards that are also keen on profiting from confusion, fear and hate. Just enough gullible people are out there to take the bait. Yet, no one will stop and shout “April Fools!”
Once upon a time, being gullible was something that was rarely considered a dangerous trait. But today, there are a lot of intelligent and well-intentioned people who are nevertheless gullible. They are willing to be taken in for the April Fools because they have been so overwhelmed by the static and noise. The fervor to what is perceived as something real is left at that--a perception of truth. To question would shatter the ruse and expose it for what it is. But to be gullible is to go down a path that history shows us leads only to despair.
I am happy to see that Aine can still have fun with April Fools. It makes me hopeful that perhaps the younger generation will be able to dispense with all this foolery that has poisoned the very soul of our nation for far too long. We need to take back The Truth. We have to question what we are getting out of social media sites and pundits who seem only interested in our rage. We have to remember that April Fools is only April Fools if we allow it to exist for one day and not a lifetime.
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