Ignorance is Bliss?

I thoroughly enjoy considering the origin and meaning of words.  Take the word cooperation.  It obviously means to operate together.  Hence, co-operate.

The meaning of some words changes over time due to their use in particular cultures.  Traditionally, the word gay meant joyful or merry.  Its current association with homosexuality can completely obscure the original intention of its use in old songs and writings.

Recently, I began thinking about the word ignorant.  Typically, it refers to someone who is lacking in knowledge or awareness.  Thus, ignorance of a negative situation can, indeed, allow one to remain blissful.

This was certainly the case with King George IIII, King of England during the Revolutionary War.  In his diary on July 4, 1776, he wrote, “Nothing significant happened today.”   Well, I am sure that when the first ship arrived from the American colonies a month later, he reconsidered his entry on that date.

I often think about old King George whenever someone asks me how things are going.  Generally, as far as I know everything is usually fine.  However, I could be quite ignorant of events that are unfolding.  Perhaps I have a large bill that I have not yet received or a huge check coming from a long lost relative.

Recently, my own ignorance was glaringly made manifest to me as I read Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.  It is an extremely well written book in which she convincingly presents her belief that racial issues in our nation are actually a manifestation of a caste system in our society with a vested interest in keeping African Americans as a subordinate caste.

She clearly and graphically chronicles the impact of slavery and the Jim Crow era on the African American population.  These were things of which I had a vague knowledge but had not taken time to carefully consider or research.  My ignorance was dispelled as I painfully read about the absolute despair of slaves and the treatment of blacks in post-Civil War southern America. Multitudes of white southerners would often bring their children to witness the mutilation, shooting and hanging of black men.  This was often followed by their bodies being thrown into a bonfire, pictures taken of the corpse and turned into postcards to be mailed to relatives and friends and the body parts being distributed as souvenirs.

I was ignorant of the fact that the U.S. eugenics movement in the early twentieth century and the Jim Crow laws in southern states were used as templates by the Nazis to develop their formal policies toward the Jews.  Hitler admired the ability of the United States to conduct lynching of blacks throughout the south and still maintain a favorable worldwide reputation. Knowing this, only ignorance of our treatment of black Americans can allow us to maintain any sense of moral superiority over the Nazis.

To their credit, the German people have erected numerous memorials to the victims of the Holocaust but not one to the Nazi leaders who perpetrated it.  In harsh contrast, the United States is filled with tributes to the leaders of the Confederacy which was committed to establishing a nation dedicated to the enslavement of African Americans.  Throughout our country, statues, streets, counties, cities, schools and parks bear the names of these oppressors and serve as testimonies to an ongoing attitude of white supremacy among many of our citizens.

I was so impacted by these revelations that I tried to share them with a few other people.  The reaction I received gave me a new appreciation for the meaning of ignorance.  Sometimes, we simply wish to avoid information and, thus, deliberately ignore what is unpleasant.

After giving this a great deal of thought, I have concluded that the old saying should actually be, “unawareness is bliss.”  If our ignorance is intentional, then we already have some inkling of what we don’t wish to know.  One may be able to avoid painful full awareness, but the little that is already known tends to diminish any chance of achieving pure bliss.  There will always be that nagging sense that we are hiding from the truth.