A Spade is Still a Spade

What's the origin of that saying, "call a spade a spade?" Somebody must know.

I love the sentiment. OK it's like anything, you wouldn't want to overdo it, becoming some social terrorist truth-teller. You meet those types, usually in cheap suits and after shave, selling insurance or real estate. The bulls in the china shop of social nicety, with their macho pseudo-pragmatism.

But it's past time we went back to a bit more truth telling. Away from peoples' sacred opinions and dog whistling and spin. Away from puerile attempts at 'balance' which only ever end up defending the right of every nut job to peddle their quarter-baked shrillosophy. It's the lazy fat loudmouths who swamp the airwaves, because they're bullies and nobody stands up and says "sorry, that's crap, and that's bullshit", because they've bullied the more moderate outlets into actually believing that they have just as much right to a say as anybody else.

No shrill outrage back at them either, just plain, simple calling a spade a spade.

So how about for example more people standing up and saying that conservatism has been comprehensively done over by fundamentalists who actually seem to believe that any social entity bigger than a church fete is a threat to individual liberty? Because that's the only way they can justify paying themselves millions, or even billions, because if an individual ends up that rich, they obviously deserve it. Or enough already with bashing the teachers and DOCS and any other poor bastard actually trying to help weave lives together in some sort of (always messy) productive way.

And if you're a teacher and at the end of the day it all feels fairly pointless, then maybe it is, and something needs a good re-working. That's why I got out of it, I didn't want to live a lie. Call a spade a spade, most school days seem a bit of a waste of time for just about everybody involved, and no matter how much you pretty up the curriculum with more and more choices, or excuse psychotic behaviour with flabby and ridiculous ideas about kids' self-esteem, those days will keep being a waste of time until you trust what your gut is telling you.

The truth will set you free. Who said that one? I can't remember a thing tonight.

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