Final Word from Friday, March 20, 2009
Nonconformists make better lovers, or so they claim. They look at the world from a different angle and like to think that this frees them of hang-ups and preconceptions. When in the public eye, they're always looking into the future, extrapolating the present, and revising the past. Everything is questioned; nothing is sacrosanct. This doesn't win them many friends. They're often blacklisted or blackballed. Even when they find a willing audience, they have difficulty driving their message home. Who will believe that the world as we know it is ending without seeing it first-hand? It's only now, with a real crisis upon us, that many of the observations and admonitions of the contrarians are verifiable. And right they have been, more often than not. So why aren't they the ones now in charge of cleaning up the mess caused by the conformists? Because that's not the way the world works ... and never will.[Czech Republic]
Glossary of difficult words
physiology - the way a living organism functions;
hang-up - an emotional problem or inhibition;
preconception - a preconceived idea or prejudice;
to extrapolate - to estimate or conclude something by extending existing trends to an unknown situation;
sacrosanct - sacred, hallowed; too important or valuable to be interfered with;
to blacklist - to put a person on a list of those considered suspicious or worthy of disapproval;
to blackball - to reject or exclude someone considered unacceptable;
first-hand - directly or from personal experience;
admonition - authoritative counsel or warning;
contrarian - a person who opposes or rejects popular opinion (esp. in investing);
verifiable - capable of being verified or checked.