my dear friend, mentor and fellow stamp collector,
Professor
Fred W. Neal
1915-1997
Religion Department, Rhodes College, and director of the "Search"
course.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by David Saks, August 2022.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm not black, but there's a whole bunch of times I wish
I could say I'm not white."
"Trouble Every Day"
-Frank Zappa-
Musician-Composer
Born: December 21st 1940 - Died: December 4th
1993
TrampledVeneration
Or
Roll, Lynx, Roll Impotently On
175
Years Of Elitist Autocracy
Megalomania, Antisemitism & Racism
1848
-2023
"Racism
is mental illness.
It's
the irrational deduction of an ignorant fool that believes that
you should fail the entire class because one student cheated on the examination."
-David Saks-
The Dying Lioness Of Nineveh
Assyria 645-635 BCE
The Dying
Lynx Of North Parkway
Memphis, Tennessee 1848 - 2023 CE
Once a college degree becomes a pedagogue's license
to exercise authoritarian hypocrisy
the values that they
searched for and discovered in the light of western history
and religion become meritless, trashy, insolvent, obsolete,
dishonorable
and bankrupted.
Their lives are filled with insidious nightmares instead of
brilliantly illuminated dreams replete with moral excellence
and
a redemptive measure of that which is good, meritorious and useful.
Filthy academicians that behave as arrogant elitists
rather
than respectable educators should have their
worthless diplomas stuffed in wooden crates labeled
"environmental waste",
rocketed into space by NASA,
and returned incinerated, glowing like a meteor,
a Roman candle upon reentry into the earth's atmosphere
for
the entire planet to witness and celebrate.
Every academician, professor, any
faculty member that displays an
unwarranted, baseless, unfounded, unjustifiable attitude of
irreverence toward any student, or layman, is a scornful, abusive
criminal that imperils the welfare, prosperity,
dignity and future of that student.
Laymen will reject you, nor trust you,
look down on and despise you,
harbor contempt for and fully disrespect
you.
Pedagogues obsessed with a compulsive desire to exert groundless
control
over
colleagues and students routinely use naive pupils as dangerous decoys.
Gullible
pupils become felonious accomplices once they regurgitate inane,
recondite, unoriginal, outdated profundity overheard in a stale classroom
classically puked from the mouth of an irksome, immodest
lectern lunatic
addressed
as "professor", a faculty member without conscience, respect,
scruples or moral sense for themselves, their profession
or students.
Roll,
Lynx, roll away the stone.
The
tedious search is over.
There's nothing of value in that empty space.
Because
of your exaggerated opinion of your importance
your immodest sandstone, slate and limestone edifice
eroded,
fretted away and became gravel, dirt and dust once again.
A peculiar psychological anomaly among Rhodes students and faculty
is that they fantasize that they study and learn in Shangri-la or Camelot,
places of complete
bliss, delight and peace from the real world.
As
some have graduated and left,
with worthless academic credentials,
just
as would happen
in Shangri-la, they become putrescent and rot as suicides
have
taken place on the Rhodes College campus and
elsewhere by Rhodes professors, graduates
and students.
Climbing the intellectual and academic
ladder at Rhodes College
isn't possible if the ladder's rungs are missing and broken.
Venal
admnistration, faculty, staff and students of Rhodes College
rarely if ever apologize for dereliction, uncaring and wilful negligence.
You shall fail and you shall fall with catastrophic impact.
I don't possess the academic credentials required by
antisemites, racists in the church and elitist autocrats.
However,
given the opportunity, I would ensure
that Rhodes College becomes a better place
for all because I possess the fortitude to do so.
That's what they fear.
I caution students to never get on
the bad side of
small-minded faculty members who have a little authority.
You'll
discover that your diploma is a worthless piece of paper
bearing the signatures of drumbeaters, partisans and zealots
who routinely barricade student resources
necessary to
overcome
challenges, and deny and rob these resources with
elitist autocracy infused with jealousy, greed, self-aggrandizement and hatred.
Trusted friends at Rhodes College, and elsewhere,
will tell you that I once believed that for every bad
thing found
in
the heart of every man or woman at Rhodes
there are ten good things that will make themselves
visible to you in time.
Not this time.
It's bad enough that Rhodes' College
Alma Mater
sounds
like a musically plagiarized version of
"I've Been Working On The Railroad".
Mark Twain said,
"Never argue with a fool in
public.
Onlookers
will mistake you both for fools."
I trust those with honor will tell PJ,
my beloved little feline
friend, Rhodes College
living campus mascot, that I'm away because
of
these fools and that I don't argue with them
in public or private.
I've read the literature, seen the paintings,
listened
to the music, witnessed the science,
and heard the voices of enough fools.
I hope that they keep their hands far away from your
food and water, PJ.
I'm
filled with fear that they'll poison your fresh water bowl with
dogma, anti-semitism, racial and fanatical religious
segregation.
Yet, my dear, sweet little friend, there are fortunate
few among you who
enter the door to the hallowed halls where you daily dine.
Those possessed of hearts that are compassioned, charitable and kind.
And those who have learned that, although the sky is blue,
on the Rhodes College campus, the
sun will never shine.
-David Saks-
August
2022
~~~~~~~~
“And that inverted Bowl we call The Sky, Whereunder crawling coop't we live and die, Lift not thy hands to it for help -- for It Rolls impotently
on as Thou or I.”
―Rubáiyát
of Omar Khayyám ―
b. May 18th 1048 - d. December 4th 1131
~~~~~~~~
David
Cleve Saks may seem docile, mysterious and different on first impression.
However, David is a remarkable man. He is highly independent and self-sufficient.
His exceptional intelligence, sense of humor and wisdom are quickly noticed upon interaction
with him.
He is a respectable man and many are deeply
and positively affected by his very cordial, warm and sincere nature.
David is not one to attract people on the basis of his warmth or compassion, however
- though he is loaded with both - but because of his obvious insight and common sense.
He may appear to be hard to get to know and is often withdrawn, but this is the fabric
of a rather modest man. It is common for people to see his focus turn inside of himself in the middle of a conversation.
He clearly has the makings of an intellectual, but he has, in remarkably humble fashion,
guarded against arrogance and an attitude of "I've got it all figured out".
There have been periods in David's life when he had little concern for style, while
at other times he is very aware of his surrounding and uses it to make a specific impression.
He appears dignified no matter how he perceives the moment, but he is a rather well
groomed man with a touch of dash and definitely has some advantages.
David is quiet and never exhibits self-importance. His confidence increases when he
knows he is well received.
David is a gifted musician, an extraordinary
pianist, brilliant, spiritual, religious, and a romantic at heart with his very own ideas regarding the purpose of life which
at times tragically self-inflict controversy for him.
He is an inspired speaker and conversationalist to a distinctly greater extent or degree than is common when discussing
subjects that interest him.
Otherwise, David is not one for chatter.
His love of knowledge and his wisdom manifest
of such surpassing excellence as to suggest divine inspiration.
David Saks first arrived on the Southwestern at Memphis / Rhodes College campus in 1970.
Although a Rhodes student, and awarded a scholarship, he never chased a degree.
David's loyalty, respect, devotion and great love for learning, the piano and Rhodes
College are distinctive characteristics that have distinguished him as a beloved member of the Rhodes community.
Once upon
a time I was a student at Rhodes College.
One sunny afternoon I was having lunch with the men of
ATO fraternity in the rathskeller, the Rat, the refectory,
the old college tavern/dining hall.
A member asked me, "David, do you have a girlfriend
?"
I said "yes",
to which he softly averred, "I wish I had a decent woman in my life."
I kindly advised him that,
"To have a decent woman in your life you have to be a decent man,
or a decent woman
if that's a right exclusively reserved by you
if you fall in love with a decent woman transfixed with an identity crisis."
