| | Busybody
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A busybody is someone who meddles into the affairs of others.[1]
Busybodies have been the subject of plays,[2][3] including one by 18th century dramatist Susanna Centlivre,[4] and fictional accounts.[5] "The Busybody" is used for the name of a character in Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. American writer Grace Paley was affectionately called a busybody in a tribute in PEN America.[6] Emilie Richards wrote the book Blessed Is the Busybody.[7]
That is such a quaint word these days. It is one of those words that used to be a speedbump on the highway to totalitarianism.
An apparently too ineffective speedbump.
Wherever you live, look outside at the privacy of your front door and beyond the privacy of your neighbor's front doors. Great, now you are a Peeping Tom.
Busybody...Peeping Tom...Herbert. (Herbert might be kind of fringe: an overly officious prick.) Our language has all these little hints, mere suggestions, too seldom enforced by actual prohibitions, that maybe one life is enough for each of us to manage.
And then, there is politics; the realm of human activity that acknowledges no such limits or mere suggestions. In politics, it is entirely accepted to wake up every morning, go to your front door, peer out the door, and perseverate about what your neighbor is doing; how much he is earning. What taxes he is paying. What he has left after paying his taxes. Who he is marrying.
Only, by 'neighbor' we include folks who live 3000 miles away, who we have never met, will never meet or know. But somehow, his AGI, tax rate, and mythical contribution to the political unicorn 'quintile' is of supreme importance to us.
We really need to bring back that word 'busybody,' dust it off, and start using it again.
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