What is a Zeitgeist?

Will Keys

A zeitgeist is defined as a spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

And so it was in 1980 when a deeply distressed mother, Lindy Chamberlain screamed out, “A dingo’s got my baby”.  The facts are that nine-week old baby girl, Azaria Chamberlain, had been attacked and taken from inside a family tent, by a wild dingo.  It took place at Uluru (Ayers Rock) camping grounds.  

Aboriginal trackers followed the dingo tracks and confirmed that the baby was carried and dragged along by a dingo.  Unfortunately, the trackers lost the tracks, and the baby’s body was never recovered. 

It took some time, many many months, for the national zeitgeist in Australia to be whipped-up into a national frenzy.   The initial facts and wise judgements of the ‘on scene’ police investigators, was subtly interfered with and ignored.  The tragic death of an infant, attacked and dragged away by a wild dingo, was not a ‘theory of the case’ that the Northern Territory Government (“NTG”) would tolerate.  

The NTG did everything in its power to promote and advance a jaundiced theory.  It would seem that they were more concerned about the loss of tourism.  The new ‘theory of the case’ rejected the obvious truth and replaced it with a hideous murder scenario.  Lindy was charged and convicted of first degree murder.  She was sentenced to a long period of imprisonment.  The Australian High Court confirmed the conviction.  Lindy Chamberlain lost everything, including her family and her marriage. 

Years later, while Lindy was still languishing in prison, Azaria’s clothing was unexpectedly discovered, half-buried in the ground in the shadow of Ayes Rock.  Examination of the clothing gave rise to unimpeachable evidence of her innocence.  The Australian High Court reversed its decision, and the NTG rightly pardoned her. Was justice done?  Yes, it was, in a fashion.  However, the injustice of the zeitgeist can never be undone.  A large percentage of the Australian population have been unalterably persuaded of her guilt, and they will never change their minds.  Lindy left Australia and took up residence in the USA.

If the Lindy Chamberlain case is a good example of an awful Australian zeitgeist, I invite the reader to turn their attention to the present USA left-wing zeitgeists.  The George Floyd case in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is an awful example.  I have carefully examined and reviewed the death of Floyd and the prosecution of policeman Derek Chauvin.  In my opinion there was no serious crime committed.  Floyd died of a heart attack that was unavoidable and directly associated with his overdose of dangerous drugs.  Policemen Chauvin is nothing more than a sacrificial offering, to satisfy the insatiability of a despicable zeitgeist. 

In recent months the dysfunctional USA left-wing zeitgeists have been exposed.  An example of a false zeitgeist is “Hands up don’t shoot”.  It never happened.  Dishonest bad actor witnesses faked the chant, and it caught on.  

Policeman Darren Wilson, in Ferguson Missouri, was attacked in his vehicle by a violent Michael Brown.  Brown tried to take Wilson’s hand-gun and got shot dead.  The Obama Justice Department cleared Wilson of culpability.  Nevertheless, Wilson was fired from his job and vilified in public.  The false zeitgeist continues among African-Americans and among Democrat politicians today. 

There are many examples of false USA zeitgeist scenarios, but the one that takes the cake is the Jussie Smollett fabrication. I quote the left-wing ABC News:

“When news broke of the alleged racist attack on a star from one of the most popular shows on television, it riveted the public, drawing the nation into a heated discussion about race, politics and celebrity.  But as the investigation continued, growing scepticism about “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s story added enormous pressure on Chicago investigators to get to the bottom of what really happened the night he reported being the victim of a street attack.” By Chris Francescani.

Smollett was convicted of five counts of lying to police.  He had orchestrated his own hate crimes and added insult to injury by taking the stand and obviously, by any reasonable assessment lied to the court.   Despite the guilty verdicts, the fake zeitgeist had already taken hold.  Despite evidence to the contrary, this was a Black Lives Matter official statement:

 “In an abolitionist society, this trial would not be taking place,” read the statement from Dr. Melina Abdullah, Director of BLM Grassroots and Co-Founder of BLM Los Angeles.  “Instead, we find ourselves, once again, being forced to put our lives and our value in the hands of judges and juries operating in a system that is designed to oppress us,” continued Abdullah’s statement, “while continuing to face a corrupt and violent police department, which has proven time and again to have no respect for our lives.”  This is an unbelievably ignorant and prejudiced statement. 

The question is what can decent ordinary people do to combat such evil false zeitgeists? Most importantly they must be armed with a decent moral code, it is axiomatic.  

Secondly, they must take responsibility for the reliability of their opinions.  Question: Are you informed?  And, do you understand the alternative opinion?   Finally, speak truth to power regardless of the circumstances. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke.

The western world has allowed itself to drift towards unaccountability and a lack of responsibility.  The chickens are coming home to roost.  

By Will Keys