Quick Abacus

As we see our freedom of speech and First Amendment trampled upon, we also hear the word “bigot” with greater frequency. The word has become a favored pejorative of ideologically radical collectivists and leftists. They use it mainly to bash conservatives or anybody whose views they do not condone.
The term is derived from the German or Nordic ‘Bei Gott’ meaning ‘by god’. French Normans pronounced it ‘bee got’. The French wrote it ‘bigot’, pronounced it (‘bee go’) and made it into a negative term to refer to self-righteous Christian Normans or Germans, who would start every sentence with “Bei Gott, ….” calling on God as the witness to their self-righteousness and virtue. Bigotry then is a form of sanctimony, which is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as “Righteousness accompanied by an unwarranted attitude of moral or social superiority; smug or hypocritical righteousness.”

Let me first say that I consider the US Constitution a superb piece of political craftsmanship. Its language is partly a bit antiquated but the issues with which it deals are the eternal problems of how to organize human life in a just and free manner.
These problems do not change, and the number of available solutions is limited. The US Constitution emphasizes individual liberty and aims to limit and reign in the power of the governing in wise recognition of the eternal temptation to abuse power. It is based on the idea that we are all “created equal” but not on the idea that we are all equal.

In 1977, I performed anthropological field research among the Yebámasa Indians, who live along the Piraparaná River in the Comisaría del Vaupés of Colombia, South America. I had two co-researchers, one German, one Colombian. My German co-researcher’s name was Karl, but in Colombia, everybody called him Carlos and I ended up calling him Carlos, as well.
We were planning on arranging an ethnographic exhibition after our return to Germany at the Rauthenstrauch-Joest Museum, Cologne’s main ethnological museum. So, we were always collecting artifacts. The utensils and tools the Indians use in their daily life, their weapons, their canoes, their adornments, their musical instruments. After a while of living with the Indians, we managed to put together a representative collection, which was to show German Museum visitors how the Yebámasa Indians live.