Mox Nix

"Mox nix" is an old army term that was derived from the German phrase "macht nichts", which translates literally as "makes nothing". We used it to describe something that was not important to us personally or collectively. A mox nix rule was one that was not usually enforced and thus could be violated with impunity. A mox nix field exercise was one that was not being graded by anybody, we were just doing it for practice. If we blew off a task or did it half heartedly, we would say that we mox nixed it. I can't think of any better way to describe coolness, except maybe "social crap". It's obviously important to some people, but not to me.

Coolness is a cultural thing, and it's not the same in all cultures. It's cool for a cannibal to eat people, but not for an American. Each culture thinks it's the primary one, with all the other cultures being peripheral. If I was trying to gain acceptance into a certain culture, I would try to be cool by their standards. If their standards conflicted with my standards I would not be seeking acceptance from them in the first place. Children are not born with cultural standards, they pick them up from the culture of their parents at first, and then from their ever widening circle of social contacts. When the standards of a new contact conflict with the standards to which the child has been accustomed, he must decide which way he wants to go, or he might be able to straddle the fence, depending on how important gaining acceptance from the new contact is to him. By the time the child has reached our age, he might become a crotchety old man who no longer cares about being accepted by any culture, including the one he was born into, it's all mox nix to him. I want to be just like that when I grow up.

Rules are supposed to be there for a reason. If a particular rule becomes ineffective, it should be altered or abolished. Keeping it on the books and not enforcing it just breeds disrespect for rules in general. Leaders are like rules in that way, they have a job to do. If they become ineffective, or if somebody else demonstrates the ability to do the job more effectively, then it's time to change leaders. Changing leaders for frivolous reasons is a recipe for disaster. Being cool will not defeat an enemy raiding party or put a hairy elephant in the tribal freezer, it takes skill to do that. I guess the leader needs to be a little cool to get people to follow him, but a tribe that chooses its leaders for coolness alone is going down the evolutionary drain.

It's not surprising that you think Sanders is cool, but I am surprised to hear you say that Trump is cool, I thought you believed him to be "bull goose loony". Would you care to elaborate on that?

It sounds like this whole bathroom wars thing is a tempest in a teapot. Maybe, after more than a year of cramming that election crap down our throats, the news media thinks we should have some variety in our diet. It may be true that public bathrooms bring out the worst in people, especially young people. I suppose, like you said, it's because they think being in a bathroom puts them out of reach of the long arm of authority. Then again, maybe there just are a lot of freaks and weirdos in the world. And you wonder why a guy wants to live in the swamp!