Sooo…. Some speech the other night, right?
Seriously though, there was a lot more there that makes it like a Shakespearean scene than you’d think. Empty gestures. Pettiness. Detachment from realities. Even the sad and brooding spouse aloft in balcony, face painted with melancholy so organized you can’t tell what part of it is artificial. Or so I got from the maybe dozen minutes I could sit through.
I used to be into it all. When I was younger. Before I could vote, I was real into the “hope” guy. And who could be blamed? The campaign, particularly the primary, was exquisite. A great mix of rage and charm, something not dissimilar from what some folks see now.
But, I was seventeen. It didn’t take long at all for that to change. Guy ended up being a bummer almost immediately anyway.
Things are not so different now, believe it or not. Maybe a bit more dire, but of the same ilk.
So, for the better part of two years, I stopped paying attention. Self-absorbed in the personal goings-on. Maybe I went on sabbatical. Maybe I knocked up my ex-girlfriend. Maybe I’ve been sitting on a stool eating peanut butter from the jar for a few dozen months. Chunky, not creamy. Honestly though, it’s none of your business. And that’s a thing that we need to start grasping. Some shit isn’t your business and some shit is. Know the difference.
But in those two years, it seems as though everyone has lost their mind. And when I say seems, I mean seems. The world has not actually totally descended into madness, though that possibility is still quite real. I think folks, through a series of decades of fear, both rational and irrational, and a vast influx of communication tools and abilities, just believe the chaos. And that’s the thing, whatever position you hold, the fabricated opposition most certainly at least kind of thinks you’ve lost your marbles. You know, like how you think that of them? Same thing.
That being said- we are certainly at some sort of something. Even if it be nothing more than a symbolic occurrence, a uniqueness lingers about it. And it’s not so much about the man more than it is the method. I hate to break it to some of you, but he’s not lying all that much more than any of the ones before. He just lacks a certain elegance. Or he has another certain kind of elegance. Either way, that was what got him there, don’t kid yourself. And those of the “other” side in the general conglomeration of national votes (which should totally be a mandated holiday), you guys pretty much threw away your right to complain about it. Can’t sit on your hands when the manufactured political remnant of an age now gone, all propped up by shady deals and popularity based truths, bullies and breaks the nice old man that everyone seemed to like so much and then complain about what happens after.
But to get back to the symbolism. Prior, the head executive (though not always agreed upon) held this sort of regal stature, though it was never more than pandering political correctness. A farce but one built from the world of the newspaper and radio. If nothing else, the age of the television has made its first full blown champion. Propelled along by one of the greatest tools humanity has ever had. Instant information (or more likely, misinformation) from one part of the world to any other. You know, that thing you get on your phone and computer and car and I even think baby monitors have it now.
I believe it was that old gilded age writer with the white suit and the bushy mustache who said “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting its shoes on.” That poor dope never dreamed of a world with the socially crippling internet.
So needless to say, I’m back in tune. I’m paying attention and I’m doing my part, which is all any of us can do. The problem is that a lot of us don’t. Most people don’t want to be bothered as long as they can eat shitty food and consume prepackaged culture. We’ve been told what to want for so long, we’ve been believing it. But the doom that lingers is no longer a fantasy. We’ve been afraid of each other so long that we’ve made monsters out of men. We can easily suck this whole rock dry of any life sustaining resources. Hate thy neighbor and take as much as you can grab before anyone else.
But.
We can fix this. It won’t even be that hard if everyone gets a little bit involved. All that has to be done is something that generations of past have been preaching to us about, those damn hypocrites. Work to make the world better for those who will come after you.
Yup. As simple as that. But you actually have to do it. Don’t try and sell out for a few bucks and hope that the next generation can foot the bill…
*cough* Baby Boomers *cough*cough*
Even good people do bad things. Just work on it.
And few tips:
Cut out the #notmypresident shit. Hate to break it to you, but what happened did actually happen and if you say you’re not responsible, you’re being dumb. It’s okay, everyone can be dumb sometimes. Just look at the news. But he is the president and whining about that fact will not help.
Bother your congressperson. Seriously, do you know who it is? Does your city or town have a government? I bet it does. Know a little something about that. Do some investigation. Go to a fucking meeting or at least read the newspaper.
Oh yeah, and read the newspaper. Not your uncle’s social media posting or conspiracy theories about ancient organizations. Real journalists, that are still out there working, put vast amounts of effort to bring you the truth, as best they can. The television is for ratings and the web is for rabblerousing, be above that stuff.
And listen to each other. We are in a world where talking over someone is the way to win an argument. We need to live in a world where you don’t need to win. We need a world where you hear the thoughts of another without just waiting for your turn to call them stupid. You wouldn’t believe how similar we all are when you break everything down. The hillbilly in the mountains and the hoodrat in the projects are just as much human as one another. The only thing that really removes our humanity is power provided through plundering wealth. Either profiting from it, or being on the receiving end.
But don’t kid yourself, there is evil in the world. But the evil is real. It’s not some demon pulling strings or some witch casting spells. The evil is of humanity. The evil is in humans. The credit is our, so the responsibility is as well. Your hands are not clean if there is still war, any of you. Your hands are not clean if there is starvation, any of us. Our hands are not clean of the woes of the planet if our planet still woes.
Do something about it. Just don’t go crazy.
The Veracious Facade 