Welcome to the fourth year of 2020. What a time to be alive!
Doesn’t the tension feel palpable? It’s the gathering!
“… when there are only a few of us left, we will feel an irresistible pull towards a far away land… to fight for the prize…” – Ramírez (from The Highlander)*
Enjoy the show! It’s the gathering y’all!
Lucky for us it’s the dipshit gathering, not the deadly serious meeting of skilled and cunning immortals we’re told to fear. Our time is the uneasy faffing of stupid clumsy sweaty incoherent dweebs. The losers who got bullied in high school and never scored in college somehow got their hands on the wheel. Having gleefully driven into a ditch they’re stuck in the fucking ditch. They painted themselves into a corner. They ate the seed corn. They burned the bridges. They divided by zero. They made a mess so huge they themselves can’t wish it away. That’s what we’re feeling, the despair of losers who fucked up because they got power they didn’t merit. Their despair is not ours. They don’t know anything else but to double down on fucking up and it’s not working; which is not my fault. Nor is it your fault.
*(If you haven’t watched the movie Highlander drop everything and watch it. Also if you watched the eleven dozen knock off sequels and reboots, what the hell were you thinking? Bad sequels don’t exist in my world because I don’t let people muck up great stories with derivative cash-grabs. The single exception is Mad Max 2 which was somehow better than the original.)
Where was I? Oh yeah, reflecting on the mess that is now. Can you smell the unease in the air? Does it not feel like the tension before a thunderstorm? Do you sense the tide pulling back? Is that a tsunami building beyond the horizon? Do you see politicians looking panicked? Not just some politicians look panicked… they ALL do! Do you see every single authority figure twitching nervously as they reflect on their incompetence and try to outrun their mistakes. Which is more debased? The press or the church? Congress or the NFL? Banks or businesses? Ever see a pissing match where nobody deserves to win? I do! I see systems slowing and bureaucracies grinding to a halt. That which worked is replaced with that which makes the incompetent feel elite and it’s finally coming to a head. It could be huge. You know “the big one” is out there. We all know it.
We all know it’s coming. We just can’t tell what “it” is. Is it 1789, 1861, 1980, 1991? Will it be the storming of the Bastille, firing on Fort Sumpter, the completely unexpected miracle on ice, or the inexplicably war-free dissolution of the mighty and feared Soviet Union? Didn’t expect the last few did ya’? All we really know is there will be change. It will probably suck but it doesn’t have to suck. Sometimes what looks like an end is really a birth. Also, we don’t know if it’ll be one event or a series of shitstorms. Remember that the USSR was strong and unstoppable until the day it wasn’t. Remember “the war to end all wars” came to be known as “part 1”. (I told you sequels suck!)
“It” could be everything all at once or a fart in a windstorm. It might be dispersed chaos as political assclowns create a multiverse of circular firing squads. It might be one big non-political thing like a methed up sixty foot dinosaur that wants to stomp Tokyo. Or, and this is just a small chance but it’s possible, it could be something positive. Nobody sees whats coming, we only know that everything now is unstable.
Clear yourself of normalcy bias. That which “has never happened” has been happening. It’s been obvious since at least 2020. Maybe it started decades or centuries ago. All we know is it’s knocking on the door; whatever the hell “it” is.
For the rest of this whole damn year never let the phrase “that’s impossible” pass your lips!
Nothing can be assumed, nothing can be ruled out, nothing is impossible. There once were borders around the possible but that’s long gone. This far down the rabbit hole there is nothing inconceivable. Everything is possible, none of it likely, all of it unpredictable. Social conventions built to keep things in general balance (such as rule of law) have been battered and largely destroyed. They can’t do their primary function. Your gay priest, your profit free business leader, your biased judge, your incompetent doctor… none of them can summon authority because they cannot summon competence. They cannot fake what they failed to earn. So nothing is impossible.
For better or worse, it’s going to be a hell of a show! Hang on folks because shit’s going to start weird, stay weird, and finish (or not) with a flourish. Your goal, your only goal, is to laugh at the ridiculous and keep on keeping on. Sinking into despair is for the weak. Don’t go there.
In all times, but especially now, attend to yourself. Hydrate, get some exercise, hug those you love, get plenty of sleep, pet a dog, eat a salad, this is no time to neglect yourself or others. The thing most under attack is your mind. Keep it together. If your head is screwed on straight, most of the rest will work out as well as possible under the circumstances. Remember the basics; avoid crowds, brace yourself for more lies, and keep your wallet where you can see it. When you’re being manipulated recognize it and take countermeasures. Exercise caution because nobody is coming to help you; wear a seat belt, put on a helmet, get some sturdy boots; act like you’re a thousand miles from the ER because even if the ER is ten miles away it’s really in the past, back from when doctors did medicine. Believe nothing you can’t personally verify. Stay away from crowds. Show some discernment; value only the opinion of people who’s opinions merit value. Mock the rest. They’re ridiculous and you might as well let them know you’ve figured it out.
Above all, get away from the screen so you know the difference between real and imaginary. Things aren’t as bad as they seem. The literal world is fine, it’s the virtual one that’s a mess. The earth keeps turning and nature is as true and pure as ever. Even as society crawls up its own ass, the sun will rise in the east, set in the west, kittens will be fluffy, and summertime caterpillars will turn into butterflies only to die over the winter.
If properly anchored and sailed to shelter in time, a sound craft will ride out any storm.
I’m rooting for ya’! Happy New Year and good luck!