Creative: Devolution

Plays harmonica, paints, writes letters, drinks Folgers and Hamm’s beer, sleeps behind his car the night before a race, chops wood, hammers 50ks, and he’s 89 years old. My first thought was, “And does most of his running on a road of Gen Z and Millennial bones.” Cliche alert. We aren’t making them like we used to. Now we have giant screens and nonstop connectivity, but the transmission fails at 30,000 miles, and the CEO promotes hate crimes. Attempting to get as much of the truth as possible, I do my best to avoid the news cycle, picking my information battles while triangulating my sources. And I still feel like we are devolving as a species, culture, and society.

From where I sit now, I can see the impact of private equity on small-town life.

I see disparity of wealth. I see a wide range of other inequalities, and I know I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m a 1% of the 1%. I might not be in this range, but it sure feels that way. Last night at dinner, I ate a range of things I never dreamed of eating, and yet there it was before me, delivered to my table by the hands of someone who came here to make a better life. He had few teeth but a winning smile and a new pair of Nikes. Across the street, a young addict paced across a park, high, agitated, and shuffling her scant belongings from one side to the other. She showed signs of normality, of upbringing, and opportunity. The hairstyle, the clothing, and her overall appearance, but Fenty doesn’t care what you scored on the SAT. Fenty wants your soul.

It feels like we peaked a while back, but didn’t realize it at the time. We kept going, striving and fighting for things we didn’t need, as individuals, groups, tribes, and society as a whole. It feels like we have begun a great devolution process, and this is where I find myself wondering if I’m on to something or if I’m entirely off base. What makes me feel like I’m on to something is how many people say, “I don’t want to talk about it,” or “Don’t be negative.” These are issues you can’t dismiss or solve easily, so it’s far more convenient to ignore them.

When I think about the world now, I think about systems. Healthcare, military, education, transportation, energy, environment, and finance, and I don’t see a glowing report card. (partial list) I see corruption and greed as the two dominant themes. Throw in war, 56 active, the highest number since WWII, sixty active dictatorships, ocean acidification, and a planet getting dangerously close to hitting its maximum sustainable population, and you see where I’m going here. I feel like most of what I see and hear are things built to distract from the reality at hand, and I don’t think I’m a fatalist. I look at this situation and see a math and science problem. As many of you know, I got a “D” in college Algebra, so who better to step up and solve these issues than me? (Mercy grade, should have been an “F.”)

While I watched the film you see here, I was bombarded by ads from the alpha male bro influencer types. Promising of getting rich and ripped, for free, of course. Schemes, scams, and crypto lunies populate the airwaves. Millions of young boys confuse Joe Rogan with journalism and science. Our commander in chief attempts to squirm out from yet another scandal, this one brought on by a close relationship with a sexual predator. The Secretary of Defense, a guy who spends much of his time defending his white nationalist beliefs, renaming ships with the names of Confederate generals, and retweeting films about men who want to eliminate the 19th Amendment. Walks like a duck, talks like a duck, Petey. The Secretary of Health has a brain worm and dumps dead bears in Central Park. And just when you think Texas can’t get any worse, in steps Greg Abbot and Ken Paxton. (Old Kenny and his list of “activities” could be an entire post on its own.) I’m singling out Texas because I spent many years there, and it pains me to see how far gone it is.

But here is where things get ugly. The hacks I mention above are just that: hacks. We’ve known this about them from the beginning. It’s not like Donny was a good guy and then suddenly went bad. Donny’s been Donny for decades. And you Dems out there thinking I’m sparing your half of the equation, I’m not. Let me ask you what you are doing today? Who is running against Trump in 2028? Still no candidates after six years? Ya, bang up job, people. The real problem in my mind……is us.

I know I’m screwed up, but do you know you are too? I get the feeling most people don’t know. Egotistical, insecure, self-absorbed, aloof, detached, distracted, unknowing, uncaring. I know, I know, I’m generalizing, but I’m about 99.9% sure I’m SPOT ON. How do I know? I listen. That’s it. I listen to what’s happening around me, and for shit’s sake, it’s grim out there. Sunday, I sat on the beach and listened to the conversations around, and I did the same yesterday as I walked downtown streets and sat at dinner on a crowded patio. I sometimes wish I didn’t care, and didn’t listen, but damnit if my collection mode never seems to stop.

“If I had to choose between being from France or Italy, I wouldn’t,” the kid said as his friends went off about the liberal policies of these foreign lands. My first thought was, “Screw the French,” because that’s what Americans love to say about the French. It’s funny for me because I don’t mean it. I love France and have many friends there, but these kids meant it, and my guess is they had never been, but their ideas, spoon-fed by the parasites around them, had been properly planted. When you are undereducated, it’s easy to let someone else plan and plot your life. So easy to let someone else plant “your” ideas in your head. Round and round it goes, where it stops, no one knows. I heard someone say it might be time to stock up on food and water. And to band together as neighbors to protect against what’s coming. Sounds interesting.