The headlines are predictable. “Somebody did something irrational” more or less covers it. Insanity is when reality doesn’t matter. We’re now well into 20 years of utter failure to acknowledge reality.
It’s been a generation of disasters. The War on Terror to the Russo-Ukraine war, the massive northern drought, famines, murderous pollution, climate catastrophes, pandemics, crashing public health, and polarized politics. The links are to headline aggregators, and that was just one sentence.
Obviously, everything’s fine.
We can all now chat freely among the ruins. We can babble among the rotting infrastructure, the poverty, the cemeteries, a pending fertility apocalypse, and the shattered pole-to-pole sewer sometimes called Earth. We can chat as though it’s nothing to do with reality and wonder where the future went.
That IS insane.
Then there’s money. Lots of money, and you ain’t a-gettin’ none of it, according to everyone. If you pay taxes, you’re actually now getting less. You pay for services you don’t receive, and then have to pay out of pocket for those services.
Tax is the original Golden Calf. It talks from both ends and has no idea what it’s talking about. Revenue has been gutted by tax evasion deregulation and money laundering. Corruption is now a qualification, much more so than those expensive college degrees. Nepotism helps, too.
On the positive side, according to someone, organized crime is therefore doing nicely. You may not have anything to eat, or anywhere to live, but you can barrack for these guys. Parasitism is the new beige, you might say. With a bit of help from the finance sector, perhaps.
Trillions of dollars which could have been used to manage real situations have meanwhile sailed off into the end credits soundtrack. That’s insane. It’s also likely to be fatal for civilization, but hey, you’re rich enough to be part of humanity’s obituary, so that’s OK.
Meanwhile, global catastrophes stack up. China is mired in countless economic issues. Nobody’s too sure if the UK still exists. The US is its usual schizo self, talking itself into oblivion. The useless, unwinnable Russian war in Ukraine is slowly draining what’s left of Russia’s people and resources.
…But of course, this is all covered by urbane chitchat in the media. Exciting new topics might occur. In what dazzling new ways would you like to be impoverished? How about sending the kids on an expensive trip to certain insolvency? How about you and your friends all chip in and buy somewhere to bury yourselves?
It’s all part of the cheery global conversation about humanity’s meltdown. You would think 8 billion people might be a bit more interested, but apparently not. Just appoint lunatics and they do it all for you.
If insanity is the norm, does that make the sane insane?
Rather sadly for statisticians, it doesn’t. It’d be nice if sanity could simply be marginalized like most social groups. You could just create a demographic for it and ignore it completely.
The pity of it is that even the insane can’t quite do without food, power, etc. Some people inexplicably like to breathe occasionally, too. You can’t even vote for sanity, so there’s no money in it.
Money is the default definition of sanity in this idiotic world. It’s the only way these guys can prove they exist, even to themselves.
That means:
- Fraud is an exercise in superior logic and great ways of getting jail time.
- Super PACs prove your sincerity.
- Price gouging is upholding the highest ethics of sanity.
- Being broke proves you’re mentally ill. Who needs depression when you can have nice psychotic bills instead?
- Greed is god, because it’s easier to believe in and you don’t have to go to church.
- You don’t need a hell, because you can buy one instead.
Well? Are we insane enough yet? If not, why not? If you’d like to do more to help your insanity, send away for my lethally expensive brochure care of your local irresponsible representative.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
