Thursday, August 27, 2020

Not with a bang

We are living in times which are both extraordinary and just plain dull. Nothing of any real interest is taking place even though recent events have been both dramatic and unprecedented.

-- William Wildblood

That about sums it up! I had not been prepared for just how stupid the apocalypse would be, how obscene, how inane. Nothing so romantic as an Armageddon, no grand Last Battle, no stern Götterdämmerung. No, the earthy expression turns out to have been nearest the truth all along: when the shit hits the fan.

And how interesting is that?

4 comments:

Bruce Charlton said...

So much of recent popular art - novels, TV, movies - is about apocalyptic situations or tyrannical dystopias - and there is always a group of heroes fighting it on behalf of the opressed majority.

But in our situation, nothing of the heroic sort is imaginable, there is nothing specific to fight (even the baddies are just a seedy bunch of corrupt officials and cowardly thugs) - just an apparently seamless web of interlocking bureaucracy, everywhere.

This is a overweight, sweaty Brezhnev revolution; not Lenin and Trotsky style of 'cool' evil.

Plus, of course, the masses aren't even aware that there has been an apocalypse. One feels that an apocalypse is utterly lacking in dramatic flair, when one has to provide 'evidence' for it.

I presume that things will get horrible sometime sooner or later; but I don't doubt that it will continue to be a dull, sordid, shabby affair throughout.

Wm Jas Tychonievich said...

Right, what form could heroism possibly take? Not wearing a mask? Discreetly not including your "pronouns" in your profile? Tirelessly repeating that 2 + 2 does not equal 5?

Heroes save people, and you can't save people who not only don't want to be saved but don't even realize there's anything to be saved from.

Brad said...

The "Mark" will be just as dull: C-ertificate O-f V-accination ID-entification. Luciferase bioluminescence enzyme delivered with micro-needle tech based off viper fang; carried in hydro gel nano tech developed by DARPA (controllable via 5G?), visible with special phone app filter, each pierce tattoo pattern unique same as barcode, all developed by a company called Moderna= Modified e RNA which results in permanent genetic modification; tied to a new all digital cryptocurrency....

Now tell people all this and watch them staunchly deny it's the mark of the Beast while simultaneously taking it and demanding you do the same then persecuting you for not doing so.

Brad said...

Individual, local sacrifice. Love those in your circle of influence and focus on each one as a unique human being. There will not be a dramatic disruption until Christ returns to establish the first righteous kingdom in human history.

K. West, five years or hours, and spiders

I was listening to some David Bowie last night and was struck by the album art for  Ziggy Stardust . Right above Bowie is a sign that says ...