World affairs
“Madness, mayhem, erotic vandalism, devastation of innumerable souls - while we scream and perish, History licks a finger and turns the page.”
― Thomas Ligotti
If you can make sense of things right now, you’re a better man than me.
Or to put it another way, and to stay consistent with my much-expressed theme, if you think this “normal”, you’re off your friggin’ rocker.
Trump, Bezos’ wedding, Palestine, Iran/Israel/Trump!, the climate catastrophe, licensing of pristine land for oil and gas exploration, the acidification of the oceans, deep-sea fishing.
The list is endless, and it’s all so damn depressing.
And guess who has their hand on the tiller?
Us.
Humans.
Of course, it’s not fair or appropriate to leave out the equation beauty, nature and everything that is still sacred and/or holy — oh, and the regnant label called “hope” — but is it enough?
Is it enough for us to make sense of things?
Not for me.
You see, it doesn’t matter how much I choose to distract myself with the things I love, I still can’t escape the overwhelming truth how we (i.e. humanity), over the eons, have screwed things up. And yes, that’s one massive generalisation, but who else is in charge?
If I’m honest, I should turn off the whole online thing and rather than shout the odds, either get them down in book form (it would be a bleak read, no doubt) or, better still, disappear for good and move to and live in the most isolated place on earth (I suspect a few of you would cheer!).
But it’s not how I’m disposed; I mean, if I don’t remind people that “it” hasn’t always been like this, who will? And, I have to accept, as I do, that I’m part of the problem and/or I’ve done sweet FA to change my modus vivendi to something (and this is how I genuinely feel) more anarchic. Not in the realms of, god forbid, Ted Kaczynski, but I should at least put my money where my mouth is. I realise of course how hard it is now to take direct action (I don’t agree with what Yvette Cooper plans to do in banning Palestine Action which is bound to be subject to judcial review) but I need to speak up in a way where I can be challenged for my views — they’re hardly new or novel or even particularly extreme — and then, if not turn the argument in my favour, at least try to posit a different narrative. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stand in Totnes High Street shouting the odds, but it does mean, as a starter for 10, that I need to step out the shadows of some fairly (at times) insipid writing and be more vocal in my disapproval of the state of world affairs. And, taking my cue from my poetry hero, Charles Bukowski, I’m bound to have my new typewriter running in high gear and if the last foray is anything to go by, I’m confident that a very different voice will emerge (think of Thacker, Ligotti and Zapffe).
Does that mean I’m about to clog up your Substack feed with a load of bellicose, tendentious material that’s sure to raise a few eyebrows, if not p*ss you off? I don’t know. Probably not; but I may, once in a while, decide to comment on a least one of the issues that I think worth saying something about — ecocide comes to mind.
Anyhow, that’s enough for now.
Enjoy your day.
Blessings, Julian