"The first ten million years were the worst, and the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline."
If you're watching out for the tenor of the times, it should be noted that the latter part of 2020 brought not one but two viral hit songs called "Fuck 2020." In a similar vein, John Oliver dynamited a giant concreted "2020" on his show about a year ago. I thought about embedding video, but there's only so much pondhopping smugness I can take. You can look it up under "John Oliver blows up 2020" if you're curious.
As you might guess, 2021 isn't getting off much easier. As to what kind of attitude the media will be displaying as 2022 draws to a close, I think we can all guess. In fact, we're in for a long spell of every year being the worst one, or close to it.
This anti-whatever-year-it-is bias has gotten very old very quick. It's basically just learned helplessness with a faux-defiant sneer. Nothing that's happened in the last two years has been any kind of unprecedented catastrophe for the human race. It's spawned a greater trend toward authoritarianism, but that could die down if more people defy it. There's a difference between being born at the worst point in history and being born at a regular time but listening to people who don't really care about you.
I knew Marvin the Paranoid Android. Marvin the Paranoid Android was a friend of mine. And Senator, you're no Marvin the Paranoid Android.
2 comments:
In consideration of your paragraph about the questionable songs and John Oliver's video about 2020, I must say I'm happy we missed all that and, no, I wasn't curious either. What jackasses.
I think much of my anger and frustration derives from how blatantly obvious scams and rackets are, yet very few people even dare to open and trust their own eyes. Periods of history in which large numbers of people escape from the phenomenon are called 'Awakenings'.
“We can't win against obsession. They care, we don't. They win.”
and then there's:
“Life,” said Marvin dolefully, “loathe it or ignore it, you can’t like it.”
Excellent little essay, btw.
There's a very good case for staying aloof from the culture machine. Find out about things at your own pace, tune out whoever you need to. Why hang on every word of people who don't respect you?
Everyone expects used car salesmen and late night infomercial hosts to scam them. Many don't expect it from their government or respected legacy media, despite the historical precedent. So a lot of people are in denial, I believe. I hope for further Awakenings.
Marvin had some great lines in those books, as did Ford Prefect.
And thank you. These thoughts had been bubbling for a while.
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