Streaming Consciousness – 2020-21

Only 18 days into the new year, there's no sign anything will be getting any better. COVID 19 continues to kill human beings around the globe. The US has become the world's epicenter for the virus, with a death rate of over 4000 daily. From afar, we see the US in serious political turmoil after the invasion of fanatic Trump supporters raid the nation's capital, all believing the election was “stolen.” from the president. Despite American's dropping like flies, there continues to be a sector of the population (including government officials) that refuse to wear a mask – the least one can do to prevent the spread of the disease. In Australia, the weather is all over the place: we're now in our summer months, and on some days, it feels like a typical winter's day, only to turn desperately hot the next. Our politicians, particularly our prime minister, fill the media with platitudes and rhetoric, only fighting amongst themselves rather than listening to the people's will. 2020 was a terrible year for the planet. However, in all this negativity and chaos, is there a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel?

In times like these, I always return to the Stoic philosophers. One can only do what one can do. It's necessary to self-reflect and recognize those things that are out of one's control. Simultaneously, recognizing what you can control and do positive things for oneself and others is also necessary in dire times. When I bring up the current negatives of the planet, people ask me why I care because, for the most part, it's out of my control. Indeed, I attempt to nurture my own garden before criticizing another. The French philosopher, Voltaire, communicated this notion clearly in his novel Candide.

We must cultivate our garden.

Aside from caring for ourselves, the philosopher also said:

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

This quote reminded me of the atrocities in Washington DC due to the absurd lies promulgated by the US president, Trump supporters, cult groups, and even members of Congress themselves. These violent actions by the mob were fed by lies and political antics. As the old saying goes, the fish rots from the head down and should be seriously examined: we must teach the puppets a lesson but also recognize the actions of the puppeteers in the events of January 6, 2021. And this certainly doesn't exclude actual members of the US government.

Beyond the rhetoric and outlandish conspiracies and lies, the anger of the American people go beyond “white supremacy” or “stealing the election.” It is a frustrating and angry response to an incompetent government that prefers to obey its donors' wishes than the American people's basic needs. In the US, like a grand All Star Wrestling match, most politics is pure theatre, and the people pick a team, whether Left or Right, and fight amongst each other rather than pointing their grievances towards policy, and they're elected officials. This division in American society has been planned and nurtured by the media and their masters. Most people simply want a better life, and the government prefers to coddle and pay the powerful while the rest of the population suffers.

Currently the US is a Corporation, where politicians are bought and paid for and only act to cut the oligarch's taxes, drain trillions into overseas wars, while millions of American's are dying from a virus that could have been contained, and giving them scraps while telling them to close their business while refusing to give essential aid.

The problem is corporations are above the government when it should be the other way around. Currently, corporations call all the shots when the government should apply stringent measures to contain their profits and concentrate on bettering their constituents' lives. But until the money is taken out of American politics, the wealthy will always run the country.

The incoming Biden government, for me, is a frightening prospect. Under Trump, it was scandals, racism, continued imperialism overseas, and ruthless sanctions on America's “enemies” (killing millions of women, children, and innocents). Trump believed climate change is a hoax, pulling out of the Paris Accord and tearing up the Iran nuclear deal. Under Biden, censorship will reign, particularly on most left views. I believe the Prison Industrial Complex will only expand, and knowing Biden's cabinet choices, a war with Iran can almost be assured.

Biden claimed nothing would fundamentally change under his government. Aside from anything else he claims, we should believe him on this one.

It's not all doom and gloom. After the nightmare that was the Trump presidency, climate change will be back on the table. Perhaps a more organized and effective response to COVID 19. Realistically, we don't know what this new government will do. But we should remain vigilant and stand-up and vocally criticize any new executive order or a new law that denies our basic human rights and hurts the common worker.

Sitting down to write today, I had no plan or topic. Evidently, these are the issues that currently come to mind.