SMOKE AND MIRRORS

It's the day after Memorial Day. Now we can forget everything. We can forget that almost a hundred thousand people right here in the United States of America have died from the corona virus. That soon, at least two million people will have contracted that virus just here in the USA. That worldwide, over three hundred and forty thousand people have died from it, with over five million cases. That over thirty million people have filed for unemployment in the past few months here in the Land of the Free. We can forget. And it seems like some of us already have. But that is the key. It seems like that. I don't think anyone, deep inside, forgets any of that. Or what is happening still. I think that some are simply in denial, in the fight or flight stage, because the truth is huge and awful and terrible to consider. And not just the truth about all the death and misery and economic uncertainty. I think what is really scary to think about is how this disease has laid bare the system. All its flaws and iniquities. How deeply out of balance it is. How very much the time is out of joint.

I was thinking this morning about how completely free of reality our economic system is. We have enough resources in this day and age to feed and shelter every single human being on the face of the planet. Every one. And we have the technology to provide healthcare for everyone as well. We also have the means to create energy to safely and cleanly. We just don't, because we are tied to an antiquated way of running the world that is so far out of step with the times it would be funny if not for being so tragic. I mean, what in the world does the stock market have to do with how much food has been grown? What does the GDP really mean to someone who's mother or father or son our daughter is dead or dying? Not a damn thing. It's all smoke and mirrors. Make believe. We have been locked down to some degree or other for months now. Somehow, the world has continued to turn. The lights have stayed on. The essential places where we get food, still running. We even had free money sent to us from the government. It makes me think that what we call commerce is just a bunch of malarky. And I think it's time has run out.

What is, after this is over, we realize that we don't need what we thought we needed? What is we realize we are stronger that we thought? That we can entertain ourselves just fine, that we don't need to spend ten hours a week sitting in our cars going back and forth to do something we can just as easily do at home? What if we realize that what is truly important to us isn't what people who are trying to sell us things want us to think it is? What is what we really want is time with the people we love? And travel? And time to watch the sunset? And learning how to bake bread?

I think that is exactly what will happen. What has most likely already happened. We are changing, whether we know it or not. I can't wait to see what happens.

Here's a song. It's What If We Give It Away? by REM.