Doug's Darkworld

Two more days and 2020 is over. It’s been a hell of a year. I’ve done OK because I am able to stay socially isolated. I feel for my friends who have no choice but to keep working. And for all people in the same boat. And for those who lost loved ones to Covid or are still suffering aftereffects themselves. We, as in scientifically literate people who live in the real world, knew real early on Covid was serious sheet and nothing to duck around with. Even people who took all the precautions still fell victim to the cold from hell. Just one freaking haircut, sheesh: They did everything right. But after one at-home haircut, a husband and wife died of Covid-19.

And a just elected Congressman died just days before he was sworn in: Congressman-elect Luke Letlow dies from Covid complications days before being sworn in. 41 years old, leaves a wife and two kids. A damn shame, must be hell for them, God rest his soul, god grant them peace. He wasn’t one of the total “It’s just a hoax” crazies, but he certainly didn’t help by holding maskless rallies and insisting that the economy needed to be opened up. As I’ve stated before, that’s like insisting the factory start up even though it’s still on fire.

These people are kind of self-owning actually, since they’re basically admitting that the nation’s wealth is indeed being generated by working people, not somehow magically by the hyper rich. And that God forbid if people can’t work, corporate profits might be affected! Fortunately our leaders have managed to do just a fine job of bailing out the rich so that 2020 was a great year for them. Sowing the wind, it’s not going to end well.

Speaking of Covid deaths, Dawn Wells died of Covid today. Known to history as Mary Ann of Gilligan’s Isle. She was 82. Ginger (Tina Louise) is now the only surviving cast member of the show. She can have reunions with herself! Yeah, kind of sad. OK, very sad. I was a kid when Gilligan’s Isle was on, so it’s a big part of my personal history in a way. Most of the cultural icons of my childhood are dead now. I’m getting old, but it beats the alternative. Planning on a few more decades at least.

Speaking of islands (yes, I’ve come up with better segues) read an interesting article on “Lord of the Flies.” This was a 1954 novel about a bunch of English school kids stranded on a desert isle, and how they descended into barbarity. Never really thought about it before, but that’s one of the main tropes governments use to justify their existence, why, without government, chaos and barbarism would result! The ugly truth is that modern science says the opposite, most people behave themselves because they possess empathy and know the difference between right and wrong. Even worse, a lot of religions make even stronger, more ridiculous, claims. “There is no morality without religion!” Almost Trumpian logic really, saying it doesn’t make it true. In any event, the article points out that the guy who wrote the book was a raging alcoholic who beat his children, and the book is a reflection of that, not insight into the supposedly intrinsic barbarity of humans: ‘Lord of the Flies,’ Revisited.

Speaking of Trumpian (my year’s ration of good segues ran out, apologies) here’s a neat article on Trump I came across: ‘Sadistic and amoral’: Mental health expert performs postmortem on the ‘pathological’ Trump presidency. It covers a lot of ground, and basically points out a number of things I’d noticed and many I didn’t. Most of which are, well, not good signs. The only time he seems to smile is when he’s being praised by a crowd or is making fun of someone. His rallies and schtick haven’t changed in four years. I noticed that for sure, his reelection campaign was essentially the same as his first campaign. He’s a simple man. Anyhow, I enjoyed it.

Stay safe and sane everyone. A last minute news check shows no new horrors. Other than the new Covid variant has made it to the US. Fortunately our effective national test/trace/quarantine program will shut it down, nothing to worry about. Sigh. #StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula

Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(Image: Facebook meme, attribution in image. Claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law.)