Doug's Darkworld

Well, the most interesting year of my life is ending tonight. And I mean that globally, not personally. They say “May you live in interesting times” is a Chinese curse. No, no it’s not; nonetheless irregardless of its origin, it’s spot on. And this was an interesting year. This was the year that the holodeck program changed, and we got to really see who was living in reality and who was living in the map of reality their mind creates. The former understood Covid was something new, the latter didn’t. As this meme puts it:

Covid is like a siege, that’s the analogy I like today. And some don’t get that, they’re saying “Open the city gates, keeping them closed is hurting commerce!” True, it is, but letting the invaders in isn’t the answer. Pretty much by definition they will be bad for commerce, not good. A siege goes on until it’s lifted, not until people need haircuts.

So in review, we’re ending the year 2020 with the worst pandemic in a century raging, near half million dead in the US, 3rd or 4th worst mass death event in US history already. With no near future end in sight. An economy devastated by same, though profiteers and robber barons have made out like bandits. And on top of it all, for the first time in US history, a sitting president is not honoring the results of the election.

So whatever 2021 brings, it’s starting off at a global and national low. I don’t envy Biden in the slightest. This meme suggests him:

I mean, Biden played the centrist corporate foot licking game all his life to perfection, and now he’s finally getting his due … the presidency of the USA. To some extent a largely ceremonial position at this point, but great perks both financial and ego wise. Except Biden is inheriting a sheet sandwich. Economy in a nose dive, pandemic raging, international alliances and deals trashed. The only thing Trump and 2020 isn’t handing Biden is a new war. And Trump might still add that to the pot:  Trump Could Still Start a Last-Ditch War With Iran.

So after tonight, anything could happen! That’s always the case, but sometimes the top is wobbling more than others. Just for fun, a few speculations: Biden takes office, but dies before his term is done. He is old. And Kamala Harris decides to change America for the better, progressive all the way. Seems unlikely, but it’s all unlikely now. Conservative working class people would have to deal with a living wage and comprehensive health care. Sounds rough.

Or, as a friend pointed out to me today, Pence and the mainstream GOP could turn on Trump, and symbolically stab him to death by acknowledging Biden’s win. Pence could almost literally be the Brutus of our times, cutting Trump down at the height of his power. Historically Brutus came to a bad end, but I doubt Pence knows that.

So yeah, we are starting 2021 globally, and especially in America, at the cusp of a new age. 2020 was our ‘Crossing the Rubicon/Black Death/1929/Night of the Long Knives.’ 2021 is going to be different than any previous year. I’ll blog on it as long as I can. Stay safe, sane, and warm everyone. #StaytheFHome #WearaDamnMask #FelesRegula

Copyright © 2020 Doug Stych. All rights reserved.

(Images: From Facebook, attribution if known in image, claimed as Fair Use under US copyright law.)