Capitalism, racism, and religion are the villains.
The culture war has fervent supplicants. Their zeal surpasses the quiet believers of faith, many who are barred from breaking bread with their own communities. I’ve not found an eloquent speaker among the revolutionists and yet their numbers grow; an army of people compelled to comply and show acts of contrition and allegiance. I hear demands. I hear anger. And I hear that it’s too late for peace. They yell. They shriek. And they celebrate chaos tearing down the world before them. The current world is not only too antiquated but an insult to their existence.
It’s as if The Nothing from The Neverending Story has come to earth; an empty despair that seeks to destroy and grows in appetite.
“When it comes to controlling human beings there is no better instrument than lies. Because, you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.”
― Michael Ende, The Neverending Story
The Nothing grew stronger because people had lost hope and forgotten how to imagine and dream. Destruction is the emptiness that is left; a despair that destroys.
Destruction is the new beautiful. What shall get broken or burnt down this week? What exactly is being built with every tear down and censor? How is it that this fervor and strife is worldwide?
Whatever is controlling this Nothing and those that belong to it has a powerful ideology. Whatever wrath you are willing to put upon something, doesn’t it say you are willing to accept for yourself? Is there hope or is there a void of hope? Even the rising Phoenix’ tears brought healing. Is there a healing and a sense of resolution that rises as statues come down or when one humiliates another?
I’ve been living in solitude for over three months now. The world is too noisy for me. I don’t understand it. A song is playing that I’ve never heard before and it’s not for me. But for those that celebrate the art of this destruction, find its words and voice alluring, it’s only a matter of time before they must pay the piper.
I see that in the end, The Nothing will want to make destruction complete, and request that one destroys one’s sense of self.
Stay strong. Hope is powerful. Refuse to sign up for the collective despair.
JNET
