Friday, May 08, 2020

on checking for zombies in the basement...

Some classic fascist rhetoric, a metaphor for what’s happening, and a very good point being made...

From the time I was a student in elementary school and picked up a copy of "When Worlds Collide" I've been hooked on dystopian fiction. What better way for an author to build a huge dramatic canvas than to destroy an existing society and chronicle the process as it all turns to shit.

So, here I find myself, more rather than less, sitting on my boat as part of history being made that has all of the elements of a dystopian novel of grand proportions.

We've got the vain psychopath/narcissist leader who does everything wrong.

Said psychopath leader has surrounded himself with soulless minions and greedsters.

A majority of the population is in denial or rushing lemming-like to the nearest cliff to throw themselves off of while a ponderous slow-moving train of a threat just keeps coming like the Energizer bunny on steroids. Yep, we're in dystopian territory!

The thing is, one trope of dystopian fiction that has always bothered me is that as a plot device, characters continue to do the stupid things that got them into the world-shattering cataclysm they find themselves in. Truth be told, part of my enjoyment of the genre is telling myself while reading that it's impossible for the characters to be so dumb.

Seriously, would any sane intelligent person go down into a dark basement to check for zombies with no gun and only three matches? Well, maybe if you had a red MAGA hat...

Well, it would seem that, for the most part, all of those irritating enjoyable issues I've had reading dystopian literature were something of an understatement because every time I read or watch the news these days I see a whole lot more dumbass hijinks than I'd ever put up with in the genre.

The fact that reality is stupider than literature sometimes escapes me but the fact we're living in a time where getting a tattoo, having your hair done, or going to the beach is somehow more important than keeping safe pretty much says it all. Freedumb, right?

Listening to some Beatles coverage

So it goes...