There’s plenty of reason for pessimism. We saw that the establishment was utterly unprepared for the 2008 banking crisis, and equally unprepared for Covid-19. Does anyone seriously think we’d be prepared for a massive solar flare that took out our electrical system? How about an accidental nuclear war, (which has already come close to happening)?
Isn’t it only a matter of time until a crazy scientist tries to save the animal kingdom by creating a virus as easily transmittable as Covid-19 but 100 times more deadly for humans? I’ve resigned myself to the fact that the 21st century is going to be horrible.
And I’m completely done with politics—for the rest of my life. During the 1980s and 1990s, I found politics to be interesting. But now I see that I completely missed the big picture. I thought it was about the Reagan vision vs. the Clinton vision, whereas now it’s obvious that both were on the same team—advancing global liberty. Today, both sides are on the other team, advancing socialism and nationalism. There are no good guys left.
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To be sure, Trump is much worse than Biden and I hope he loses. But even in the unlikely event that Biden wins it won’t actually solve the problem. In the late 20th century, people like Trump could only be elected in countries like Guatemala. Now we know that America’s the sort of country that will elect a Trump. Once you’ve lost your virginity, it cannot be reclaimed.
Biden’s something of a buffoon, but at least he’s a good man (at least according to his campaign commercials.) Bill Clinton was good at pretending that “he felt your pain”. Trump’s good at pretending he hates the people that you hate. Actually, he does truly hate those people, which is probably why his supporters view him as an unusually honest politician, despite evidence to the contrary.
Here in Orange County, the people that actually do the work must commute 40 miles because of NIMBY laws (supported by rich people in both parties). The rest of us sit at our computers, pretending to “work” while writing stupid blog posts. Now the GOP says they want things to stay that way; they don’t want working people to live close to the affluent, as they did for much of American history. That’s the last straw for me—I’m done with conservatism. (I’m sure that conservatives are saying “good riddance”.)
In the unlikely event that Biden wins, I’ll give him a chance. But I have little hope for the future. Things will get even worse.
Even with the end of the political world as I knew it, I’ll be fine. I’ve just signed up for Criterion Channel, which is the greatest human invention ever. It costs $100/year, but I’d gladly pay $10,000/year.
In his later years, billionaire Howard Hughes holed up on the top floor of that Vegas casino hotel and watched Ice Station Zebra over and over again. On the Criterion Channel, I can watch films by Ozu, Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Naruse, Imamura, Suzuki and Oshima, and those are just the Japanese directors.
When I was young we’d take trips to a nearby lake. Stopping at Dairy Queen on the way home was the highlight of my boyhood. I dreamed of when I would grow up and be able to eat ice cream whenever I wished.
Adulthood proved even more blissful than I anticipated, as Talenti Caribbean Coconut gelato is much better than Dairy Queen soft serve. Early adulthood brought the end of ice cream scarcity, and now at age 65 I’m at the end of classic film scarcity. We know from our economics textbooks that the end of scarcity portends near infinite utility, which I look forward to with great relish.
So don’t worry about the looming apocalypse; get your 77 inch OLED and stream a 4k version of Apocalypse Now. Like Howard Hughes, you can have food delivered to your house—no need to ever leave home. When I was young, Howard Hughes was one of America’s only three billionaires. But I’m far richer than he ever was.
Have a nice 2020!
PS. And it’s not just Criterion Channel, via the internet you can now enjoy the Prado’s magnificent Titians on your 77 inch OLED in all their glorious color:
Sometimes I just sit in my living room with the lights off and stare at Velasquez’s gorgeous painting of the spinners on my TV. Life just doesn’t get any better.
Borges thought a comprehensive library was heaven. How about a comprehensive book, film, and painting library, all at your fingertips?
And music.