Unhinged, October 12

I want to post something this week, before the Sunday Football post, but I have been a bit overwhelmed with work. Which leads me to the point of this post. The United States is going crazy right now, you may have noticed. A bunch of astrologers are saying "Mercury is in retrograde", which is less significant than the fact that 20+ years of conservative/reactionary propaganda have wrapped up a generation of people - mostly white men - in a frothing rage. At the same time, decades of acceptance, racial tolerance, and women acting like human beings, instead of brooding mares, have created a generation of people who can see the other group for who they are - who they always have been.

In short, the latter generation is on the move, having a good time, and being productive (when they're not trying to drown out the former generation with substance [ab]use). The former generation is getting older, smaller, and angrier. They're frothing at the mouth now, maybe they always have been. The problem is that the latter generation is getting wiser and wiser to them, and getting more and more clout with the mainstream, and is increasingly able to stand up to the former.

My perspective, of course, will always be skewed by the enormous amount of information that my brain holds, and can recall quickly. Having overcome my addiction, and survived a resetting brain injury, and all of the ramifications of the behavioral consequences, I can see the world in striking clarity - from 40,000 feet in the sky, to the bottom of the ocean, and all points in between. It creeps me out, but it also puts me at ease. Things catch me off guard, but few things truly surprise me. For instance, there was a person in my life that I considered a friend, but he turned on me, and now, he is trying to stoke my paranoia. Instead of succumb to this, dwell in my own rage, and even quit, I decided to use the tools provided, and am rising like a phoenix.

I hope the same can be true of my generation, raised on equality, honesty, and acceptance. We need to keep pushing forward, and maybe, that generation steeped in resentment, anger, and entitlement will wise up. Sadly, I think most of them will just die out, clinging fiercely onto their anger. A sad legacy for those born after such a joyous victory.