4 Good Things Coming Out of This Mess

I thought 2019 was about as low as the culture of the West could go. Between drag queens in kindergartens, an angry autistic girl hailed as a saint and screaming at the UN, and semi-sane Wokesters openly promoting racial hatred (this time against whites), I figured there wasn’t much lower to go.

But there was, of course; there’s always violence at the end of the line. It took three months of universal house arrest, tens of millions unemployed, a semi-scary virus and a vicious murder to do it, but we finally reached that depth.

Now our cities burn while TV cameras focus on vapid, narcissistic and sociopathic talking heads. There are no adults on the stage.

But, there are good things coming out of this.

#1: The Parent & Child Reunion

Since roughly 1900, the children of the West have been forcibly separated from their parents: physically, intellectually and even emotionally. This was done, as we all know, in the name of education (a fine goal by itself), but it quickly overpowered family life altogether.

Consider, please, that the center of family life, around which all activities are organized, has been the school. No other organizational format was even considered by most people.

And then, in an instant, it was gone. A century’s worth of inertia simply evaporated. This left parents to re-organize in a hurry, but several lessons (with the usual exceptions) are already coming out of it:

1. Parents are learning that they like being a bigger part of their children’s lives.

2. Parents are discovering that the kids learn more at home and are happier doing it.

3. Children have become part of the world again, rather then being foreign creatures who had to be sequestered.

These are healthy things. On top of that, children who are taught as home (or via any form of tutoring) are better critical thinkers than kids locked into government schools. That’s going to have big effects over time… and positive ones. (There’s a reason Ivory Tower sycophants are freaking out over this.)

#2: Faith In Public Institutions Has Broken

Yes, this is a good thing. We’ve been, to paraphrase The Declaration of Independence, suffering a long chain of abuses, because humans are more disposed to suffer than to change.

Just about everyone complains about politicians, just about all of the time. But we’ve preferred to complain and the reds or the blues, rather than face the scarier fact the the system itself was broken. Now it can barely be avoided.

The cops have disgraced themselves by killing a black man, by nearly killing a white grandpa, by arresting people for going to church, and so on. “Fellow-officers” showed themselves to be complicit with the “bad eggs,” police unions have proven to be utterly contemptuous, and state and local prosecutors have joined them.

Politicians of every flavor have shown themselves to be feckless, stupid, false, angry, brutal and power-mad. And crazily narcissistic, of course.

The arrogant new tech giants displayed their willingness… nay, their eagerness to censor… seeing all who fail to worship their narrow and brittle philosophy as ignorant, dangerous buffoons.

I could go on (you undoubtedly have your own favorites), but I’ll move along. Suffice it to say that the only public institution that hasn’t overtly disgraced itself is the military, but this isn’t over yet and their status is already past its expiration date.

#3: “The Markets” Have Been Unmasked As Rigged

The middle class, lower middle class and the poor all know that the Treasury (and central banks world-wide) have saved their friends (banks, corps and “the rich”) while tossing them crumbs and expecting them to be thankful.

The interest rates on credit cards, at the same time (and at some point it really does pass over into usury) keep rising. Tens of millions of jobs have been lost, but real estate taxes remain and rise, as do other taxes.

On the other hand, the upper middle class – the 401(k) class – has been wildly protected, in the form of a stock market that has levitated in spite of world-wide disaster. (This is not to demonize the upper middle class; most of them are decent people who are stuck in this crazy situation the same as everyone else.)

At this point everyone knows that it’s all a big charade: that “fundamentals,” “market forces,” and so on are meaningless: What the Treasury buys, goes up.

God help us.

#4: Mindless Consumerism Has, Perhaps, Broken

Americans, and Westerners in general, have been addicted to status symbols all through my lifetime. When I was a boy people joked about “keeping up with the Joneses,” but it was only funny because it was true.

Bear in mind that this was a cultured addiction. Empowered by a perfect storm of big business intent, mass media and the “science” of propaganda, it worked insanely well, to the point where most people were bought carts full of stuff, not because it made their lives better, but because they were induced to buy it by publicity campaigns.

To put it succinctly, America, since about 1920, shifted from a needs culture to a wants culture. And, since the US was the world’s primary generator of images, the rest of the world tended to follow.

Now, with need returning, that particular flavor of crazy may end. This is still uncertain, mind you, but the longer the pain continues, the more likely it becomes.

So…

So, there really are good things in the midst of this insanity. Please do whatever you can to move them along.

**

Paul Rosenberg

freemansperspective.com