2026-03-10
Just before starting my timer to sprint out this entry, I sat for a moment to try and think of some kind of game plan for how I wanted to structure this entry. After about maybe fifteen seconds of thought, I realized that I was going against my own stream-of-consciousness principle I set for myself when I first started this project. Perhaps the reason why is because I might actually be running out of things to say, and so I am trying to pull from a more planned and rational source to compensate for that. However, I've found that this always produces subpar writing for me, and so I hope that as I write today's entry, I can continue to tap into that deeper consciousness I always yammer on about.
Despite certain things, overall life is generally good right now. In a way, the equanimity can make for "boring" writing because there's a lack of conflict to generate something interesting. That, to me, is strange. The idea that substance necessitates conflict is one that feels like it should be generally frowned upon by us, yet what we see generally is the exact opposite. There is certainly media out there that perpetuates calm narratives. The first thing that comes to mind in this regard is slice-of-life anime, where the mundanity of life is the story. There's a certain value to that, and I think the fact that an unreal medium being used to tell the story holds a sincere irony that a lot of people appreciate.
This project doesn't really hold that kind of irony. I do tell a sort of story of the mundane world through expressing my thoughts on life here, but the medium upholds that message without any sort of irony. Truthfully, I've become burned out on irony. Over the last ten years or so, social media has invoked the hyperreal to such a dangerous level that most of what we see on there is nothing short of a cognitohazard. I think a lot of people are either unfamiliar with or forget the fact that these companies make most of their money off nation-state propaganda. The whole idea is that enemy threat actors try to attack us psychologically to make us feel despair so that we are less productive, giving them an edge on us in everlasting international competitions. It's tough to point a lot of it out and produce genuine evidence for this narrative because obfuscating evidence is part of those threat actors' content strategies.
In that sense, a lack of irony is something that I think most people are looking for in some way or another. I would say that we live in a truly post-ironic world. Long gone are the days of provocateurs and any kind of fundamental guiding principles in culture, politics, and economics. Call it a vibes-based whatever; it doesn't matter. Ultimately, we have become entrapped by post-structuralist thinking. What was meant to challenge institutional authority in a measure to hold those in power accountable has now become the very tool those in power use to obfuscate accountability altogether. I don't think it's completely hopeless, though. What I hope to see in the coming years is a return to some kind of reformed structural ideology or realpolitik that works to better empower regular everyday people.
I think it's easy to have grim visions of the future given all the sensationalized press and fear-mongering, but historically speaking, the regular folk have the edge. If we compare global rates of poverty to even fifty years ago, the progress is staggering. Of course, there's still much more work to do in that effort, but generally we are better off despite certain institutional follies. More than that, a regular person in most developed countries lives better than any monarch in past history. That speaks to something we are fundamentally doing right, even if things feel like they're going wrong.
With recent press campaigns surrounding a lack of political accountability, it can be easy to say that the world's gone to shit because of those at the top. But honestly, it was way worse, historically speaking. Monarchs used to think that their power was absolute and that their authority was divine. Philosophers of antiquity believed that slavery was a fact of life and that it would always exist. The progress we have made is undeniable, but I think, generally, that perspectives have been myopic. The fact that we have the criticisms we do is in and of itself a measure of progress. More than that, it's lonely at the top. It's easy to think that if I had the reins, I would be doing a way better job than those in power. But is that really true? For me, I find that level of power to induce extreme fear. The lives of others being in my hands, having everyone constantly hate me and criticize me—it's just not something I'm built for. But for those who are, the only thing I can do is hope and pray that they make the right decisions.
God knows I wouldn't.
Bitcoin address: bc1qtgqvj6qjxnaxkns20x5rcwnxvv3jqzhduvvxfc