So here we are.
Politicians, yet again playing ego driven, stupid and bizarre games of musical chairs. Economists, yet again doing splendid impersonations of headless chickens. And the stenographers (h/t CV), as always, breathlessly relaying to us how crucial, unprecedented and dangerous it all is…this time – honest!.
But see, while I quite enjoy speculating on various political permutations, ramifications or consequences off the back of necessarily partial analyses, or postulating on the reasons as to the hows and whys of people managing to send politicians and economists into spastic frenzies – like all soap operas, it wears thin and loses its power to distract.
And at that point, like many of us, I usually just dismiss them (the politicians and economists) as wankers and move on. But this time around a pushy and persistent question has arisen that goes something along the lines of ‘when we look at all of these clowns and their shenanigans, do we seriously expect them to play any useful co-ordinating role in the execution of the fundamental shift or radical change that our society needs?’
I’m sorry if this is popping your political bubble of fun a bit prematurely, but physics hasn’t pulled itself up a chair to sit back and observe.
Our understanding of physics provides simple facts that, if we pay any attention to them, demand that we take immediate, radical actions that will fundamentally alter the social, economic and political make-up of society, if we want to have much in the way of a society in the future.
That’s not hyperbole.
Here are the numbers again if you missed them the first time around. True, the numbers will have changed a bit in the intervening six months. Our prospects aren’t as good now as they were back then.
Meanwhile, this Brexit and the accompanying fooling around by idiotic politicians and flapping economists could be served up at maximum volume for our delight and amusement for months to come. And when our attention wanes, then of course a new ‘pop corn worthy’ distraction will be blasted out for our delectation. And then another. And then another.
So at what point are we going to put things into perspective?
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be entertained by clowns and idiots – they’re eminently entertaining. But I’m seriously stumped as to why we seem hell bent on giving these people and their bullshit permanent centre stage and of giving all their nonsense our serious, undivided attention
Are we ever going to get around to housing all these Trumps, Farages, Camerons and Johnsons, and yes, even the Sanders and Corbyns et al, in some plush, modern day Bedlam, perhaps modelled after some parliament, where we can just occasionally visit and, perhaps guiltily, point and titter from a gallery as they harmlessly act out their uproarious nonsense?
And more importantly, when…when are we going to take all the economists haruspices and throw them into that charlatan’s booth in the fairground that sits between the palmist and the psychic?
We’ve been stacking up a process of physics that in a very short time frame – two decades might be optimistic – will present us with conditions utterly inimical to an integrated, global expression of human civilisation. That’s the deal we’re dealing in. We dealt it to ourselves. And physics can’t be boxed up, filed away or put off until tomorrow, and yet… we seem to be obliviously skipping along as part of some grand procession behind grinning politicians who are leading us all a merry dance to the tune of the economists haruspices – the modern day, pied pipers of Hamelin.
I’ll finish with these thoughts.
Contrary to popular myth, no-one on acid ever took themselves to the top of a tall building with the express intention of launching themselves into flight. The instinct of self preservation always said such idiocy was, well, idiotic – no matter how powerful the hallucinogen. And yet here we are as a society, careening towards a veritable cliff edge convinced that we’re going to fly and that physics can just go hang itself. And you know what?
It doesn’t work like that.
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