A Stupid Time to be Alive
3700. That’s approximately how many nuclear weapons the US and by extension its Commander-in-Chief currently control. Enough to destroy the planet many times over.
380. That’s how many billions of dollars Elon Musk is worth, approximately. Enough to feed the planet many times over.
Once staunch allies (one going so far as to state that his love for the other borders on but, he was careful to note, was not homosexual), two of the world’s most powerful men are feuding. On social media. They are using the same platforms that adolescents use to mock their schoolyard rivals.
As is the case with the rich and powerful, everything is dialed up in scale and scope. One is using the multi-billion dollar social media platform he purchased specifically to further his addiction to it in much the same way a child granted infinite wealth would purchase the candy store and promptly lock its door. The other has repeatedly threatened the his former friend with deportation and investigation into his various companies, invoking the federal government’s many powers because he didn’t like what the other guy said.
The rift seemed to reach its crescendo when Musk posted that Trump was part of the Epstein files. The documents related to well-known pedophile and murder victim Jeffrey Epstein. This apparent coup de grâce was delivered without paying mind to the fact that it outright states Musk either knew Trump was a child abuser and loved him anyway or found out about it later and only saw fit to inform the public when Trump upset him personally. As a society we have simply moved on, confident that the allegation is either not true and that even billionaires accuse one another of this sort of thing over the internet, or it is true and, like Musk, no one cares. The post has been deleted without further examination. No harm, no foul.
Now Musk has announced that he is planning to form his own political party and vigorously oppose those who support Trump’s latest budget. The love is gone and now all the friends will have to choose which meangirl they will side with.
All of this is real and embarrassingly public. All of this has actually taken place.
Heated debate continues over whether or not a biological male has an advantage in a physical competition versus a biological female. Not the ethical or moral implications of separating the two genders of which there are many compelling arguments. Not even the question of what truly constitutes a sport and what, if anything, is the actual purpose of the undertaking. Investigating these points could grant a deeper understanding of sport and what it means to compete or to win. No, the debate being had, and the question being asked straight-faced, is whether or not someone with significant and undeniably greater strength and bone density by default of their genetics alone may enjoy some form of advantage over an opponent lacking those advantages in a physically competitive environment. (Strangely, there are few who advocate for amalgamated leagues where twenty year old’s compete against geriatrics. Inescapable, physical truths seem to have won the day here.) This farce being passed for a debate has raged for years and is ongoing.
After clearly staging troops on the border for months and using the clever tactic of simply calling those witnessing the incoming invasion hysterical, Russia launched its obvious and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia’s response to the question of why they were invading has evolved over time. The reasons oscillating between resisting Western influence, protecting Russian speakers, and “denazifying” Ukraine. Ukraine being a sovereign nation where 35% of the population speaks Russian and no programs of oppression against them have ever been uncovered. A full fifth of the population speaks both languages.
Also, the country’s democratically elected president is a Jew. The telltale sign of a nation swept up in anti-Semitic fervor.
Resistance to Western and NATO influence is an interesting notion until one realizes that not only has Russia not been a world power for decades but it is already bordered by multiple NATO members. None of which were gearing for any form of assault or invasion. Several actually spending the last few decades increasing their purchasing of Russian oil and filling the coffers of the authoritarian state. So thorough is this reliance that multiple NATO members still regularly purchase large amounts of Russian energy, years after the invasion of Ukraine and Russia’s ostracization on the world stage. Truly the work of nations attempting to undermine their enemies. Although some nations joined NATO only after Russia’s invasion, being prompted by its aggression against its neighbours. This has been cited as yet more Western aggression without the slightest hint of irony or self-awareness.
To this very day, in spite of regularly shifting, baseless and contradictory reasons for war and clear attempts to expand its power and influence, some people on this side of the border actually refer to Russia as the nation on the defensive. Ukraine and its war hawk, nonparticipating allies are prolonging the war by not simply surrendering to foreign aggression. Furthermore, they say Zelenskyy is a dictator who refuses to hold elections when a mere 20% of his nation is under foreign occupation. These champions for democracy are likely under the assumption that Putin, very much their ally in this field, would allow free and fair elections in the foreign territory he controls, just as he does at home. His decades of murdering journalists and jailing political opponents aside.
If nothing else, the conspiratorial are indefatigable. Every easily verified fact can be called into question when you erase all baselines of reason and truth to frolic in the shallow waters of ideological possession.
All of this is real and embarrassingly public. All of this has actually taken place.
Feuds and disagreements between ideas or nations are nothing new and they see little hope of ever being extinguished. Yet the time and energy spent disputing the indisputable or being squandered on sad excuses for lies is debilitating. Its the equivalent of paying interest on an insurmountable debt. A payment is made while the issue itself remains and continues to grow unceasingly.
And Fartcoin is now worth more than the world’s reserve currency.
What a stupid time to be alive.
