Yeah, I think we all, to one degree or another, share this sense of existential, civilizational dread, a permanent background sinking feeling of the loathsomeness of contemporary culture....a pleasure to read you and Bray and others, and I'm buying a book from Eighth Day Books, cheers!
Really well written, thank you for writing this. I know little about the American heartland, since I live in a small town in northern Austria. The culture war is obviously also trickling into this somewhat rural area, since young (and many older) people spend a lot of time on social media and form their opinion on the world according to the algorithms of Instagram and TikTok. I also notice the decay of our local Catholic church parish. I am often among the only people my age at congregations and it's getting harder to find volunteers for all the work that's required to happen to keep things running. The cold hard truth is that I probably won't be able to course-correct the macro cultural changes that are happening. What I can do is to point out what I notice, mend wounds where I am, try to explain and encourage a way of life that I find salutary. I can't keep things from withering away and dying on my own. We have to cultivate a certain distance to the maelstrom of time and concentrate on our circle of influence in order not to get sucked in and crushed by it.
Yep. You get it. Lighthouse keepers is good, I like that. We will hold onto the bits of civilization we each think are worth preserving, keeping them safe for future generations while the cities burn themselves down and/or descend into dystopian technocratic prison states. For some this will be religion, faith, spirituality. For me it's history, the classics, science, technology and engineering (the good, hard parts that improve rather than replace our ability to be humans engaged with our environment, not the crackpot social science and utopian fantasy crap).
We can't each build a library. But we can each keep a few dozen or a few hundred books, and we can pass on practical skills that can't be learned from books. Our descendants will put the pieces back together after it's all said and done, at the far end of the dim age.
Well written and thoughtful. You have given me much to think about.
When I get despondent I try to console myself with the observation the people you mention are destroyers. They rage against some litany of grievances which gives them energy. But they are not builders or creators. We know they cannot maintain a civilization, including the boring bits like sanitation or food delivery. They will die with the cities.
I think that is our great hope. A kind of reset back to what is useful. Perhaps as the petrodollar collapses and takes the West with it, we will see the corporations die and destroy all the bullshit jobs. A dose of humility would help many a Karen appreciate what she has.
This resonated with me as well. When I get in that fatalistic mindset (eg sucked into the ugly discourse that is our current political landscape, all thanks to one ugly man), I think the healthiest response for me is to focus only on me and my immediate family and shut out as best I can all that ugly noise. When I do this, I do feel better. My problem/challenge is that if more people did this, more people like me (us here), I fear the state of our country if there are no more voices who shout in opposition to those who peddle in hatred. So still I’ll vote. 💙
Passing truth, light, beautiful things down to the next generation…. The things that make life worth living. My goodness you are exactly right. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you and I want to visit that bookstore.
Yeah, I think we all, to one degree or another, share this sense of existential, civilizational dread, a permanent background sinking feeling of the loathsomeness of contemporary culture....a pleasure to read you and Bray and others, and I'm buying a book from Eighth Day Books, cheers!
Thank you for reading!
Really well written, thank you for writing this. I know little about the American heartland, since I live in a small town in northern Austria. The culture war is obviously also trickling into this somewhat rural area, since young (and many older) people spend a lot of time on social media and form their opinion on the world according to the algorithms of Instagram and TikTok. I also notice the decay of our local Catholic church parish. I am often among the only people my age at congregations and it's getting harder to find volunteers for all the work that's required to happen to keep things running. The cold hard truth is that I probably won't be able to course-correct the macro cultural changes that are happening. What I can do is to point out what I notice, mend wounds where I am, try to explain and encourage a way of life that I find salutary. I can't keep things from withering away and dying on my own. We have to cultivate a certain distance to the maelstrom of time and concentrate on our circle of influence in order not to get sucked in and crushed by it.
Yep. You get it. Lighthouse keepers is good, I like that. We will hold onto the bits of civilization we each think are worth preserving, keeping them safe for future generations while the cities burn themselves down and/or descend into dystopian technocratic prison states. For some this will be religion, faith, spirituality. For me it's history, the classics, science, technology and engineering (the good, hard parts that improve rather than replace our ability to be humans engaged with our environment, not the crackpot social science and utopian fantasy crap).
We can't each build a library. But we can each keep a few dozen or a few hundred books, and we can pass on practical skills that can't be learned from books. Our descendants will put the pieces back together after it's all said and done, at the far end of the dim age.
Well written and thoughtful. You have given me much to think about.
When I get despondent I try to console myself with the observation the people you mention are destroyers. They rage against some litany of grievances which gives them energy. But they are not builders or creators. We know they cannot maintain a civilization, including the boring bits like sanitation or food delivery. They will die with the cities.
I think that is our great hope. A kind of reset back to what is useful. Perhaps as the petrodollar collapses and takes the West with it, we will see the corporations die and destroy all the bullshit jobs. A dose of humility would help many a Karen appreciate what she has.
This resonated with me as well. When I get in that fatalistic mindset (eg sucked into the ugly discourse that is our current political landscape, all thanks to one ugly man), I think the healthiest response for me is to focus only on me and my immediate family and shut out as best I can all that ugly noise. When I do this, I do feel better. My problem/challenge is that if more people did this, more people like me (us here), I fear the state of our country if there are no more voices who shout in opposition to those who peddle in hatred. So still I’ll vote. 💙
We have a life to live in the midst of all the insanity and I want to live it well. Just like a good many of our fellow men,something good.
And fellow women too. You hit on one of my passions in life—to live it fully by bringing my best game to each moment.
Passing truth, light, beautiful things down to the next generation…. The things that make life worth living. My goodness you are exactly right. I couldn’t agree more. Thank you and I want to visit that bookstore.