Today’s Really, Really, Really Bad News
OK, you’ve been hoaxed. You were easy.
The news today is not really any worse than yesterday, or last year, or last century. It is essentially interchangeable. Maybe we could consider the 1347 black-death news headlines a memorable bad news day, but that too passed….as did the Spanish flu and the great fires of both Rome and London and the holocaust.
Sure, Trump said something stupid that offended most sensible people today, and more bombs exploded and children’s limbs were ripped off. But nothing unusual occurred, and nothing we are concerned enough to do anything about. Isn’t that the truth, if we admit it? The world is, in fact, just the way we like it. If it wasn’t, we’d change it. After all, the world is just an illusion, isn’t it? What exactly is it?
At this point we come to an unmarked cross-road illuminated only by shadows. Questioning the world is not something to be taken lightly, or even tolerated beyond a certain point of anecdotal humor, is it? Acceptable ways to question the world include enrollment in anthropology or philosophy or theology courses, or similar safe routes that lead in a circuitous route back to the status quo under the guidance of ‘experts’. Humor likewise can be used as an acceptable medium of questioning. But other than these and a smattering of similar well-trodden routes, in which recognized gurus can correct you or route you back to safety, your questioning is not permitted. Is it?
After all, the world is littered with those who questioned seriously without first asking official permission. The plight of whistleblowers is well known, first disappearing into a black hole of official silence before (sometimes) emerging decades or centuries later as ‘heroes’ to be emulated. But the message is clear: don’t emulate them now or you too will disappear. Or be crucified or ostracized, in whatever form. This unspeakable wisdom is beautifully summarized by ‘Dichos de Luz y Amor’ by San Juan de la Cruz (taken from Carlos Castaneda ‘Tales of Power’):
The conditions of a solitary bird are five:
The first, that it flies to the highest point;
the second, that it does not suffer for company,
not even of its own kind;
the third, that it aims its beak to the skies;
the fourth, that it does not have a definite color;
the fifth, that it sings very softly.
Bad news is the unacknowledged language of the world. It is the blood pumping through the arteries of pain expressing itself in the currency of fear. Without it the heart of the world would collapse. If you are beginning to question the daily litany of bad news, the incessant bombardment of insanity without end, then intelligence is beginning to dawn within you. Your own wisdom is tired of the droning screams of nothingness and hungering for more. Cherish your doubts, and nurture them. Ask for help with them. The first step in sanity is questioning insanity.