I sat on my porch in bucolic, peaceful 7 Oaks with a cold protein drink and a low level of anxiety …until a portly septuagenarian waddled up to tell me that the Biden for President sign that was displayed in my yard contained a symbol for communism. Apparently the three red lines that represented the E in Biden’s name was the symbol of a godless collectivism that should be abhorrent to all Americans. Gosh! I didn’t know that. I was unaware that the red design elements in the Toyota logo were a veiled threat from Japanese Imperialists who planned to attack the west coast. I didn’t know that the three red lines in the State flags of Ohio and Hawaii were the subtle manifestos of states that were clearly pinko.
A quote from Lewis Carroll came to mind…” if you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there.” So many of us are angry and we have become lovers of the sinister. Everyone is out to get you and the hidden agendas of people who seem normal need to be looked at closely. We now are lovers of the conspiracy. Nothing can be trusted and Occam’s razor is so dull that it no longer cuts.
We also love conflation and we force unrelated events into weak theories that can PROVE nearly anything. We have lost our way and now live in a world of complete illogic. The Holocaust never happened and our landing on the moon was filmed on a soundstage in Hollywood. Kennedy was killed by his own brother.
We have entered into the chaos that occurs when we live in a world devoid of ideas. President James Garfield once observed that, ” ideas are the great warriors of the world and a war that has no idea behind it is simple brutality. ” So many are now fighting a war that is devoid of ideas. We are left with grievance, paranoia and downright absurdity. The Republicans have no platform because they simply don’t need one…the anger, fear and resentment are their building blocks. Sadly, these seem to be enough for some of us.
We are in love with the dark.
We need to develop a robust type of nominalism…the belief that what we see is what’s really there. When we see a misogynist, racist, mendacious Buffon angling for power it may serve us to accept the evidence of our eyes and ears.
We need to reject the brutality that comes in a world devoid of ideas.
As we VOTE let’s remember the wisdom of Sophocles: ” quick decisions are unsafe decisions. “
Be Safe and VOTE.
Olio Folio 
Finally someone brave enough to combat the R(3)D Liners. If you stare at the Coca Cola logo long enough you WILL see the framework to a 3rd-party-state solution in the middle east.
But in all seriousness…facts save lives. Be honest about your immediate needs, what you need from others, when you are low and/or high. Trust the people around you to support you (in their own way…it may not be the way you expected but they are trying…). And when those roads are insufficient? Find new roads. There has never been a bad time to advocate for your health.
Therapy is like, reeeeal goood. Try it!
Consider the definition of Triage (verb): assign degrees of urgency to (wounded or ill patients).
To anyone feeling unsure of how to proceed with your feelings/beliefs/desires…there is no right answer. Or at least no SIMPLE answer. But I will say “It’s the company you keep.” Surprised nobody said that before.
Your world can change for the better depending on the people you spend time with. Be open to understanding; show interest in their perspective. But respect your ‘breaking point’ with another person as well. Be resolute in your decisions/beliefs. Then move to greener pastures, whatever the hell that looks like, as needed.
I love you Dad 🙂
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