It’s all about the Downwards Trajectory, my friends, loathe though we are to see it. So very loath to see it. We just don’t want to know – ‘where will it take us,’ we wail forlornly, ‘where will it all end…?’ This is the question we really don’t want the answer to. Absolutely not.
We prefer to make up some a different answer, a more upbeat and inspirational answer. The upbeat answer always goes down better at the end of the day in my experience, and there’s no surprise there of course. We’ll go for the positive approach every time, and who can blame us? How to make friends and influence people, and all that kind of thing. How to create the impression that you’re not a total gom with no opinion of your own. You’ll get a hearty round of applause for your joyous upbeat take on how everything is going to be super-great, and all that kind of thing. Folk will clap you on the shoulder approvingly – ‘That’s the ticket, son,’ they’ll say, ‘say it like it is…’ Or say it like it isn’t (if that’s what you prefer). No one here wants to hear some old negative crap about how everything’s inevitably deteriorating, about how everything is getting more and more shit the whole time, whilst all we can ever do is come up with new and improved ways of colluding with our fellow idiots to spread the word about how great everything is. Running around like the gormless dipsticks we are, saying ‘life’s never been better each day is a ball’ and stuff like that.
You will receive a hearty round of applause for that for sure. You will have a friend wherever you go. ‘That’s the ticket my boy,’ they’ll say. You’re playing a blinder, so you are. You’re a man after me own heart. You can take that home with you and bank it. That’s currency anywhere you go. That’s Gold Standard – the guarantee of social approval and goodwill wherever you go. Basically, you just can’t go wrong. So what are you hanging around for? What are you holding back for? Go for it…! ‘That’s the ticket, my boy’, they’ll say to you. ‘There are no flies on you son, that’s for sure…’
You’ll receive a hearty round of applause for sure and you’ll be made up because of that. You’ll be set up for life, nothing to worry about ever again. You will be on the Gravy Train, I’m telling you – all you have to do is tell folks what they want to hear! It’s not exactly rocket science, after all. Bit of a no-brainer, really. Bit of a no-brainer for sure. ‘Why be an awkward bastard about it?’ is the other way of putting it. You don’t want people thinking that you’re a total gorm, or anything like that, would you? Or perhaps even something worse. We are trapped in a repeating pattern, I realised, and it’s only ever going to get worse. We are of course well and truly screwed and there’s never been a time when we haven’t been. All this stuff about ‘how great things are going to be’ and ‘how special we all are’ is just pure drivel (as I’m sure you know). When everything goes sour on us what else is there to do? When you realise that everything’s gone to pot? When you realize to your horror that your leaders are all liars? Where is there to turn, except to a supposed wonderful future that doesn’t exist. We human beans are such deluded numbskulls, are we not? Such numskulls. Good times to come my arse – we are Creatures of Illusion, and we cannot exist outside of it. We love comforting lies just as flies love shit. But there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s perfectly natural – nothing to feel bad about at all…
Image credit – bandt.com.au