Listen to this article. The day the world ended began like any other day. People woke up, had their coffee, checked their social media, kissed their loved ones, went to work. Nobody knew it was coming. The news reporters and pundits hadn't been informing them that the US and its allies had been simultaneously ramping up aggressions against two nuclear-armed nations in a way that could easily lead to something going catastrophically wrong, or explained to them what this could mean for them and their loved ones. The mass media had never let the truth interfere with the military agendas of their government before, and, as it turns out, they never would.
The gulf between the end of everything and our everyday knowledge of it is purposeful and is at least as evil as the weapons themselves. Another cogent piece screaming for a wider audience.
"But when I write about what I see as the actual greatest threat to our world, it’s like yelling into the wind. People don’t want to hear it. My words get swallowed up by a big black hole in the ground and their energy just kind of fizzles."
Thanks Caitlin, I enjoy your work. However, the profundity of this thought exercise is not resonating for me and I don't think it should for anyone else. I would argue the thousands of Americans who live each morning normally and then die in a gun crime later that day - with the same type of tragic obliviousness you describe - makes this thought experiment not so meaningful. Waking up, laughing, getting pissed, texting, then getting killed is something real people actually experience in vast numbers and assigning this type of existential dread to the governmental boogie man is not productive. It's been explored in lots of fiction before anyway. I think the premise here is that our priorities are all wrong - we trust evil people and waste time demonizing each other. But the utility of "being woke" (and I don't mind using a term that triggers people) is that abstract problems are not as important as tangible, everyday ones. I don't think this piece advances the health of our society.
The Day The World Ended
The gulf between the end of everything and our everyday knowledge of it is purposeful and is at least as evil as the weapons themselves. Another cogent piece screaming for a wider audience.
"But when I write about what I see as the actual greatest threat to our world, it’s like yelling into the wind. People don’t want to hear it. My words get swallowed up by a big black hole in the ground and their energy just kind of fizzles."
Welcome to the club!
I want to interview you Caitlin, please?https://www.facebook.com/105359437832674/videos/2276765039132758
You are a fantastic writer. Intelligent and witty as always. Thanks for the great newsletter.
Thanks Caitlin, I enjoy your work. However, the profundity of this thought exercise is not resonating for me and I don't think it should for anyone else. I would argue the thousands of Americans who live each morning normally and then die in a gun crime later that day - with the same type of tragic obliviousness you describe - makes this thought experiment not so meaningful. Waking up, laughing, getting pissed, texting, then getting killed is something real people actually experience in vast numbers and assigning this type of existential dread to the governmental boogie man is not productive. It's been explored in lots of fiction before anyway. I think the premise here is that our priorities are all wrong - we trust evil people and waste time demonizing each other. But the utility of "being woke" (and I don't mind using a term that triggers people) is that abstract problems are not as important as tangible, everyday ones. I don't think this piece advances the health of our society.