“One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit.” – Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit
In 2008, with the election of Obama, came the excited chatter that one of his first actions would be to close the infamous Guantanamo detention center. Even in the UK this became one of the main focal points of the already febrile anticipation of the Nobel laureate’s Presidency as he issued an executive order to close it within his first year.
Me being the fun character that I am, took it upon myself to point out to friends that this was unlikely to happen. Even going as far as to bet £50 on the outcome. There was much irritation when I won said bet (although I refused to collect).
In September 2022 I made a passing joke to some friends about the obvious cognitive decline of Joe Biden. I was told in serious tones that the topic of his senility was actually just a ploy by Republicans to undermine Biden. An entirely fabricated “talking point” concocted by one side in the never ending narrative wars. Indeed this became the stock response to any mention of Biden’s increasingly bizarre behaviour; don’t be a conspiracy theorist.
After appearing on a televised debate in which he was clearly struggling to form coherent sentences and looked to be entirely unaware of what was going on most of the time, the narrative then (almost overnight) pivoted to one of shock as to how Biden could have been this demented without anyone noticing. Calls for him to stand down were suddenly bien pensant and after an even more insane disappearing act, Biden stood down from the race for a second term just a few weeks ago (July 21st 2024).
Is this all to say I have some remarkable insight into political world events? A wiretap in Zbigniew Brzezinski’s office? An advanced degree in dementia research? No. I just refused to surrender the obvious, visible reality I could easily observe in exchange for an entirely false (although maybe more comforting) lie.
It has been building for some time now but I feel disconnect between the blatant reality we can all see and the narrative we told to believe instead is becomming alarmingly absurd at this point. The Covid restrictions served as an excellent demonstration as to how far people will comply with an obviously insane story; being told to wear a mask when walking around a restaurant but not whilst seated, or that a vaccination that neither prevented infection or transmission of a pathogen would keep others “safe” from that very pathogen were a couple of my favourite highlights. That was traded on the very last vestiges of capital the political class had, though. Today, it seems, outside of the hardcore cult members of the various party tribes (a minority of weirdos, let’s be honest), most conversations are filled with derision for the latest “official” narrative.
Assuming the governing classes don’t change tact (and I have no reason to believe they will), one can’t help but wonder what happens when a public detaches entirely from the false reality their leaders are claiming. Will we just exist in two separate realities; one in Westminster where making energy more expensive means it’s cheaper, women can have penises and increasing taxes makes everyone richer whilst everyone outside the bubble grinds on under the real world conditions brought about by these delusions? Is that even sustainable?
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