What To Call Our Era?
It sometimes happens that writers and poets can capture the zeitgeist, or spirit, of a particular era in just a word or pithy phrase. Novelist Edith Wharton, for example, called the late Victorian era “the Age Of Innocence.” French writer Charles Peguy spoke of the period from 1871-1914 as “la belle epoch.” The poet W. H Auden called the 20th century the “Age of Anxiety.” Writer Tom Wolfe referred to baby boomer self absorption in the 1970s calling them the “ME generation,” and, later, referred to the extravagant 80’s as the “bonfire of the vanities.” Even many years later we can see how true these appellations were.
Well, dear readers, it’s time for yours truly to take a shot at it too. How should I label the current era? What term captures the essence of this period in time?
Initially I considered “The Age Of Chaos.” However, while there can be no doubt that much about our current era is chaotic, I’m not enthusiastic about that term, simply because there have been many eras MUCH MORE chaotic than our own. World War I (where FORTY MILLION perished) and II (SEVENTY FIVE MILLION) were, obviously, incomprehensibly chaotic. The revolutionary upheavals in Russia (TWENTY MILLION dead), China (FORTY MILLION dead), Cambodia (TWELVE MILLION dead) and elsewhere, were catastrophically chaotic. So, no matter how chaotic our times may seem, they don’t hold a candle to the rampant chaos of times gone by.
I also considered “The Age of Uncertainty.” And, while there’s no question that a certain degree of uncertainty prevails in our era, it does not match the scope and depth of uncertainty during many eras in the past. Few people, at least in Western Civilization, are today uncertain, for example, that they’ll starve to death, as was the case in early 60s China (when the famine caused by Chairman Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” killed THIRTY MILLION), late 1990s North Korea (when famine killed THREE AND A HALF MILLION) or 1840s Ireland (when the potato famine killed over ONE MILLION). And, unlike the 1950s “Cold War” America, people today are less afraid that nuclear brinkmanship will wipe out all of humanity (a very realistic fear during those times, I recall). For these reasons, I won’t choose “the Age of Uncertainty” either. But, after some consideration, ladies and gentlemen, I think I’ve got it.
Without further adieu, therefore, I will christen our current era, “The Age of Irony.”
Wikipedia defines “irony” as an event or condition that differs wildly from what is thought to be true or is expected to be true or wished to be true. The gist of the term is illustrated, quite nicely, in a song titled “Ironic” from 1996 by singer Alanis Morissette:
It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
It’s the good advice that you just didn’t take
And who would’ve thought, it figures.
Anyway, if one looks around at our society, and our world, we see they are REEKING with irony. Examples are not hard to find.
In regard to the COVID pandemic, we’re told by Democrats again and again that we must “follow the science.” They seem completely unaware that the so-called “scientific” pronouncements on COVID-19 have been wrong at least as often as they have been right:
1) Chinese scientists maintained, in January of 2020, that the virus did not spread person to person, only animal to person. WRONG.
2) Chinese scientists then claimed that the origin of the pandemic was a “wet market” not a Level Four (maximum security) virology lab, just blocks away, that was working on that very virus at the time! WRONG.
3) World Health Organization (WHO) scientists claimed, in January 2020, that travel bans from China were not needed. WRONG. They were ESSENTIAL.
4) WHO scientists then claimed that fever was a tell tale indicator of having COVID. WRONG. Only 10% of people with COVID have fevers, and less that 0.1% of people with fevers have COVID.
5) Early on, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scientists said that masks would INCREASE the chances of getting COVID because people would frequently touch their faces to adjust the mask. WRONG. Masks have been proven to radically reduce spread of the virus, and the CDC subsequently REVERSED their initial recommendations.
6) CDC scientists once said that COVID would attack only the lungs. WRONG. It is now known to affect every tissue in the body.
7) The Chief Medical Officer for the city of New York, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, claimed there was “no need” to avoid Chinatown during Chinese New Year. WRONG. China Town is known to have spread the virus.
8) The CDC cautioned that the virus was spread on surfaces. WRONG. It turns out that surface contagion is rare for COVID and over 95% of COVID spread is airborne.
9) Multiple science “experts” claimed that the drug hydroxychloroquine was ineffective against COVID and dangerous. WRONG. Several studies have shown that it IS effective and is NOT dangerous.
So, claiming the inviolability of COVID science when so many of its pronouncements have been so very wrong? How ironic!
My next example involves a group we’ve heard quite a bit from over the last four years: ANTIFA. With unbridled irony, these people refer to themselves as ANTI fascists, despite the fact that their modus operandi is straight out of the playbook of the original fascist “brown shirts” of Nazi Germany. Like the original fascists they use violence and intimidation to terrorize the populace. Like the original fascists they take pains to identify and shame “enemies” (what we call “doxing” today). Like the original fascists, Antifa abjures free speech and acts to suppress it whenever they can. Like the original fascists, Antifa harasses and threatens individuals who don’t share their views. Like the original fascists they protest and demonstrate and riot when necessary. So, having the gall to call themselves ANTI fascists while using every strategy from the fascist playbook? How ironic!
Next, the socialist group, Black Lives Matter, claims to be concerned about the loss of black life, but ignores the massive amount of black on black murder (89%, as per Wikipedia) perpetrated by anyone other than the police. Claiming that “black lives matter” while ignoring, by far, the greatest cause of their fatalities? How ironic!
Next, Democrats have the nerve to accuse President Trump of “incitement” in regard to the January Capitol riot, when his speech used only the same terms LAUDED by Democrats throughout the continuous riots of the 2020 summer? How ironic!
Next, it was frequently claimed that the Trump administration “threatened Democracy,” while Democrats, on the other hand:
1) Blocked the transparency of the voting process
2) Promoted difficult to verify methods of balloting.
3) Blocked free speech in virtually all media.
4) Punished groups they didn’t agree with via IRS audits, punitive suits, and other tactics.
5) Discouraged free speech on campus.
6) Politicized and weaponized the FBI, CIA, NSA & DOJ.
7) Spied on private citizens for political purposes (targeting the Trump campaign relentlessly).
Despite all this, the Democrats claim that it was Mr. Trump and the conservatives that threatened democracy? How ironic!
Next, one of the GREATEST ironies of our time is that Muslims, supported by tragically uninformed commentators and policy makers, ceaselessly claim that theirs is a “the religion of peace,” despite the fact that Islam has been the bloodiest force in human history (with over 270 MILLION infidels murdered during its tenure), more so, even, than communism (which “only” murdered about 100 MILLION). And, unfortunately, this fact is not just some outdated relic of the past. The last 30 DAYS, for example, have seen 140 Islamic attacks carried out in 18 countries with 635 people killed and 576 injured. In the LAST THIRTY DAYS! The statistical details, by the way, are clearly documented and available to the interested reader at:
www.thereligionofpeace.com
A religion claiming to be “peaceful,” but being responsible for the highest rates of murder in recorded history, right up until the present day? How ironic!
Next, is the claim that the discontinuation of the keystone pipeline is some kind of environmental victory despite the fact that it costs FOUR TIMES as much to move a barrel of oil a given distance via truck than it would via pipeline, and that most of that increased cost is the PETROLEUM needed for the transport (www.strata.org)! And, in regard to environmental safety, Forbes notes that “truck is worse than train worse than pipeline.” So, claiming an environmental triumph for promoting a more expensive and less environmentally safe method of petroleum transport? How ironic!
Next is the fact that the Democrats claim to LOVE our country DEARLY, despite:
1) Opening our border with little to no vetting of migrants that might be terrorists (11 Iranians were caught at the border just last week), thieves, drug smugglers, rapists, human traffickers and criminals.
2) Opening our country to immigrants from Muslim nations that won’t pledge allegiance to our flag (their allegiance is ONLY to Allah), our constitution or our laws, many of whom view their immigration as part of HIJRA, or emigration to spread Islam.
3) Opening our border to illiterate migrants that assimilate very poorly and may never hold a productive job.
4) Cowering before the military, economic and political aggression of the Chinese Communist Party.
5) Fomenting ugly demonstrations and riots.
6) Attempting to erase our Nation’s history and denigrate our leaders and heroes.
7) Encouraging anti American teaching in our schools, brainwashing our youth.
8) Encouraging disrespect of our flag and our national anthem at sporting and other public events.
9) Eliminating the pledge of allegiance requirement in our schools.
10) Promoting the elimination of cash bail, allowing the instant release of criminals back to into society!
So, after all of this, and MORE, they claim to love America? How ironic!
Next, after denigrating and partially defunding police across America, and, wonder of wonders, seeing a massive increase in murder and crime, Democrats in several major cities, INCLUDING Minneapolis, are now calling for increased police presence (and, disingenuously, blaming the police themselves, for the increase in crime). Calling for more police while defunding them? How ironic!
I could go on, but I think the reader can see my point. But, there’s one last little bit of irony I’d like to share. It involves American music icon, Bruce Springsteen. As anyone who watched the Super Bowl will recall, Springsteen was featured in a sanctimonious video spot sponsored by Jeep in which he urged Americans to move, politically, to the “middle.” He had the gall to say this despite the fact that he railed against President Trump and the conservatives for the last four years, and at one point said that he’d LEAVE AMERICA if Trump was re-elected. Hmmm… that doesn’t sound like the “middle” to me. Asking America to become moderate politically after spewing divisive jargon for four years? How ironic! But, there’s one MORE tiny bit of irony to share: the day after Springsteen’s stirring Super Bowl call for political moderation, it comes to light that, in November, he was arrested for driving his motorcycle under the influence of alcohol and driving recklessly. The arresting officer reported that Springsteen (who refused a breathalyzer test) “reeked of alcohol.” Maybe Springsteen was just “seeking the middle,” OF THE ROAD that is!
One of your most enjoyable posts! I read all of them.