Nature of the Real Crisis

I have argued that humans are, above all, myth-making animals.

We are story-tellers, par excellence.

Stories about who we are, who Others are.

Cultural stories, religious stories, racial stories, et. al.

No, we don’t All get to  make up myths.

That’s for some, only.

The few, the proud, the ruling castes: they do it all - for us.

And we lap it up, faster than they can ladle it.

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The most outstanding myths pertain to  the dominant tropes in economics, politics,  and religion: the three prime  domains of societal governance.

In our  own society, they go, more or less,  thus.

In the first, laissez-faire, and free trade have taken, thus  far,  pride of place; in the second, democracy, equality,  etc.,  occupy public attentions in the last, it’s a  renewed ,  recharged , latter-day evangelism that has moved from the fringe to the center,  in recent times.

The most powerful  may well be the last, whose longevity will be  a telling index of our critical intelligence,  or lack thereof.

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So,  when such  myths work, society trundles on under the guise of ‘normalcy’.

But when they don’t , there is a rift within the lute.

That’s where we are today.

The negation of any one of the myths listed would be bad enough, but we live

In times where all three are,  quite obviously ,  tottering.

The economy  itself – not just its myths - went down in 2008, and has never really recovered (despite  much propaganda to the contrary ).

The polity has exposed its oligarchical nature blatantly, even defiantly.

From rigged elections,  to voter- registration fraud,  and  big-time lobbying  monies in  Congress, the veils have been brutishly  ripped (with only 6% expressing any faith in it, about the same level as  in official Media).

Only the intellectually-challenged still sustain the idea that we subsist in a working democracy.

Religion has also taken a tumble: the Church  of Rome  has shown itself to be a sanctum for  malignant abuse, of various kinds; the Southern Baptists  appear to  be not far behind.

Religious bigotry has, further  polarized communal discord: far from being an opiate, it is now a powerful amphetamine, which only adds to the rifts.

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To sum up: we face a generalised crisis of legitimacy in Western societies.

The old bromide  is wearing  thin: the new power-elites seem to lack the maturity to wish to stabilize public opinion, being  quite content  to resort to  the more familiar , if hoary,  ploys of divide et impera.

As the old adage has it, Caesar’s wife must not only be  chaste, but needs also be above suspicion.

Who, in power today, can wear that latter  crown of laurels?

No one.

We live  with Unscalable Corruption (is $21 trillion enough to scale it? That’s what went ‘unaccounted for’ ,  within but a few years in the DOD).

There is – apparently - nothing one can pin faith on.

Except, perhaps,  a little noticed quirk in our natures.

We putatively ‘higher’ mammals – good, bad, and ugly -  seem to yet  nurture a craving for  a higher truth, despite being immersed, daily,  in a treacherous world of lies.

It’s odd, but true.

That might account for the legions of ‘truthers’ that are on  the internet , night and day, globally, arguing against the stream.

In the long run – if such a state  exists at all,  given the various extinctions we face: of war, atomic weapons,  and climate change -  I think they are likely to prevail.

For Critical Insights, once released , may not be , easily, crammed back into Pandora’s Box.

And  Power, without Legitimation, lacks  lasting potency.

Whence, the good old days may be  gone – for good.

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So,  if you are a toady or a humbug, or a gull  or a shill, of a teetering  system,  you are simply  out of luck.

For truth, like murder, methinks, will ‘out’.

That’s what wannabe Caligulas – of which there is  no dearth -  also  need to know.

[©R.Kanth, 2019]