an absurdity-based reality

i imagine the word “reality”, when used, implies some baseline in agreement or objective consensus. or perhaps some kind of truth in being.

but lately, it seems reality has taken a sharp right turn into the absurd. i think, ladies and gentlemen, that while pink may be the new black, absurdity is the new reality.

it’s not just that Hank Paulson wants to push through a plan in which he can make decisions unchecked and unchallenged. or that our army crossed into Pakistan and started shooting or that politicians fly to natural disaster sites, lying about aid. it’s not just  a war with Iraq based on lies. or the lie of medicare and tax cuts. seriously, there was a time when i could click off all the outrages. but i’m buried in them now. and i can’t seem to excavate them all.

but maybe you get my drift. it’s the entire fucking package. i keep thinking that, as each new lie enforces absurdity in the great collective reality, there will be a tipping point. when people will take to the streets. or demand a recall of Congress. will this story be absurd enough to get people in the streets?

Older Americans with investments are among the hardest hit by the turmoil in the financial markets and have the least opportunity to recover.

now that. that is absurd, no? why would one of the largest segments of the American population, its baby boomers, not have its wealth stabilized as the first priority of any kind of bail out? why? in what universe does that make sense? in what economy should that be allowed as reality?

perhaps it is absurd to even ask: BUT then who gets the fucking bailout money???????????????????  

what’s really absurd is to continue talking about any bail out that does not address main street’s losses.

this is absurd: Harry Reid talking business as usual. How does he have the nerve to talk like this?

“Democrats in the Senate aren’t going to drag our feet,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor. “We’ll respond with the urgency of action that this situation demands, but after eight years of fiscal dereliction of duty, it’s time for accountability.”



“Should we resolve the issue in one day?” he asked. “I think not.”

where the fuck where you, harry? during these eight years of fiscal dereliction of duty? for what and to whom are you (and the rest of the no accounts in Congress) accountable? democrats aren’t going to drag their feet… it’s almost funny.

reality. i don’t know exactly what that means anymore. but if one plans on discussing going forward, my suggestion is this: maybe it’s time to move away from reality and embrace absurdity. it just might be time to stop making sense like it’s 1950 or even August 2001. a whole other mindset is required. and it is one that needs to be able to navigate absurdity.

cause we have some wild questions to face. is this part of a staged coup? is this incompetence? was it allowed to happen to wipe out money for social safety nets? there are lots of ideas and theories. and the only way to begin to  stabilize this situation is to decide who should and should not be part of the solution-making process.

any solution has to be staged, with short-term goals. because nobody, and i don’t care who they are, nobody has the long-term answers here. nobody knows exactly what will happen.

as Magnifico points out in his An alternative to bailing out Wall Street, we need to think outside the bank. not-for-profit. ha. and while we’re there, lets revert all energy back to public utilities. and how about not-for-profit health care? believe me. for some, we might as well turn the world upside down. these ideas are so blatantly absurd, but i like them.

and that, ladies and gentlemen, as absurd as it will strike the 1% of the American economy, is something worth considering.