Forum / State of the Union

Chris Okum
Aug 19, 10:22pm

We have trained an entire generation of young men to act like psychopaths. We have dehumanized them and made life seem false. We have taught them how to commit mass murder through videogames, which are nothing more than immersive military exercises. The world is not real to them. It really is a simulation in their minds. You are not real to them. And they have immediate, unlimited access to weapons. What's about to happen in the United States is an actual nightmare. Run. I know this sounds too direct and hysterical, but it's something I can't figure out how to say in my stories. Run for your lives. That's what I'm trying to say to you. I like this community and the people in it,so I thought I would do a little town crying. I think the potential humiliation and ostracization is worth it. To speak like this to all of you, I feel like I'm trying to really connect in a very real way right now. So, please, take what I'm saying as seriously as you can. I know it sounds ridiculous. But you might not understand what is about to happen. Or maybe you do, Maybe I'm just reminding all of you of something you already know. I don't know. All I know is that if you feel like running now is the time to start.

Jeffrey S. Callico
Aug 21, 12:32pm

There is no longer any safe haven. Probably never was one anyway.

stephen hastings-king
Aug 21, 04:01pm

Contemporary finance capitalism (think private equity) reduces us to externalities and everything that's important to us to anecdote so I'm not sure the biggest problem is kidz socialized via recreational (and virtual) mass-murder is the biggest of our problems but maybe it is & I'm Pollyanna about it in addition to being older than dirt. My nephews are more of that generation & they aren't discernably psychotic. More noticable is that they, and all their friends, don't read.

Dianne McKnight-Warren
Aug 22, 07:05pm

Hardship is making people crazy. I read at some point in the future there will be more homeless/unhoused people than people with homes.

Erika Byrne-Ludwig
Aug 23, 05:09am

Sounds like some sort of conspiracy to me. Running. How and where. It doesn't make sense.

Darryl Price
Aug 23, 02:30pm

i say stand and fight, which is hard for me to utter, because I'm generally a peaceful person. But I'm reminded of the end Of Lord of the Rings where the Shire has been taken over by a band of evil men, even though the ring is destroyed. The hobbits, also a peaceful bunch, had to run them out of town. They immediately went back to good peaceful pursuits. We can't just let awful people, them, indiscriminately kill all the wild flowers just because they don't know what else to do with all their money but to build more monuments to emptiness and economic slavery. Come together is more than a slogan. It is a simple way of survival. Art communities thrive because they are needed. Concentrate on the ones you love, but give energies to what you really believe in. They've always gone after writers, poets and artists first. That's because we can free people's minds from false thinking. And give them something else to think about besides hate and fear.
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