I’ve been around a while, not the whole of human history, but long enough, and I don’t recall the world ever being this stupid.

But why, how did we get this way?

And I know, I know, that’s a complaint as old as time. Old generations think the young generation is lazy or stupid or listens to bad music and doesn’t drink from the garden hose.

Like Socrates saying that books will be the end of thought, people in the late 20th century insisting television rotted your brain, and the early 21st century where real connoisseurs watched the golden age of television while nimrods watched superhero movies and YouTube. And of course, today, where only the idiots watch TikTok.

This isn’t that. This isn’t ‘these kids are outta control’.

Remember the Jetsons (this matters, trust me)? They lived in 2062, not that far off. And they had flying cars, robot maids, short work weeks, and the planet was so destroyed they had to live in buildings on top of stilts that went to the ground.

We’re only 36 years away and all we’re going to have is a destroyed planet.

We’re working longer, making less, and most of the world is surviving paycheck to paycheck, if they’re lucky.

And maybe that’s the problem-- we don’t have the time to be smart.

Who can read a book when you spend 15 hours a day at work (including your commute)? Who can afford to pay the ever-increasing fees to watch television when you’re paying $2500 a month for a single room apartment?

Our brains are allowed to grow in the space they’re given and right now, they have no space to grow. We’re so busy surviving the chaos that we don’t have time to use our brains.

So, what do we do about it?

Why are you asking me, I’m stupid too.

There’s a quote from (PRESTIGE TELEVISION ALERT) The Wire that always resonated with me. A character realized the whole system was rigged.

Whatever choice he was about to make, he was going to lose.

And his wife said to him without missing a beat:

“You cannot lose if you do not play.”

And that has stuck with me.

Tired of being (ANOTHER WIRE REFERENCE ALERT) a pawn? Then take yourself off the board- whatever that means to you. Go live in the woods or reduce your consumption.

Stop seeing your own humanity through the prism of the system.

You can’t be sacrificed for the benefit of the King if you choose not to play.

And that bullshit about becoming a Queen if you can make it to the end of the board?

Yeah, good luck with that.

The pieces on the back of the board don’t want more Queens. They want you to think that with hard work and gumption and elbow grease you can make it to the top.

Except they’re using you as a human shield and most of us don’t see it.

In a country where we literally have enough for everyone to pursue their academic and artistic goals, we’re forced to fight for the right to survive. We’re wasting our potential and using our energy just to exist.

We hear the success stories, no doubt. We all look up to Ben Carson for overcoming so much and becoming the greatest brain surgeon in history.

But why are we making the greatest brain surgeon in history overcome anything?

How many other brain surgeons and writers and engineers were left behind in that Detroit school system because they couldn’t “overcome”?

In 1962 we imagined a world where we worked less and had a robot as our maid. In 2062 it is very likely that the average American will work longer than ever as a maid.

If they’re lucky enough to even have a job.

So… are we stupid because we need to be?

Honestly, after writing all of that out, I’d almost rather be stupid than think this. I’d rather build golf courses in Utah, eat Dubai chocolate and live next door to an AI datacenter than face the truth about how truly fucked we are.

Editor’s Note: “These kids are outta control” was also a Wire reference. I’m aware I may have a problem.

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