Hmmm, will you humour me a while as I meditate on the state of affairs in our world?
As you may know, I am a winter Grinch. I do not care for cold temperatures, the icy grip of the wind and, in particular, the chaos a snowstorm causes on the roads. I count the weeks and days and hours until spring.
But winter does have its graces. Now that I am safely ensconced in my townhouse unit and planning to hibernate here for the duration of the weekend, I can pause to appreciate the fresh quilt of snow on the courtyard outside my window. It softens the harsh lines of barren winter and bestows a soothing peace on the land.
It is an evening that puts me in a contemplative state. The pressing issues of the times in which we live present themselves for inquiry.
Hmmm, the epidemic of sexual harassment claims against men. Where is it going to take us? I have consciously stayed away from this inflammatory subject although I find the behaviour loathsome. But it warrants a bit of musing.
Will it run its course, as media ravaged scandals usually do, and fade away when the next big story surfaces? Or have we reached a breaking point where societal norms lurch and stagger and a major step forward occurs. Will sociologists look back on this time, 10 years from now, and write papers on the unprecedented shift that occurred?
Hmmm, the trump enigma. Will he serve out a full term as U.S. president or ultimately self-destruct as so many expect him to do? And what does it say about the times in which we live that he defied the odds and was elected to the most powerful position in the world? And the $100 question: Will he actually build the wall?
I try not to be disillusioned by the Trump enigma. I relegate it to a one-time aberration that reason and wiser minds will eventually course correct. But what if I am wrong? Will sociologists look back on this time, 25 years from now, and write papers on the glorious age of Trump?
Hmmm, the apocalypse prophecies. Is our world on a crash course with days of reckoning? Seems like everyone is writing a dystopian novel these days. No fresh water left. Coastal cities under water as global warming melts the icecaps and raises ocean levels. Extreme weather conditions that wreak havoc. The fabric of ordered society fracturing until it all falls apart.
Will sociologists look back on this time, 100 years from now, and wish they could find a functioning computer to write a paper on the disastrous mistakes that lead to a world in disarray with those who hold power strangling the life from the powerless?
It is a winter night fit for musing but not, it seems, fit for reaching conclusions. Winter is both a wolf at the door and an angel incarnate. It threatens us in one breath and caresses us with the next. Winter is a state of mind and our minds have states of winter. And so it goes.
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~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.
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Tags: Donald Trump · dystopian. sociologist · meditation · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · sexual harassmentNo Comments