It’s a strange world.
I, too, have been feeling the alienation that this year seems to have brought with it. To be honest, I’ve felt it my entire life, mostly in seclusion. But in this seclusion, I’ve spent more time thinking and watching others in an attempt to understand the constant changes happening around me. It seems to have only gotten worse over time.
Think back to 9/11 and the culture that once appeared dominant in this country. Not the day specifically, but the behavior of the majority of culture after the fact. Of course, there were political disagreements and conspiracies and whatnot, but something about the atmosphere was entirely different than what we are experiencing now. The majority of Americans seemed to stand together, caring for one another, mourning in unity. The nation radiated a sense of 'togetherness' and ‘belonging' that seems like a distant, almost fictional, vision of America at this point. But we knew our enemy then didn’t we? It was easy to stand together. Yet, a virus? Can there be more of an obvious enemy than that? It’s as if we’ve lost something. Something that transcends social constructs and political parties. A crucial part of our being that once defined us but is becoming more like a fading memory over time. Why is this? Is it because the media and government have lost touch with the people? Like you said, no one seems to accurately represent us. Or is it more than that? Have we lost touch with ourselves? The culture at large appears to be living in a neon society saturated by memes and emojis, masquerading as intimacy behind a metaphorical screen displaying a false sense of confidence and acceptance. This is but a fabrication, stemming from a system of corporations, dividing us into ones and zeroes, having nearly perfected the art of doping the masses with their daily dose of bullshit. Manipulating us with our own emotions, stimulating our dopamine receptors with likes, dislikes, reposts and headlines all in the name of profit. Have these technologies caused us to become strangers once more? Not just with one another but with ourselves as well; Our desire to connect, nothing but a means to an end manipulated and monopolized by algorithms that prey on the instinctive, narcissistic tendencies that prioritize the “self” or “ego” above all else.
It seems to me, that—if anything—this virus could have resulted in a moment of realization. An exploitation of the vulnerability hidden within society’s source code. For a moment, the world stopped. The stock market crashed, the economy failed and society was put on pause. If any of us took a moment to look, what would we see? Personally, I saw a system built by those just like us. Humans. Built on the nearly forgotten remnants of our mortality. I saw the unnatural patterns in our social constructs and institutions. I saw that humans are simply “human”—only caught up in this century’s version of reality. Did you see it? Or was it just me? Maybe I’ve spent too much time behind a computer screen. Nonetheless, I really appreciate your post, as this is something I’ve been struggling with for quite some time.
Incidentally...
I’m reminded by a quote from A Scanner Darkly by PKD: “What does a scanner see?...I mean, really see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does a passive infrared scanner like they used to use...see into me - into us - clearly or darkly? I hope it does...see clearly, because I can't any longer these days see into myself. I see only murk. Murk outside; murk inside. I hope, for everyone's sake, the scanners do better. Because...if the scanner sees only darkly, the way I myself do, then we are cursed, cursed again and like we have been continually, and we'll wind up dead this way, knowing very little and getting that little fragment wrong too.”