Doom, Gloom, and Dogs

January 13, 2021
The Guardian: Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption

Dealing with the enormity of the problem requires far-reaching changes to global capitalism, education and equality, the paper says. These include abolishing the idea of perpetual economic growth...

Reading all of this doom and gloom during a pandemic is a bit much, even for an Illusion of Prosperity blogger. I therefore attempt an escape from reality to the relative safety of my German Shepherd puppy memories.

Wow! That actually worked? I feel so much better now. In fact, I'm barely even thinking about how our very own loser of a president recently incited violence, death, and looting at our very own U.S. Capitol.

Dog therapy for the win! Let the healing begin!!

Infectious Words

August 12, 2015
Illusion of Prosperity: The More I Listen to Donald Trump...

I can't speak for others, but the more I listen to Donald Trump the more I realize just how infectious his words are.

And when I say infectious, I don't mean irresistible and compelling in a rapidly spreading influence over me sort of way.

I mean his words give me nausea and fatigue, in a rapidly spreading influenza into me sort of way.

If only it was just influenza. Not only is the USA currently the world leader in Covid-19 deaths by a very wide margin, but we also have unemployment at historical levels, a massive increase in our national debt, and justifiable national civil unrest possibly not seen since the 1960s. Making America Great Again? Seriously?

If Trump intended “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” to ease tensions and de-escalate the civil disorder, I’d say that his strategy has failed miserably. Of course, that’s not what he probably intended his words to do. As always, I strongly suspect that he intended his words to be infectious.

Let that sink in. Sigh.

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. - John Stuart Mill, 1867

The Faces of Cabin Fever

River is at her wits’ end, desperately clinging to any sense of normalcy.



Meanwhile, Dexter has chosen to escape reality into the world of video games. Cats. Go figure.

Our pets take after their human parents.

I’m not suggesting that all we’re doing is clinging to pillows and playing video games during a pandemic. Far from it. We’ve also been walking, eating, and watching TV. In fact, we’re currently watching the local protesting and looting news going on right now in downtown Seattle. I think that’s much more than just cabin fever gone wild though.

Some have claimed there is a lot of pent-up demand due to the pandemic. Seems to be a lot of pent-up demand for justice, tear gas, burning police cruisers, and/or freshly looted Nordstrom purses and perfume.

At what point do we tire of all this winning? Sigh.