Party like it’s 1979

Published 05-13-21

Here in the South, the big news... at least on the streets... is the Colonial Pipeline shutdown and ransomware attack. A pipeline I might add, that delivers fuel to much of the South and East Coast.

Panic buying, leading to hour long lines in major metro areas and gas stations already out of fuel, combined with a lackluster government response from the Biden team is more than a little reminiscent of a Carter Administration that, thankfully, I was too young to remember.

Like most of the recent reboots coming out of our culture, it invariably will be so much worse than the original, which wasn’t all that great to begin with.

My memories of the 80’s are much better formed... but probably more than a little tainted with the optimism that only kids can have.

But I know what stagnation is. Especially in regards to the American economy.

Rising costs, decreasing dollar values and onerous regulations on every facet of daily life. Sound familiar?

This is the future that Biden voters wanted, apparently. The equity of misery should be pretty fairly applied across the spectrum, right? And that’s what matters.

Something this pipeline debacle had me thinking about while I was painting the last few days... the superficiality and performative aspect of public life.

Public narratives and crisis public relations teams hiding private malfeasance, usually hand in hand with those that are supposed to be guarding against said malfeasance... has become more of a norm than a regrettable mistake never to be repeated, no matter the cost.

I have zero trust in any of the players in this current turn of events. Public or private.

Corporate statements, especially from a company dealing with an oil leak from 8 months ago, aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. Funnily enough, I hadn’t even heard about the oil leak in North Carolina, which is still getting cleaned up.

Seems like something that should have made national news with more than a little fanfare. Especially in light of recent events.

Pushing a narrative that doesn’t pass the sniff test, let alone careful examination of the timeline Colonial is claiming, is only part of it.

As for an administration that thinks that a cyber attack on a pipeline that supplies 45% of the fuel to the East Coast is a private sector matter... well, I wasn’t expecting much, given that Biden said he wanted to ban fossil fuels.

Honestly, how did you think that Green New Deal was gonna get implemented?

•••

Public life as performance art is becoming more commonplace.

Some people might call it hypocrisy.

Just ask Apple, Nike and every other corporation dependent on actual slave labor in China, who gets applause from all the right people domestically because they tweeted “Black Lives Matter.”

All it takes is repeating catchy slogans and aligning with the proper team to get your corporate free pass to being a good global partner.

It doesn’t matter that the head of your company was preying on women for years if your donation check to the Women’s March clears. Ask Harvey Weinstein.

Maybe asking his lawyer might be easier.

Apple, no stranger to good corporate citizenship and presidential commissions, is currently trying to water down provisions on a federal labor bill to ban products built by companies using slave labor. This isn’t an isolated issue and just one component manufacturer, but seven different ones used by Apple in China.

Seven.

Apple isn’t the only tech giant with modern day slavery issues... Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft all have connections to these component manufacturers.

Puts all the “harmless” social media posts and must have phones into a little better perspective, maybe.

We’ve allowed the superficial... feeling and words... to supercede what is actually happening, and what people are actually doing.

It’s a mania.

And it’s malignant.

We’ve become more reflexive, and less critical. We have fallen to confirmation biases and propaganda alike.

We allow technicalities and parsed statements to stand in for truth.

We have an FBI that can’t stop a cyber attack on critical infrastructure or major companies tasked with critical sectors of everyday life, but has spent 5 months and untold millions to bust down the doors of random people charged with trespassing the Capitol on January 6th, sold to the public as a coup.

We talk about fixing failing infrastructure, in turn the government passes bills paying off favored donors and industry, fixing nothing and leaving more to rot.

We allow those in charge to turn us against our neighbors, so they can shield themselves from the consequences of their disastrous decisions and policies that play out in cities and towns across America.

It doesn’t lead to anywhere good, let alone the progressive utopia that the left keeps supposedly striving for.

It’s starting to look less like “Back to the Future” and more like “Escape from L.A.”

•••

The milder days of spring have arrived at our house, after a series of storms left us more than a little waterlogged over the past week.

Of course that milder weather always means more than just blooming flowers in the south.

It’s pollen season.

Specifically, cedar pollen season.

My sinuses could really use a trip to the coast right about now, pretty much any coast would do. As long as there’s no cedars in a five mile radius.

I thought our alllergies would get a reprieve after all the rain, but I think the wind just blew it all back in the air after the rain moved east.

But it sure is pretty. If only my eyes could quit watering I might actually be able to enjoy the view of wildflowers, wild strawberries, roses and jasmine that are starting to take off.

Taking a drive around the area with Vince on Monday afternoon as we ran some errands made me quite thankful that all we had to contend with this weekend were sore throats and stuffy noses though.

This last storm brought some high winds that left more than a few homes in our area with fallen trees, downed fences and damaged roofs.

And a tornado fifteen minutes north of me that left at least one business completely destroyed.

Spring in the South usually isn’t for the faint of heart, and is really just a warmup for the humidity and storms that summer brings.

While the dog is not a fan of the lightning and wind, there’s something beautiful and captivating about watching a storm roll in with lightning flashes and thunderous booms that are felt rather than just heard.

It’s awe inspiring... in its beauty and power. And it’s ferocity.