Strange World: Why People Are Getting Weirder

This is a very strange world, and getting stranger all the time. Actually, it's not the "world" that's getting stranger, it's people. Their minds are full of the most bizarre ideas. People's beliefs are becoming weirder and weirder by the day. Everyone believes their own propaganda. No one accepts the Truth. Everyone makes up their own truth, based on their own opinions, beliefs, experiences and feelings. It's illiberal - politically incorrect - to tell people they are wrong. It flies in the face of multiculturalism. It seems authoritarian and fascist. It seems to contradict free speech since if you tell people they are wrong, you are implying you want them to stop speaking. And so you do. As Pythagoras said, "Be silent, or say something better than silence."

We live in a world where every idiot must be permitted to ventilate as much as they like. Trolling is regarded as a First Amendment right.

We live in an anti-meritocratic world. People without merit shout the loudest, and command most attention. They drown out all people of merit. They drown out the Truth. Social media now gives them endless opportunities, indeed a global pulpit from which to preach their demented views. In the past, gatekeepers stood in their way. Now, technology has blasted the sentries out of the way.

It once seemed that nothing could be better than demolishing the power of the gatekeepers, who invariably worked for the elite and curated the interests of the ruling establishment, thus oppressing the people. However, the law of unintended consequences has kicked in with a vengeance. The hope was that new, smart voices that had been deliberately silenced and marginalized by the gatekeepers would now be heard. Instead, the loss of the gatekeepers has opened the floodgates to all voices, without rhyme or reason. Now we are inundated by a mindless, hateful babble, a kind of existential scream of the Idiot, of the eternal Dunce. We live in the Dunciad, the world of fools. The Troll has been let off the leash. Everything that is worst in human nature has been released. Pandora's Box has been opened, and every evil has flown out, free at last. Quality has been destroyed. Standards no longer exist.

The world consists of tribes of thugs hysterically screaming at each other and threatening each other. No one ever backs down. No one ever changes their mind. People look for the fake news that supports their cause, and reject the fake news that doesn't. Fake news you agree with is true. True news you disagree with is fake. That's the Trump Doctrine.

What a world! And don't expect any cure. All the indicators are pointing downwards. Things will get a hell of a lot worse. The strangeness has barely begun. Donald Trump is about to let the world know exactly how weird America has become.

God help us all … well, apart from the fact that "God" was humanity's first version of fake news. Humanity's assault on the Truth began with religion. The philosophers of ancient Greece were the first supporters of the Truth. But no one pays any attention to philosophers. Philosophers love wisdom. No one else does. The baying mob are enthralled by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Thank you, America. God Bless America, as the politicians insist on saying. Is God a Republican AND a Democrat? He must be if both political parties seek his blessing. What was it the Reverend Jeremiah Wright said? Oh yes … "God Damn America!" Even most Americans will say Amen to that as long as the shadow of Trumpism falls over the nation.

The lamps are going out all over America. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime. Or until Trump's gone.