Welcome to mid-July 2026 when Canadian wildfire smoke lies upon us, The Atlantic reports that we are entering a post-literate age when books and serious, in depth reading will become the pleasure and skill-set of a tiny part of the American population, where twice as many people placed a bet last year as read even 1 book, where ICE death squads roam the nation killing as freely as Murder Inc., and responsible news outlets continue their reporting as if this country is not ruled by lunatics and oligarchs who dispense evil literally hour by hour. As always, Shakespeare, soon to be fully relegated to an easily digestible idiot proof contemporary idiom, had it right – “Each new morn, new widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows strike heaven on the face,” but not the Christian Nationalist Heaven where such violence is greeted with satisfaction and a desire for more. Are they not entertained?
Thus we continue our slide toward the newest Dark Age.
However, be not afraid because fear is pointless anyway. We should still greet strangers as if the ancient rules of hospitality apply, as if the Good Samaritan’s act was an absolute good. That means all strangers by the way, not just the fashionably white ones.
It is one by one that we show our determination to be decent human beings and to say that we will hang on to our conscience to the bitter end or until the beginning of something better.
I remain an optimist in spite of the present moment because .. well hell, I don’t know, out of pure stubbornness maybe or perhaps because doom is such an easy, cynical escape, or because I refuse to be dominated by hatred.
So go out into the world, yes, smile at those you meet, welcome the miraculous day. Look at this – you are still walking the planet! One more thing, read a book, please, read a bloody book.
