Pandemic #5 - The Fate of Sisyphus
Will we never stop rolling the ball uphill?
Sisyphus (or Sisyphos) is a figure from Greek mythology who, as king of Corinth, became infamous for his general trickery and twice cheating death. He ultimately got his comeuppance when Zeus dealt him the eternal punishment of forever rolling a boulder up a hill in the depths of Hades.
Notice that Zeus wasn’t content with having Sisyphus just continuously roll a ball uphill? He condemned him to continuously roll a ball uphill IN THE DEPTHS OF HADES!
This ancient story seems an appropriate reference now at the beginning of August 2020. Like a twisted “Groundhog Day” movie, we are doomed now to just keep rolling the ball uphill into the foreseeable future. The United States of America, the most powerful nation on earth, has been brought to its knees by hubris and abandonment of leadership in the face of a seemingly never-ending cycle of sickness and death.
We know what to do. Others have done it. But we seem incapable of following the template, incapable of having the fortitude and courage to do even the simplest of things. And the lack of effective leadership just exacerbates the whole problem. No one is telling us what we must do. They are ‘suggesting’ and ‘encouraging’ and ‘advising’– but NO ONE is making us do it.
I guess that’s a bridge too far for Americans who would rather fight to keep all their guns than demand decent health care; who would rather put themselves and their families at risk by attending a crowded political rally in order to come as close as they can to their “god” Trump. It’s all playing out as an example of the Madness of Crowds
There is a tsunami of trouble coming. Especially when it gets colder and the seasonal flu returns its yearly visitation on us. And then, as winter descends, we are forced inside where germs recirculate and become even more infectious.
The Democrats have had their convention and tried to soft-sell Americans on a more “empathetic” America. I swear to God, I must have heard that word at least 150 times over the past week. Do we really think that you’re going to change the minds of fearful gun-toting yahoos out in the stix (I meant that pun- you know, the river Styx?). Do they even know what the word “empathetic” means?
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign puts up a new video on Twitter that’s all about the strong-man, the strong-military, and the strong-police force. Trump yells out his message and sounds more like a Soviet-style dictator than an American president.
Looks like the beginnings of an authoritarian state a-coming.