Addicted 2 Doom
I recently received a comment on one of my TikTok videos from the holy man himself, Jesus the Christ.
Lord have mercy on my soul🙏🏻
The video describes how the collective loss of household net worth over the last six months was worse than the 2008 financial crisis.
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Now since you’re subscribed to this newsletter(we just hit 100 subscribers btw, thank you!!!), I assume that you are somewhat ‘tuned in’ and aware of the seismic shifts taking place in the world.
The Empire is crumbling before our very eyes. Suffering, although inseparable from human nature, seems magnified. Many souls are leaving this world, not wishing to stick around to see what becomes of it.
And we get to watch it all from our cool, chill, and overall good vibes iPhones that lurk in our pockets 24/7!
Doomscrolling
Since the beginning of the pandemic, and arguably, since 9/11, people have been waiting for something.
The end of the world, Doomsday, the advent of a transhumanist panopticon, nuclear annihilation, economic destruction, ALIENS; the dystopian rabbit hole is never-ending.
Peculiarly, these dystopian fetishes are percolating while our chances of being violently murdered are lower than at any time in history, all our basic needs are met, and we are each wealthier than the richest kings and billionaires of 100 years ago.
Don’t believe me? Which would you prefer: having a billion dollars, but having to shit in a bucket and empty it into the streets, or having 60k dollars and modern plumbing?
The Kings of old didn’t even have refrigerators😂 fukin losers!
We have solved survival.
Uber Eats? Ever consider what a Neanderthal would think of that? Oh, so you just press A BUTTON and FOOD comes to your door? Yes. We are gods to them.
But this begs the question: if we are gods, why are we unhappy?
Why are we addicted to doom?
Why do we spend hours scrolling social media, feasting on man-made horrors beyond our comprehension?
One could argue that evolution selected for high levels of pessimism and paranoia, for they were winning strategies in neolithic times.
But are we really so naturally pessimistic? Or do Big Tech algos with subversive intentions program us to stay in a constant state of fear and anxiety, to make us easier to control?
Now that sounds a little paranoid.
Either way, despite all my spiritual training, meditation, yoga, non-attachment; I cannot help but be subsumed by the darkness every now and then.
The only solution I’ve found thus far is to simply delete it all.
The problem with that, however, is that I genuinely enjoy certain aspects of social media.
The community, the memes, the petty arguments, it’s so funny to watch.
This video of Garfield shooting Wallace from the hit British stop-motion comedy, Wallace and Gromit, after Wallace got savagely beaten by the Pink Panther in the street is a perfect example of the shit I see on a daily basis:
I also learn a ton. The smartest minds in the world are all on Twitter. And they put out great content, FOR FREE!
That’s what gets me. I am rooted in the era of my birth. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
Yea- though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
-Psalm 23
The goal of my life is to die before I die. To become immortal and then die. To transcend the ego and absolve myself of suffering.
Of course I was born now. Of course I get triggered scrolling social media. And of course, it’s my duty to stop, look at myself, relax my shoulders, and let the fear and anxiety melt off me.
I cannot think of a better way to become more conscious.
So perhaps a little doomscrolling is what we all need every now and then. Perhaps one cannot call it bad, for it may lead back to goodness. It’s funny to pontificate on these things, because there is no other way for them to be, except for the way they are.
😉
Thanks for taking the time to read this edition of Split.
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