I’ve been alive nor for nearly 70 years. That’s pretty damned lucky, as I see it. I have outlived my three older brothers who died at ages 58, 68 and 69. Young people have a fear of aging. I know I did. But it is not so bad – I rather enjoy it. I am retired now, and busy all day every day with new projects. I rise in the morning knowing that no one on the planet can make any demands of me. That is just pleasant. I wish for all of you that you reach this stage of life, and enjoy it as I am enjoying it.
Physically, I am not a specimen – maybe that is one of the fears of aging. People don’t want to look like this:
Poor Jack. It appears that at a certain point he just gave up. I am surprised he is not wearing sweatpants.
I see that with aging. I attended our fiftieth high school reunion in 2018, and oh my, the blossoming bodies there. There were two girls I had dated back then … phew! Dodged a bullet! The prettiest girl in our class still lit up a room with her smile, but her body was a newer 3X version. It happens, I suppose, maybe beyond control for some.
I will speak only of myself – in 2011 I found that I was gaining weight, something that had never before been a concern. We went to a Chomsky lecture in Boulder, and having procured the last two available seats high in the balcony, I found it difficult to fit my fat ass in between the arms.The next morning I told my wife that changes were in the works, that I was going to lose that extra weight.
I got hold of a book by Gary Taubes called Good Calories Bad Calories. It’s a tome, 640 pages – but that’s me. I read stuff like that. It’s not a diet book. It contains no recipes. It is merely a recitation of the well-known but obfuscated science of nutrition. The changes I needed to make were actually easy to implement, though they sound draconian. I gave up pizza, fruit juice, cookies, donuts, chips, candy, pasta, beer – anything carbohydrate-based. I substituted eggs, meat, cheese, nuts, all fat and protein-based. White wine has but three or four carbs per glass.
In so doing two things happened: One, I was never hungry, and ate regularly without suffering crashes; two, my body changed from a sugar-burning to a fat-burning organism. I was in ketosis (incidentally, the source of the word “Keto” in that diet fad). Within three months I lost 22 pounds. We walked half of the Tour du Mont Blanc that summer, and while I was not in as good shape as I am now, I felt a new lightness. I could even run uphill (my knees, which I messed up by too much jogging, don’t allow flat or downhill running).
Keeping the weight off proved problematic until I understood that I was not to be “on a diet.” I permanently changed the way I eat. I am now at my desired weight as we enter the summer mountain climbing* season.
That’s not why I sat down here. But I’ll make the point anyway – to a large degree we are in charge of our lives, our appearance, our personalities. We are always able to make changes when changes are needed. We have free will. No one can take it away from us.
And that brings me to why I sat down here. The Covid-19 hoax has caused some depression among those of us in the population who can see through it. What power! It creates a sense of helplessness. It also creates some magical thinking, people saying the virus is new and invented and dangerous, a “bioweapon.” It is none of those things. I am convinced it does not even exist.
I have repeatedly told people, even on Facebook before I shut down my account, that the virus made its way to this country by hiding under the on/off button of TV remote controls made in China. Don’t touch that button, you will not get sick. The virus is called “fear.” It is being deliberately spread by the pretty vapid talking heads who read teleprompters on TV screens. That is all it is, an induced panic. Those people are not hired because they are smart or know anything important. They are hired because they are (generally) good looking and project an image of trustworthiness as they tell their lies. They are otherwise very stupid. If that were not the case, their consciences would compel them to choose another line of work.
We cannot help but be affected by the fallout from their lies, market crashes, toilet paper disappearance, a run on hamburger and shut down of gyms and restaurants. That’s beyond our control. But we can just live normal lives. We can ignore their orders about quarantine and gatherings. Our daughter-in-law is under fourteen-day self-quarantine for daring to leave the country and return. I invited her and that whole family here for an ‘illegal’ gathering, and they accepted. If the virus is spread by touching playing cards, we will all soon die.
We have had a heavy snow storm here in the mountains above Denver yesterday and last night. I notice something I’ve not seen in our ten years here – they have not bothered to plow our road. That affects us as it limits our ability to get out and about. But we have petroleum-fueled four-wheel drive vehicles, so I’ll venture out today, if only to visit the grocery store; if only to make the point that I still come and go as I please and do not pay any attention to any edict that is within my control to ignore.
There is pessimism about, as if this pandemic of fear is something new and that the fallout might be permanent. Maybe a thing or two – maybe there will be forced vaccinations, a massive violation of illusory civil liberties. I came of age in the sixties. You want to talk about fear? We kids were put through drills designed to frighten us. We were told that the Russians were going to shoot missiles at us. People put underground shelters in their back yards, complete with guns to murder neighbors who might try to enter during an attack. TV was relatively new, but the Cuban Missile Crisis scared the bejeesus out of us. We wept into our pillows as we heard that JFK was gunned down in broad daylight. Imagine us as kids with all of that weighing us down. All of it fake.
Imagine a six-year-old watching that! It was shameless, but when it comes to State of Fear, they have no conscience. Columbine was a hoax, just like the above video, designed to scare children. Frightened kids become frightened adults. Do you, like me, see fear all about? That fear button can be pressed at any time.
Yikes! That is really scary. Fear works on me too. I am not immune.
Fear is a governing tool. The antidote is simple: Stop being afraid. What can they do? There is a limit to the amount of psychological stress they can impose on the population. Soon enough it breaks people down and manifests in odd forms, family squabbles, public displays of erratic behaviors, loss of interest in the pleasures of life, including eating and sex. Drinking and drug use increases, antidepressants are “over”-used, as if any use is normal behavior. We become less useful as worker bees. They cannot let that happen.
They will ease up soon, and proclaim that all their draconian measures saved us. Stupid people will believe them. Others will internalize doubt, as that doubt is not allowed public expression except among close friends and family. Just as I now know that the Cold War was fake, that there were no missiles or Missile Crisis, that the Soviet Union and United States were best buddies, that JFK went off to live on a Greek island, I cannot say such things in mixed company without producing eye-flashes and mild ostracism. If I keep up, it becomes full and complete ostracism.
This too shall pass. Restaurants and bars and gyms will soon open. Markets will bounce back. People will still watch their TVs. This fascinating phenomenon will repeat where even as we know they lied in the past, future lies will be believed again, and again. That is the power of that hypnotic medium. Thus has it alwasy been.
*We walk up trails to mountain tops. “Mountain climbing” sounds exotic.
Piece of Mindful 
Thank you for this.
LikeLike
Greetings Mark & good morning. Excellent post. I was at the beach yesterday, & it was full. No face masks or “social distancing”. The nearby bars were doing a booming business. Just lots of people enjoying perfect weather in Paradise. Coronavirus? Bah, humbug!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, you’re lucky the controllers in your location haven’t ordered all your bars, restaurants, gyms, sport centres, theatres and cinemas to shut down.
LikeLike
Oh, it is coming. Colorado is a Military/Intelligence hotbed.
LikeLike
Greetings: I did notice a number of helicopters scoping the beach out when I was there last Wednesday (there are two military bases nearby – one is Army, the other Navy). I suppose we must have looked like we were having too much fun. TPTB rectified that. ALL beaches are now closed “temporarily”. I was ordered off the beach yesterday by a local cop; I got mouthy with him – something I don’t ordinarily do – & told him to “bite me”, among other things “Look”, he responded, “I don’t make the rules, but I do have to enforce them.” (Classic Nuremberg defense?) So, I’ll sneak on today & keep my eyes peeled for the patrol buggies & helicopters. Hurricane season’s coming. I can hardly wait to see what sadistic surprises are in store for us this year,
LikeLike
Thanks, Mark. And if I may, I also want to thank our friend Patrick for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDTvdVbwxLA
LikeLike
Very nice bit of writing there Mark.
I do wish you and the Mathis man could get together and bury the hatchet. Together the cause would be so much stronger . You are both excellent thought provoking writers and seemingly on the same side. More power to your pen.
LikeLike
There is no hatchet.
LikeLike
I also want to reiterate for all the people who still disagree and say that something “real” is happening…it is not. What is the most common story we see? “_______ has no symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19.” This is not the work of some real phenomenon. If you had a magic wand and could just completely erase the media hype and the quarantines, you would be left with the same society that we always had. All would be well. Does this sound like a real pandemic to you?
Mark said it best, “…the virus made its way to this country by hiding under the on/off button of TV remote controls made in China. Don’t touch that button, you will not get sick.”
God-damn right.
LikeLike
Damn right. And what was that “same society that we always had..?” Needles (vaccines) and martial law, as I’m recalling. I may be mis-remembering, but I don’t think so. No Strawberry Fields Forever; more like Dante’s Hell, or open-air debtor’s prison. Of course, as always, just one man’s opinion.
LikeLike
I just hope they don’t do the forced vaccinations. I’ve gone 14 years not vaccinating my children and they’re healthy as can be. Been ridiculed for sure but have held strong. Mark, do you feel the “fear” of vaccines being bad is also just manufactured. Meaning do you think they are harmless?
LikeLike
Great post, Mark!
One part I particularly liked is the reminder that this is the “same as it ever was.”
You mention:
1) They scared us with the fake Cold War
2) They’ll scare us again, and even many of those who “know better” will fall for it, again.
As John Le Bon says, this is just how most humans are.
As Miles Mathis says, even with MILLIONS of Americans perfectly aware that we never went to the moon, there are no protests over the U.S. governments NEW expensive taxpayer-funded plans to pretend to go BACK to the Moon!
And I say that even those who KNOW the government and mass media regularly lie to us, tend to believe in this “Virus Crisis,” if for no other reason than to “just be on the safe side.”
We are stuck here in the present, and here in the present it is easy to be in awe of the power of propaganda now on display. But Mark gives a great reminder. The propaganda was even MORE successful in the pre-internet era. And the propaganda will be successful again next year. Even AFTER people realize that this panic was wild overkill, they are STILL going to stock up on Purell and toilet paper next October, getting ready for ANOTHER “deadly” cold and flu season.
Rather than despair, let us be joyful. Like Mark, let us play cards free from fear! And let us observe our fellow man with charity, with pity, with interest, and with love. Yes, people are illogical, easily tricked, and easily spooked. That’s not new, and it’s not a tragedy. It’s just a fact. And yes, TPTB are propagandists and liars and fearmongers. And that’s not new either.
But understanding these things gives us superpowers. We understand that there is nothing to fear but fear itself. Let’s enjoy our freedom from fear!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was at Big R this morning to pick up some bird feed, as feeding them is still allowed (no more than six birds on one feeder). I noticed a sign that puts a limit on the amount of ammunition can be bought. I asked the clerk if there was a run on that and he signed and said “Oh yes.” Then he laughed and said that people must be worried that someone is going to threaten to steal their toilet paper.
Then he said, in seriousness, that his Dad is a frozen food distributor and serves all of the King Soopers in our area. One of them called the police to guard their employees as a truckload of toilet paper was unloaded.
Does everyone recall that back in the old Soviet Union, toilet paper was always in short supply?
LikeLike
About ten years ago, I dreamt that Christopher Nolan’s latest Batman movie was being projected onto the sky via new technology. People rode helicopters to the roofs of tall buildings, wore ear-pieces and special glasses, and watched the movie projected in the night sky above. My helicopter pilot was Nolan himself, and he was pleasant enough, even eager to share his movie with the world, but I felt a vague apprehension about him. When I got to the roof, I found I didn’t have the ear-pieces or glasses… maybe they were sold out, or I didn’t have the money, or I wasn’t interested, I don’t remember. Looking up, I could see faint traces of Batman and other characters flitting like mirages of gods in the sky, but I couldn’t hear them or follow the story, and I felt vaguely sickened watching all the people around me staring up at the action, enraptured.
I hadn’t thought of that dream in years, but it came rushing back to me when I went to the store yesterday and saw a woman wearing a breathing mask as the store’s loudspeakers asked everyone to keep six feet away from each other and please don’t sneeze in anyone’s direction. It was surreal. But I wasn’t depressed, or amused, or contemptuous or angry. I felt quite light, actually. This post beautifully captures the feeling of freedom I feel.
Our leaders can play their fear dramas on the screen of the world, but I don’t have to put in the ear-pieces and glasses. I’m lucky to know this.
LikeLike
Very cool dream, and great sentiment. Thanks for sharing.
LikeLike
This just in: The CDC has issued an order commanding that the word “gullible” be removed from all online dictionaries.
LikeLike
And now the dilemma… do I google this to see if it’s true and be exposed as gullible myself, or assume it’s a joke? Damn you, Mark.
LikeLiked by 2 people
They did change the definition of “vaccine”, however. I don’t know about gullible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.
LikeLike
As optimistically and creatively™ I see the world (my world, not the Clownworld), this “challenge” to our vocabulary only provides us with an amendment, making it even stronger.
We “all know” that man, let’s call him Sam, at family reunions or birthday parties who is a bit too obnoxious, a bit too bragging, a bit too believing and a bit too annoyingly going from attendee to the next bringing in his gullibility to others and not awaiting answers*.
I’d call Uncle Sam seagullible
sea gulling
™ *elk nadeel heb ze voordeel – the great and only Johan Cruijff
LikeLike
Thanks Mark!.. Do we read the global body count as what would be normally acceptable during cold and flu season but instead they are just attributing these deaths to the Woo-Floo? Or do you guys feel these numbers are padded as well?
Funny not hearing much anywhere about Russia in all this. (only 253 cases, 1 death). Are they not necessarily following the same cdc/who/un party line being force fed to EU and to us here in North America?
LikeLike
Not much from Russia, not much from India. I just read the abstract of a study on flu deaths that puts the midpoint for the last three years for worldwide deaths at 389,000, with a large margin on either side, probably 95% confidence, maybe less. For all those deaths, which are not unusual in number, not one storefront was closed, or one roll of toilet paper hoarded.
Oops! Forgot link … https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6815659/
LikeLike
My guess is both. Perfectly natural deaths being wrongly attributed to this new boogeyman, mixed with some cases of truly just made-up numbers.
LikeLike