Perhaps being an ignoramus is indeed bliss. Especially in a Fools’ Paradise, which some compelling, but not entirely credible, types claim is what our planet has become. In this blasé and not-so-brave new world, it is not necessarily the height of folly to be foolish. It might even be for the best to be a top-of-the-drawer numbskull who has sworn off all forms of intelligence to better endure the travesty that is life.
Take the global warming crisis for instance. George RR Martin fans are not the only ones waiting in vain for The Winds of Winter, his long-awaited book, for their Game of Thrones fix, which it is hoped will make amends for the large-scale trauma inflicted on the unwary by that disastrous final season of the infamous show. This year has remained face-meltingly warm in October, which is definitive proof that global warming is not a conspiracy theory eco-warrior nuts pulled out their grass-fed backsides, but an unfolding reality. The intellectuals would, no doubt, have ingenious and commensurately mind-numbing solutions for averting an end-of-the-world crisis, but it is better to ignore it in favour of doing something more enjoyable like whiling away rapidly dwindling time by logging in endless hours on handheld devices. Whoever said fools have more fun was not kidding.
The heat must be getting to everyone. It could explain why Russia and Ukraine have been slugging it out without a definitive outcome barring the burgeoning body count. Hard as that was to stomach for those invested in world peace, things worsened when a deadly terror strike launched by Hamas escalated into a full-blown catastrophe with Israel, receiving carte blanche from powerful allies like the US and UK to engage in genocide and ethnic cleansing, which is what they have been doing to lesser and greater degrees for decades with impunity. Brainiacs with a firm grasp of the geopolitical situation and awareness that Hezbollah is not a euphemism for Hamas, would have some inkling on how best to restore peace. But for the rest of us dingbats, it makes more sense to tune into the Cricket World Cup because it hurts too much to see children slaughtered and civilians die en masse with the ringing endorsement of the so-called civilised world.
Speaking of cricket, while the performance of the Boys in Blue has been most heartening, the jingoistic misbehaviour of some of the home crowd evidenced during the matches against Pakistan and Bangladesh has been less so. Smart folks have been equating this with the hyper-muscular Hindutva nationalism prevalent today, but the fool’s move has been to dwell on preferred reality shows between matches and mine the harrowing footage of tragedy live-streamed worldwide for vacuous entertainment. Exploitation, intrusion, and voyeurism have become the opiate of the moronic masses because it allows you to snicker at suffering rather than become a part of it. Long live the dunces.
Anuja Chandramouli
Author and new age classicist
anujamouli@gmail.com