We Are the Crazy

We are living in crazy times. We should know. We created them.

There is that saying that crazy people don’t know they are crazy, or that they deny they are crazy. We seem to know that about other people, but why do we believe it should not be applied to ourselves?

There has never been a time when it was not crazy. There may have been lesser crazy times, but that does not indicate that they were wholly peaceful, or gentle, or kind, or anything like that. Put us anywhere at any time on the planet, and we will create madness. Then we will complain about it. That is absolutely insane.

We complain about the planet in which we inhabit. We complain about the heat, the cold, the rain, the wind, the dryness, the storms, the hurricanes, the floods, the tornadoes. Yes, the latter three are devastating, but they are natural occurrences, and yes, the climate does change. Earth has been around millions of years before we got here, and will be here millions of years after we become extinct.

Humans are the most maladjusted creatures on this planet. We actually believe we are entitled to have the same climate forever. Then we claim we want to save it while draining its resources for massive profit. Then we deny our profound impact. Then we overpopulate it. By 2050 it is estimated there will be 10 billion people on this globe. Way to go.

And, to paraphrase the documentary Surviving Progress, progress to humans means doing more of the same – more strip malls, more mixed-use buildings, more developments, more, more, more. We are getting closer every day to running out of land and water, but we simply cannot stop ourselves.

We also justify our shortcomings. When we do something crazy, we say, well, I’m not perfect. I’m only human. Exactly. We are human, and a large component of being human is doing things that make absolutely no sense, and contribute to the harm of ourselves and the planet.

Let’s say you were an extraterrestrial, and you were assigned to study humans. This would be an objective project, correct? Cold, some would say, but correct. We are the sum total of our behaviors, you would say, a grossly flawed and complex species that is completely centered on its own survival, which at the end of the day is the objective for all life on Earth.

It is possible that when we become extinct, there will be a higher evolved species that would take over dominance. It can be interpreted that we are crazy to believe this is not possible – or we simply don’t have any evidence to back up our claims.

If you say you are not perfect, does it indicate that you have some association with perfection? How close to being perfect are you? Chances are you are far from it. Perfection is an invention wrapped in our romantic notions of things. It simply does not exist. We are who we are.

Think about the antagonistic conversations you have had, the things you have done and said in those conversations. Can you honestly say you were innocent? Can you be objective? Can you step back and examine yourself?

Doing the same thing and expecting a different result? Yes, that is definitely us.

We are a fascinating and frustrating species. We literally say, those crazy people, as if we are completely innocent.

For the last seven years, the main center of American focus has been on Donald J. Trump. We have thrown a litany of labels at him. It is as if he is the culprit for everything that is wrong with this country, and if he were removed completely and incarcerated for life, our society’s problems would be solved.

Anyone with a modicum of logic and reason would know that this is categorically untrue. In fact, we as a collective have generationally created the conditions for Trump – right, wrong or indifferent – to operate.

Let’s face it. There were millions of nefarious incidents that took place between 1619 and the 1980’s when Trump first came into prominence. Remember, thousands of people invested in his brand for years before he came down the escalator to announce his presidency in 2015. If he is crazy, what about the people who invested and followed him? That would include rappers who referenced him on their records, and other known and unknown persons who lifted up his name.

Additionally, we can exterminate all the dictators in the world today, and two things will happen. We will continue our thirst for control, greed, and violence, and we will create more dictators to rule us. It is inevitable. It’s in our nature.

Furthermore, we are crazy enough to accuse prominent officials of things for which we have no evidence. We are very good at this, because we do this to others on a regular basis. Our symptoms range from jealousy to revenge, and we are quite happy if they fall.

And as a person of which craziness resides – the degree to which is in dispute – if I have accused anyone of anything without any evidence whatsoever, I deeply apologize.

I would appease those who would get defensive by talking about all the incredible things we humans have done for each other, but I won’t do that. It is our basic instinct to avoid pain, and that is why we shut down when it comes to self-accountability. However, in this process we deny ourselves honesty, and if we don’t admit our craziness, that we all contribute to our crazy times, then we will never heal and move forward.

And as I have said before, we are afraid of being exposed for who we really are, and subsequently ostracized and vilified.

So, the next person that utters something about crazy times, or how crazy people are nowadays, know that they have played a role in that. And while you are at it, take a look in the mirror.