Long Term is an Illusion

As the ever-eloquent Linh Dao Smooke put it, in Slack: “In the end, don’t we all die? Long term is an illusion.” This was in reference to butter, but could easily apply to a multitude of concepts. I’m seriously fucked up over this. In this essay, I will...

Just kidding.

But really, is long term an illusion? It depends upon a future that is largely based on assumptions:

• The assumption that the stock market will hold.
• The assumption that your home’s value will hold steady.
• The assumption that the “king’s peace” will generally be preserved.

This is scary as fuck, if you really think about it.

It means there’s no stability. There are no promises. There is no forever. You’re staring into the face, the abyss, of chaos and doubt and fear and there’s nothing you can do to control the situation, except to control yourself.

It’s terrifying and thrilling all at once.

I might be reading too much into this. I might be a madman. But all I know is, our country (the USA, in my case), after centuries of exploitation of people of color, especially black folks, is coming to a head. We’re likely to experience extreme turmoil in the coming months and years, thanks in no small part to our small-handed racist orange fuck of a president. This has been a long time coming. It's about time black folks got their due, got the reparations, apologies, and the righting of wrongs that they deserve.

Don’t like that bit? Sue me, bitch.

Really though, we’re experiencing a massive upheaval. My dad advised me against buying a house, because the economy is in the toilet (no great surprise, considering the working class is waking the fuck up).

What I’m getting at, is that "long term" may be Yet Another Capitalist Pipe Dream. It might be bullshit propaganda. And I might’ve bought into it.

Time to rethink my priorities. 🤔