Think Pink

Think pink! think pink! if you want that quel-que chose.
Red is dead, blue is through,
Green’s obscene, brown’s taboo.
And there is not the slightest excuse for plum or puce
— or chartreuse.
Think pink! forget that Dior says black and rust.
Think pink! who cares if the new look has no bust.
Now, I wouldn’t presume to tell a woman
what a woman oughtta think,
But tell her if she’s gotta think: think pink — !

Spring is coming to the Boreal North. It is coming with winds of change. Operation Wuhan Flu seems to be on its last legs. Empire rattles sabres of war. The increasingly despised chattering class will pretend they are innocent and harmless Carmelites. Order from chaos from order is the order of the day. And you, exhausted, confused, do not know whether to cheer or cry. Whatever you do, keep your eyes on the ball, try to keep your eyes on the ball even if it moves too fast — yes, they are good at the swindler game just like the gypsies who con people in the street with the ball & cup hustle.

Doesn’t it feel strange that merely days ago the laser focus was on the pandemic and then, when those of us who live in Western influenced environs looked in shock at the insane authoritarian responses from the do-gooder Liberal Democracy countries high on ‘freedom scores’, while we watched horses trample old ladies, suddenly… narrative change? Blunt, straightforward, complete script change. Some of the most fanatical early adopters of the pandemic restrictions (Israel) suddenly announce that March 1st will open its borders to unvaccinated tourist who were Satan in person until now. Now it’s WAR, WAR, WAR and if you don’t want war you are the enemy.

“When Spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as Spring itself.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

What do we do with the people who can’t stop the music and go home? What do we do about the governments that can’t stop the music and stay out of our lives? The latter weaponized our families, friends and neighbors to become zealots and now there is no going back, at least not in the short term. The biggest problem of the current zeitgeist is that you are not allowed to do your own thing. You do not have the right to be left alone. You must always have an opinion on the topic du jour and take a stance. As anyone with doubts about novel treatments dubbed vaccines was called “anti vaxxer”, as anyone with doubts regarding the legitimacy of the 2020 American election was called a “terrorist”, as anyone who thought perhaps the Orange Man was not so bad after all was called a “white supremacist” regardless of race, social class or even country of origin, it transpires that the powers of this century will neither allow dissent nor allow disengagement.

You are not even free to voice the opinion of the honorable centrist now that traditionally leftist journalists like Glenn Greenwald are “FAR RIGHT” (yes, scary scare quoted and in all caps) or funny men like Russell Brand are now too. The us versus them, friend/enemy distinction that operates through power is now the only game in town. Even concerned parents can become “terrorists” overnight — and called out for fed persecution — if they express any dissent to the orthodoxy of the Global Hegemon.

Long ago, the marriage between State & Corporate was called Fascism. But now a fascist, a racist, a sexist, a transphobe, homophobe or whatever is whoever says no. Camus says: “a Rebel is a man who says no”. But also, and most importantly, a rebel is a man who says YES as soon as he begins to think for himself.

“A slave who has taken orders all his life, suddenly decides that he cannot obey some new command. What does he mean by saying no?”
Albert Camus

It is now the time, Ladies & Gentlemen, to say no. But saying no is painful. Saying no is painful when the stage is set in such a way that it expects you to say yes. We live in a world where saying “no”, or “I do not like this” is considered hate. Because power wants you to submit to it and no is an affront to power. In days like these, the two most powerful things you can say or do are no and laughter.

And so this brings us again to Spring, to laughter. The one who says no must not be angry, because anger is a losing game and whoever gets angry first loses. The one who says no must also not pose as a victim, you are master of your realm and able to discriminate between the things you like and the things you don’t and specially what you are willing to tolerate.

“The Beats and the Pranksters showed us different ways of opting out of society. They were both the personification of countercultural movements. The Beats were trying to change literature, and the Pranksters were trying to change the people and the country. Kesey, in fact, was his own cultural revolution, striving to keep the upbeat, freedom-loving spirit of America alive.”
Sterling Lord, Lord of Publishing: A Memoir

I was fortunate to have known Ken Kesey when I was younger. We exchanged poetry and ideas. I had become infatuated by his Cuckoos Nest and by Sometimes a Great Notion but it was through that Tom Wolfe’s masterpiece that is The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test that I understood his great task. Kesey loved freedom, and justice and all the great values of that country at the North of the American continent where I was born. He understood that mockery is key and a great way to enforce discipline through joy. Hence the pranksters, because the court jester has a very valuable and radical position which is to mock power. Power hates to be mocked, it deflates it. Kesey also knew that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. And I was taught those things. And I cherish them.

Today, a good friend whom I consider a figure akin to Kesey was, but who still needs time to build his own La Honda, wrote that some of us have a duty to “mockery, corrosive, satire — to dissolve this civilization’s shabby dogmas and idols is our only task and it is great”. I couldn’t agree more. Have you ever seen a fanatic with a sense of humor? Me neither.

So, go look inside yourself, doubt everything, do not let the MoviePlex/Cathedral or whatever you want to call it gaslight you into being anything you don’t want to be, and laugh, laugh while saying no. If you don’t watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite. Do not be this either.

“The answer is never the answer. What’s really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you’ll always be seeking. I’ve never seen anybody really find the answer. They think they have, so they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.”