Happiness is the Best Revenge
word vomit
When I started this blog I was more care-free with my writing. I often wrote while high, vomited my thoughts onto the page, barely did a spell check and pressed submit. I figured nobody was reading anyway.
Now that I have a larger readership I am more cautious and reserved. Particularly when I'm writing about topics that require research. That's when my dry, academic side comes out. 20+ years writing research reports in investment finance will do that to you.
Well, from now on I'll alternate between my two modes. Today is word vomit day.
Is there a correct emotion for the times?
I mean, everything is crumbling. You name it. Democracy, the environment, our ability to feed ourselves. Pandemics. War.
The irony is we're as close to peak human civilization as we'll ever be. Compare our lifestyles to those living 50 or 100 years ago. Compare to most humans throughout history. Besides the gadgets, we live more comfortably than even royalty just a couple hundred years ago. Most certainly, we're better off than the pre-babyboom generation.
I say we're close to peak human civilization because the peak probably occurred 30-ish years ago. Each generation after the boomers has had it worse.
The peak was inevitable, given the characteristics of our energy-hungry civilization. As the EROEI on energy shrinks, so does our ability to fund our excesses. Most don't know it, but they feel it.
EROEI and Civilization's Forced Decline
EROEI (Energy Return on Energy Invested) is possibly the most important ratio to modern human existence. This measure is foundational to our civilization, yet understood by few.
The reversal of the middle class is a primary symptom of this disease. The middle class was a temporary phenomenon, funded by a low-cost energy surplus. We're reverting back to our natural state - one of consolidated power and wealth among the few.
Our great grandparents would envy our lifestyles. However, that's not the basis of our comparison. We see (or feel) what has happened over the past 30 years - a slow grind downward.
As slow collapse progresses, happiness is as much a mark of mental illness as it is the sweetest revenge. Right now, I'm comfortable and warm. I'm surrounded by people (and a dog) I love. From that perspective, I'm happy. Yet, at the same time I'm miserable and riddled with generalized anxiety.
I wonder if anyone out there really is happy. Are they putting on a show? I too smile and share platitudes with those I meet when I dare venture socially. Perhaps we all have to fake it because we're embedded in a system that relies on irrational optimism. Happiness today relies on delusion.
Yet, at the same time, as the system seeks to oppress us, smiling in the face of our oppressors is a demonstration of resolve. It shows them they're not winning. We can adapt and live with our shackles, frustrating those who seek to break us down.
Be happy. Be happy like your life depends on it. I know it's tough, but each of us must find something to be happy about.
That doesn't mean to buckle under the pressure or comply with their wishes. Rather, one must be sly and distracting. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Happiness puts the enemy off balance. It's unexpected.
More importantly, we have one life to live. Despite the burn, what kind of life is it if all we feel is anger or sorrow? There's so much to be angry about. It's been 40-ish day onslaught of negativity. Sure, we have a right to be angry. But we also have a right to be happy.
I'm going to pet my dog now.
I relate. When I started this work in September 2021, I decided if I can't have happiness, I can at least have meaning. I have probably 6000 hours into this effort, and countless research links in hundreds of folders. As an unknown writer, I realized the importance of backing every word with original sources. After all of this, I have a whopping 35 paying subscribers. It's not about the money, but indicative of the lack of urgency and denial. Perhaps I should envy those who don't see the storm, but I don't. My neighbors next door, lovely people, have two small children, one an infant. What could they be thinking? The pain and fear they will feel when reality calls them will be profound. At least those of us who understand the issues can be prepared mentally. I do wonder when this work will lose meaning, I know I am spitting into the fan. Maybe all of this is my form of denial. At least through our work, however, we have community together.
The happiest people I know live in various states of denial and sheer or wilful ignorance. They are unilaterally unconcerned about the plights of the unfortunate, and of course collapse. They are freeriding offa the rest of mankind, present and future.
Apart from them, no - people are physically comfortable but extremely unhappy. Life ain’t working out in a very general sense and almost everyone feels it. Disillusionment and despair abounds.