For this week’s post, I planned to write about Picker Wheel, a website I (pathetically) find myself depending upon more and more to make the most basic life decisions.
Then the week happened. So, I’ve decided (without any assistance from a virtual wheel) to save my thoughts on Picker Wheel for another week. Instead, I’m gonna explain, in incredible detail, how we ended up at this juncture in American history. Then I’ll outline the steps needed to save our country, the greatest in the goddamn world, from complete ruin.
Lol. Just kidding.
I don’t know *exactly* what to put here but I’d be remiss to ignore the absolute whiplash I’m feeling.
I’m not gonna waste time relitigating the events of the week but somehow over the span of 72 hours the media cycle went from viciously debating a complete stranger’s parenting style (I really loved Dan Sheehan’s piece on Bean Dad & Twittersphere churn) to everyone with a stable WiFi connection offering their take on “how we got here” and “what to do next.” Here, of course, being the death knell of American democracy. One thing that really sticks with me from this week is other people’s absolute certainty.
As you might have ascertained from my brief mention of Picker Wheel (once again, more on this later), I’m a generally uncertain person. Most of my IRL conversations suggests this is not particularly unique to me. Yet, reading tweets and watching news this week, I felt struck by everyone’s conviction. People who make their living riffing on Tiger King know exactly how to keep dumbfuck Trump rioters out of the Capitol / what people “aren’t grasping.” For fuck’s sake, I don’t feel comfortable offering a definitive explanation of how to connect headphones over Bluetooth. How do so many people look at the world crumbling around them and think, “Oh, I got this shit all figured out.”
I’ll admit it: I don’t know how we got here. I’m not surprised we ended up here (unlike apparently every late night tv host??) I’ve read a lot of ideas that make sense to me (few simpler/more on the money than this Venn Diagram an 18-year-old made in 2014). But I can’t personally explain exactly how we got “here” without regurgitating talking points made by much smarter people. And that’s okay! What’s important, in my humble opinion, is to not only keep reading and talking about what you don’t understand, but just admit you don’t know.
Maybe that’s what I’ve been thinking about this week as we continued on our march to oblivion. All the people who pretend to have the answers online just so they can rack up the likes. Maybe it’s why I love this tweet:
Is it stupid? Absolutely. But at least it’s honest. It doesn’t claim to know anything. All Sarah claims to know is that she wants you to smash that retweet button for clout.