Tremors

“It does not take a long time,” said madame, “for an earthquake to swallow a town. Eh well! Tell me how long it takes to prepare the earthquake?”

“A long time, I suppose,” said Defarge.

“But when it is ready, it takes place, and grinds to pieces everything before it. In the meantime, it is always preparing, though it is not seen or heard. That is your consolation. Keep it.”

– Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (Chapter XVI)

Later, Dickens observes that whenever and wherever conditions similar to those that ignited the French Revolution occur, a similar conflagration may be counted upon.  Yet today, even as tremors rattle our dishes, even as American anomie proliferates like a highly infectious disease, mainstream media spins its coverage of our economy as if it were a never-ending game of fantasy football, the pre-game, post-game, and half-time entertainment for which – at present – is choreographed to manufacture consent for a proxy war in Ukraine. 

The financial state of the American proletariat confirmed in a 2023 Bankrate survey is dire. One in five of those surveyed have no emergency savings at all and over 50% have less than $1,000 set aside. Is it any wonder, in this richest, most powerful nation on the planet, that illness has become an express lane to bankruptcy? 

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation reports that, in 2021, the United States spent more per capita on healthcare than any other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) country, yet had among the worst outcomes. More than 45,000 bridges and 1 in 5 miles of road here are in “poor” condition according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. 

Add to these sobering facts a gun-related death rate more than triple the global average, an obesity rate approaching 50%, and a Big Pharma-fueled opioid epidemic, and one can only marvel at how doggedly The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN continue to beat the drums of war.

Physician, heal thyself, America!

But diversionary tactics, to paraphrase Madame Defarge, are our consolation, aren’t they? And we’ll keep them, just as she instructed, before adding …

“Can such things last? Bah! I mock you.”