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The Fever

Sep 3, 2020

Everything has changed in the months since I put out the Oferlund album and last wrote anything for this website. Hong Kong continued to implode, COVID-19 hit, and the situation in the US is worsening day by day with no happy ending in sight. Meanwhile, climate destruction continues unabated. It's dark days, is what I'm saying.

New Music for Dark Days, 2020

  1. Run The Jewels - RTJ4 / Favorite track: Walking in the Snow
  2. Ulver - Flowers of Evil / Favorite Track: Nostalgia
  3. Yob - Live From the Galaxy Barn / Favorite Track: Marrow

The Fever

I recently stumbled across this essay by Wallace Shawn. It hits home like a kick to the teeth. Wallace Shawn is better known as the actor who played Vizzini in the Princess Bride movie. Somehow that fact just makes it even more at home in this surrealistic time.

It's difficult to pick out just a single sentence to represent the essay and what it's about, but the following passage is too incredible not to quote.

And so in our frozen world, our silent world, we have to talk to the poor. Talk, listen, clarify, explain. They want things to be different. They want change. And so we say, Yes. Change. But not violent change. Not theft, not revolt, no revenge. Instead, listen to the idea of gradual change. Change that will help you, but that won't hurt us. Morality. Law. Gradual change. We explain it all: a two-sided contract: we'll give you things, many things, but in exchange you must accept that you don't have the right just to take what you want. We're going to give you wonderful things. Sit down, wait, don't try to grab— The most important thing is patience, waiting. We're going to give you much much more than you're getting now, but there are certain things that must happen first—these are the things for which we must wait. First, we have to make more and we gave to grow more, so more will be available for us to give. Otherwise, if we give you more, we'll have less. When we make more and we grow more, we can all have more—some of the increase can go to you. But the other thing is, once there is more, we have to make sure that morality prevails. Morality is the key. Last year, we made more and we grew more, but we didn't give you more. All of the increase was kept for ourselves. That was wrong. The same thing happened the year before, and the year before that. We have to convince everyone to accept morality and next year give some of the increase to you.

– The Fever by Wallace Shawn