Nothing New Under The Sun (Parable Of The Ten Virgins, Seven.)

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. ~Ecclesiastes 1:9

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The wind whispers of fear and hate. The war has killed love. And those that confess to the Angkar are punished, and no one dare ask where they go. Here, only the silent survive. ~Dith Pran, The Killing Fields

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Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Watch ye therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. ~Matthew 25:1-13

So I just got up, after sleeping for about 12 hours, and this is what I saw.

Meet the New Year, same as the old year.

Are you tired of this shit yet, because I sure am.

"Conservatives" are going around threatening people, trying to overthrow America, trying to suck all the joy out of everything that isn't stomping on someone's face with their jackboots...and yet somebody repeats back to them what their actions amount to, what they're physically doing in the real world (rather than describing in glowing, oozing platitudes the valiant battle they think in their own heads that they're fighting) or even simply point out that someday these fucking people will have to answer to a power that isn't Donald Trump...and these motherfuckers get mad.

Goddamn, that really should tell you something, I think.

It's a cult, and these fucking people are obsessed with death (both their own and yours, and I'm not sure it matters to them how the order of operations works out here) and they're obsessed with every possible flavor of simply being an asshole, for its own sake...mostly because they think it's funny or something.

My last customer at work last night was some angry-looking, pinch-faced old guy wearing a shirt that said "Kill your local pedophile" (as if such people aren't also their preacher, Republican politician or the local Sheriff) and as I'm leaving, I'm just thinking "Ya know, I don't like those people either, but I've never gone around wanting to kill people and I have actually been trained to do so and had to face the possibility. All the people that I know who've been in combat have ended up with PTSD.

And let me tell you, PTSD sucks.

And a couple of those people couldn't hack it and committed suicide because they couldn't get their mind to come back from Afghanistan or Iraq or where or whatever the fuck else and if you don't understand how shitty that is, I can't explain it to you. Personally, I didn't see combat but I'll never unsee some of the shit I saw in Bosnia...or the miles and miles of war wreckage I saw in Kuwait, for that matter.

But in These Fucking People's World, Highways of Death would be a feature, not a bug.

Being an asshole and whacking off to the idea of violence (without consequence) is an unbelievable luxury that goes away the first time somebody pulls the trigger of a weapon aimed at another human being. And I'm going to guess when the shit hits the fan, the same fucking people who see murder, violence and war as part of a game or a political statement now will start finding refuge at the bottom of a bottle or a plastic tube full of drugs or some shit. (And at the top end, a lot of them are already like that, in case you think their "movement" is righteous.)

Why not? They've never faced anything else they've ever done, why should they start now?

And that includes the fact that their allegedly-arch-Capitalist Godhead goes about quoting Communist dictators. Yes, Republicans are basically Communists now. But they're the Putin kind for whom Communism is just Gulags, endless ideological indoctrination and war, and where everybody's an informer, a political operative, or a spy...even if they're just asking you if you want fries with that, your answer will be weighed on its political merits RE: the fortunes of the Red (or is it Orange?) Banner Potato-farming Collective. Yes, I used to be a conservative and since you asked, my brain hurt just typing that shit. 

These idiots basically want to live in the Empire from Star Wars.

So the world these fucking people want to live in is not only violent...it's tedious as hell, too. Count me the fuck out. If you want a better country, you have to be a better citizen, and this is not the way.

But I'll tell you what. It's New Years Eve, and every new year is a chance to make a new world.

So get after it. It's not so much that there's going to be a test, it's that that is the test.

Слава Україна!

Six

Hess: So what shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “To health” or “To success,” but I’d like to do somethin’ a little less rote. Where you from, Brown Eyes?

Migs Mayfield: How ’bout a toast to Operation Cinder?

Hess: Now there’s a man who knows his history.

Mayfield: No, I don’t just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.

Hess: Burnin Konn?

Mayfield: Mmm.

Hess: That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions.

Mayfield: Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. Man, that was like 5-10,000 people.

Hess: Yep. All heroes of the Empire.

Mayfield: Yeah. And all dead.

Hess: Well, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good, son.

Mayfield: Depends on who you ask, don’t you think?

Hess: [irritated] What you gettin’ at, trooper?

Mayfield: All those people, the ones who died, was it good for them? Hmm? Their families? The guys I served with? Civilians, those poor mud scuffers, died defending their homes, fighting for freedom. Was it good for them?

Hess: But we’ve outlasted them, son. They’re eating themselves alive. The New Republic is in complete disarray, and we grow stronger. You see, with the rhydonium you’ve delivered, we can create havoc that’s gonna make Burnin Konn pale by comparison. And then they’re gonna turn to us once again. You see, boys, everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms. Ah. To the Empire.

[Mayfield chuckles, then fires a blaster at Hess' chest, killing him instantly. He and Mando then shoot their way out of the mess hall] ~From The Mandalorian, Season 2, Ep. 7 "The Believer"