Deconstruction

So it didn't happen. No earthquakes, no disasters, no one assumed bodily into Heaven. No Rapture, other than Blondie's 1981 hit featuring Fab Five Freddy* and white-girl-awkward rapping.
   The media phenomenon is over, and I fully expect the story to fade into nothingness except on NPR. The chances anyone is going to re-interview those hoping to be taken away are very small. Follow-up is woefully lacking in American media these days.
   But I think there are some really big questions that remain. And I don't mean 'how hard should we laugh at these poor, misguided fools.' The answer to that is 'very hard indeed.' Can't let 'em get away with it, not for a minute.
   I'm wondering what is missing or malfunctioning in our society that a sizable minority of people would be so disaffected and lonely that they would not only expect to be taken into Heaven, but that they would long for it?
   To quote Willy Loman** 'attention must be paid.'
   I've had crappy jobs, crappy co-workers, crappy bosses, been laid off, fired, lost a parent, lost love, and generally lived life less fortunate than a few but far more fortunate that most. I've never once had things so bad that I prayed for God to spirit me away. That seems one step removed from suicide to me.
   So why have so many people been so adamant for so long that yesterday was the day they were going to leave the rest of us behind? What is it about their lives here and now that is so lacking they want to abandon everything in such a dramatic yet unlikely way?
   Yes, they're crackpots. Yes, they're weak-willed and gullible. They're also the tail of the bell curve of common opinion, the thought leaders, if you want to label them with corporate-speak. They may be nuts, but nuts are often the leading indicators of public sentiment. Take John Brown, the 19th Century abolitionist. By all accounts a true radical and undeniably tetched, he led an armed rebellion in 1959 intending to do away with slavery once and for all. Yes, he was nuts, but he was also a good two years ahead of the rest of the country. If he had just waited twenty-four months or so for the Civil War to have started, he would today be remembered as a Northern patriot instead of as a possible traitor.
   Same thing with these nutso Rapture people. We don't have to listen to their message, but we really need to listen to their mood. They're done with dead-end jobs and corporate greed and incompetent government and everything that's tainted life at the beginning of the 21st Century, but they're not the only ones. They're far from alone. There's a disaffected tide rising in America, and it's only a matter of time before it rolls into a tsunami of revolt. Don't think it can't happen, because it's happened often in America and it will absolutely happen again, sooner rather than later. And all it would take to ease the tension is for those in charge to stop, collaborate and listen for once.
   Attention must be paid.



* remember him? You should, you culture-less heathens. He's not the guy in the white tux either.

** how 'bout him? Remember him? 'Death of a Salesman' by Arthur Miller? And, no, Arthur Miller is not Tennessee Williams. For one thing, Arthur Miller had an affair with Marilyn Monroe, while Tennessee Williams would likely have traded corseting tips with her, if you know what I mean...