the way out

I don’t know. It’s probably too much to ask for, but I have to ask anyway, right. Everybody be cool. This is global thermonuclear war.

In a way, the world has already ended. The world we used to know, before any of us were born. Now we have this world. Philip K Dick referred to it as, “The Black Iron Prison.” It’s a good name for it.

And poor PKD, he actually got a glimpse of what lies beyond it. Somehow something touched him and showed him a different world, a way out of the prison. I commend all of his writing to you, but especially V.A.L.I.S. There’s a lot of truth in that book, and I feel a strong affinity with the author. I’d like to think we’ve both been touched by the same thing.

Only I haven’t seen a way out of the prison. I’ve seen other worlds, but only in my dreams.

And since I’m not dreaming, and since you’re all sitting there on the other side of this mirror, I’m just going to ask you to please put your weapons down.

I don’t think you can really do it. But I have to ask. I guess you’ve grown too attached to them. You think you need them. Or something. But if you’re afraid of what might happen without them, then I’m afraid of what’s going to happen with them.

I’m afraid you’re going to use them. And I’m afraid you’re going to get us all killed.

So please, put them down now, before it’s too late.

The way out of the prison isn’t through violence.

If it were, we would all be free by now.

Peace on Earth. What do you say?

the newly dark age

Communication is hard. It’s harder when you’re talking to a one-way mirror. Is it?

Part of the sadness stems from how close a world without war actually is. I mean, it isn’t like we don’t have a choice. We do have a choice, and we simply have to stop choosing to go to war. Why don’t we?

My present best guess is that war is just another ritual we celebrate that we’ve forgotten the purpose of.

“We’ve always done it this way.”

Have we?

Who are we?

And who are we to say?