Then there is stuff in the nebulous middle. Yes, the humans came here long or really long ago. They lived life well, without formalized civilization or even sedentism, for very much longer period than ‘we’ did in Europe or the Middle East or Asia.

And then of course they were “discovered” by the Borg Empire of Civilization 500 years ago.

Studying the Empire’s foulness is pretty useful.

Especially given that we are compelled to live within it, because they slaughtered all the buffalo on purpose, so that there was no other way to live in this place in any literal and economically viable way. They pushed us, white, black, red, or yellow, onto reservations, forced ‘jobs’ onto us, and paid us just enough to keep us from slitting their fucking throats in the night. (Some of us were hired as schoolteachers to brainwash the rest of us into compliance too.)

Knowing that is useful, particularly in terms of well, what are we going to do about it now?

***

Then there is the stuff that, while still not completely mindless distraction, like football, and eclipses, is … of somewhat more marginal utility.

Like the story about how the proud nepo-baby revolutionaries of the sixties either died nobly for the cause, or hung around long enough to actually become the Establishment they once allegedly hated–or worse.

“Left Wing Activists” Sign CIA-Coded ‘Letter’ to Iranian Prisoners

And the story of how sometimes it’s just barely possible to escape the Death and Co-optation Binary, like the guy who founded Food Not Bombs. (Please ignore the clickbait title given to that one by the somewhat fuddled and mercenary Jimmy Dore–WWII is barely mentioned).

***

If I could only keep my media consumption habits up above this level …

I sort of think quitting plane crash videos and Mafia videos and the NFL would do me more good than quitting cigarettes, actually.

We’ll see if I ever manage to do either.