It’s a short step from the sentimental to the macabre: beware of nice people telling us to be nicer people.
Dr. Murthy seems like a very nice man. One can hold no doubt that he has done much good in his life. But his book is an atrocity. And, with the interest of his fellow-Americans and indeed all the Western world in mind, one is here to tell you how and why. His pitch is simple enough We have lost precious things “in this transition to modern culture”. As we rush to grow personal wealth and achievement and while we linger online with our social media toys, we fail truly to connect with people and thus impoverish our souls. Loneliness is shortening the lives of millions of Americans; we are being murdered by modernity and inter alia the toxic masculinity which it inspires. Money and consumerism do not bring happiness;…
Smoking greener grass : karmas, dogmas and lifestyle hypochondrias…
It seems to rest in the nature of modern times for us to search for liberating wisdoms in exotic venues, the more remote the better. The best proverbs all come in a foreign accent. Personal happiness can be achieved if we but drop our grubby habits and follow the ways of the Danes or the Japanese or the mystic de-clutterers or the gurus of mindfulness. Invariably, these narratives will contain an injunction to simplify our needs, perhaps find contentment in what we all already possess, disavow consumption of material goods to the benefit of interior balance, isolate what is truly valuable to the spirit… When our current traumas end, versions of this narrative will freshly appear, gaudier than ever. And self-flagellation over claims of national malaise will be as misguided…
Beyond the Stairlift of Broken Dreams : or how to pull Aging up to a more sunlit space.
To age is to droop - or be drooped? Picture this. You are joining a friend for lunch. The restaurant is on the 30th floor and offers spectacular views of the city you love. In the hope of persuading the maitresse d’ to give you a table by the window, you get there early. For reasons which need not detain us here, it is important to you that your friend has a specially pleasant time. A good table is secured. You check that the menu indeed contains a happy mix of vegetarian dishes. This is pivotal to the progress of the day. The friend arrives. The lunch begins. It is too early for a calming apéritif. And so your inner comms-coach keeps rat-tat-tatting down your invisible ear-piece. Whatever happens: •…