Analogikal

There’s been bombing in Gaza. Retaliation for the ‘wrath’ unleashed by Hamas, apparently. Twitter is flooded with support for both sides. Israeli attack represents the anti-muslim action that every country’s far-right would love to take. Palestine, on the other side, empathised by people from minorities and the ‘woke’. I go through the Twitter feed. Endless articles and takes laced with sarcasm, dark humour and downright hatred. ‘Indistandswithisrael’ is trending. Sums up the times we live in. The country can barely stand up right now, crippled by the lack of oxygen, medical infrastructure and bloated by the smoke rising from never-ending funeral pyres. Yet, it wants to take a side in the conflict it knows nothing about. The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

There’s a notification. The Biden administration is nudging both countries to pursue peaceful paths. A path to peace should be established, but not at the cost of good business. What is good for business, you ask? Good for business is anything that keeps the money where it belongs and keeps the others out. The ironically named Robin Hood displayed this when they messed up the one realistic attempt to upend the existing status quo on Wall Street. I digress. It’s hard to concentrate when there’s such an overload of information. I switch to LinkedIn.

A LinkedIn influencer, popular with the masses for sexist humour and juvenile content on his feed, is up in arms. A post calling out the indifference of the educated middle class has made him feel uneasy. He has mobilised his army to report the post. The LinkedIn post continues to exist because LI is too busy becoming the next Facebook. I briefly consider leaving LinkedIn, but I need a digital resume. Also, I need a place to let people know I think and therefore I am. My feed is occupied by ‘broems’ that shed light on the greatness of its author, pleas for oxygen and people clamouring for shutting up any sort of criticism against the powers that be. The whataboutism is real. In comes another notification. The Midnight has dropped a new playlist on Youtube. I should check that out.

I open Youtube. The first video that catches my eye is My Analog Journal’s fundraiser for Palestine. We are back where we started. There are holocaust references in the comment section. I check to the right of the screen. There’s a new recommendation for me – ‘Black man has been tasered to death in a prison by the guards’. I am tired. I look at the empathy subreddit to find a solution for this. No luck. The stoicism subreddit guides me to a book by Seneca, rightly titled On Anger. I shut my screens. There is darkness all around. Even with the bright lights illuminating the factory floor, I am unable to see much. The sensory overload is finally kicking in; the funeral pyres, the crashing buildings, the sights and sounds of the oxygen-needy. Someone taps me on the shoulder. Oh great. Another notification.

Someone in my team is seriously unwell; he has been COVID positive for the past ten days. He is anxious, restless and exhausted. My symptoms are metaphorical; he needs immediate, serious attention. We set up an online call for him with a doctor. Turns out he has been prescribed strong antibiotics for the past 7 days. Coughing up a small fortune for the so-called treatment he has received. Turns out, the clinic he visited realised the panic-stricken state he is in and figured this is the best way to make money. I decide to switch off at this point.

I open the ipod and play Ænema by tool.

Some say the end is near

Some say we’ll see Armageddon soon

I certainly hope we will

I sure could use a vacation from this Bullshit three-ring

Circus sideshow of

Freaks

Wishful thinking, I sigh. There’s another notification. The laundry is done. It can wait. I need to languish.