The Age of Lunacy

 Almost no one has honest discussions anymore. Hardly anyone says what they mean. We used to have wars, now we have kinetic military actions. Politicians repeatedly lie( even lying about the whys of sending us off to war) and we all act as though its normal.
We act as though its normal because most of us are lying to those around us, and ourselves.
In every Western nation we take great pains not to offend a tempermental minority, subverting even our own beliefs and traditions, even, when in most cases, such groups haven't even asked for the change. ( Festive Holiday Cone, anyone?).

The lunacy of the continuing war on terror is but the most obvious example. On the day the Towers fell I told my wife, " You watch. This will be used as a pretext for the biggest assault on civil liberties in Human history."
Rather than go to a nation, like Israel( which has dealt with constant terrorism) and borrow their best practices for say, airline safety, we  implement progressively nastier, dehumanising and utterly worthless procedures, vague warnings,  which at best have served only to foster an increasing attmosphere of fear and mistrust.
Back in the 1970's and 1980's if you were of Irish extraction, and known to be travelling to Nothern Ireland a lot, customs would single you out for special treatment. Understandably so given the terrorism that was taking place there then.
That, as we know, would never happen today. We are to enlightenned to focus on a specific group that is currently experiencing its own bout of trouble with extremist nutjobs.
We would rather pretend that a 90 years old retiree in a wheelchair, or a quadraplegic, or most recently, a 6 year old girl, are as much of a potential terrorist threat as someone who just returned from a terrorist raining camp.
We lie to ourselves about what's happenning. We pretend that we are still free. We pretend that Western civilization, though its drowning in red ink, is still rich.
The fact is, for all of us in the West, whether we admit it or not. We have told ourselves, and each other so many lies that most of us no longer recognise the truth when we hear it.
History does not treat kindly those nations that choose to dine at the restaurant of self-delusion. Sooner or later the check always comes. Right now the waiter's approaching our table.
Looks like the dinner is ending. Don't ask me for help.
I left my wallet in the car.