Scary Thoughts

It’s interesting how various social media seem to both follow you, and, sometimes to look like they are forecasting. I note especially on Facebook. Lately, I have been noticing an increasing number of postings from various folks on who has recently died. I turned 90 last December. Since then, I have been observing an increase in the articles about famous folks, or just folks who have died recently.

But then I just noticed a couple of postings about people who are writing about being frightened about death—should we be scared? Are we scared? My reaction is . . . hmmm, should I be frightened about dying? I mean, I am now over 90, and way beyond the age at which everyone in my family cashed in their chips. My mum, my grands, my sis and bro, my aunts and uncles, all cashed it in by their mid-80s. So, what am I waiting for?

And then, there’s that frightened thing. Should I be frightened about the likelihood of dying “soon”? Well, why? I assume if dying included some horrortale—pain, or something awful one had to go through in the act of dying, then I assume one might be frightened of that act. But, short of some nasty disease, the act of dying itself seems to be an empty set. One simply stops being aware. And is the absence of awareness frightening? I am thinking, NO.  I suppose that thinking about the act of dying might produce some nasty thoughts, but the act itself?? Hmmm, I don’t think so,

And so, we go on.

But thinking about nasty thoughts, there is that awful thing coming up on Monday, January 20^th, Inauguration Day. Now that is frightening. Why you might ask? Well, that day ushers in a new era in America—four years of Donald Trump as President. Now that is scary. I know. I lived through four years of him from 2016-2020. Still not sure how we survived that era. But, now, with me being 90, four more years of Donald Trump?

And I think that the nasty thoughts somehow exceed the Trumpie himself. The coming era signals something truly nasty about America. People in America, knowing what we all know about Donald Trump, decided that they wanted him to be their chosen leader. They wanted him to shape our Federal government.  And shape it he will. RFK, Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services??? Seriously? He doesn’t even believe in vaccines for God’s sake.  He may well dismantle FDA. Oh that would be grand, huh? And how could he cope with NIH—brilliant scientists working to define the relationship between human physiology and diseases. Or simply how the human body works? FDR, Jr.?? Really? I assume he is just dumb, but maybe he is also evil. That is the main two characteristics of Trump and his BFFs—ignorance and Evil.

And then, Defense? A drunkard??? Running our military? Seriously?

And being 90, I also have developed a fondness for Social Security, and for Medicare. Yeah, turns out, I like getting a monthly check from our government, one that I have already self-financed through my payments over some 50+ years. And then, health care. Have you ever checked out how you might pay for health care without your Medicare? Yeah, but now I am hearing rumors about how Trumpies want to cut taxes by gutting Social Security and Medicare.

I am unsure  how Trump has managed to become BFFs with such a truly bad set of pseudohumans. Of course, he is getting some help from dudes like Elon Musk.  Yeah, talk about evil dudes. Elon is Right up there at the top of the list.

So, does death make me scared? Well, no, but Donald Trump scares the shit out of me. Does that make me want to commit suicide? Well, no, but it does make me want to migrate to . . . maybe New Zealand, or even next door to Canada. But given my age and absence of readily available cash, I doubt those folks would want me. Would I go were I, say 35? You bet.  Now that is worrisome too. How many of our 35 year old wonders might consider migrating away from America?  Too many I think.  And then there are our grandkids and great grandkids. What have they done to deserve this mess we created? Donald Trump? Seriously?  No, they deserve way more than that. They surely deserve at least the America in which I grew up in, say 1965. Yeah, we had problems. But No, we did not have an idiot-malenfant like Trump at the top of our heap. Now that scares me.