Looking at the state of the world in 2025, sanity is in short supply. In America, we have a government undoing as much good as possible without unleashing insurrection against their insurrection. Even the president is smart enough to know that cancelling Social Security payments would be the last straw, and his IQ is apparently 12 points below average intelligence, as reported during his initial campaign. Why are we in this abyss of hate and the undoing all the progress made over years of struggle?
When we think about what is happening in the world, it’s important to start with what is happening to the world, the planet on which we live. We know it’s a biosphere, a natural relationship of all its component parts, that work together to create a functioning whole. The natural world evolved without any help from humanity, and now humanity is screwing up that balance in a million ways, leaving us with an unbalanced biosphere.
The cumulative effect of the multiple toxicities dumped into the ecosystem increasingly disrupts our mental health and ability to reason. The brain, after all, is an organ of the human body, and we’re as much a part of the biosphere as any other animal. The fragile balance of the natural world is coming unglued, thanks to ubiquitous toxins, and so are we.
Our obsessive reliance on plastics releases enormous amounts of endocrine disruptors into the environment constantly. Endocrine disruptors are also in things we use all the time, like detergents, liquid soaps, fragrances, fire retardant materials, dental materials, plastic water bottles, metal can lining, pesticides, soft toys, flooring, medical equipment, cosmetics, and air fresheners. If you use any of those things, you’ve been exposed to them, and they’re finding their way to your brain. Endocrine disruptors affect human hormones and reproduction.
Our computers are full of heavy metals. Our cell phones dump massive amounts of electromagnetic radiation in the air, and 5G dumps even more. Humans increasingly take psychiatric medications to cope with the difficulty of the modern world, and then piss them into the water supply, creating a ubiquitous chemical stew. The oil and gas industries fill our air with methane gas and carbon dioxide poisoning, known to cause impaired judgment and confusion. Our food is full of pesticides, preservatives, and other chemicals. Really, when you put it all together, is there any doubt we’re out of our minds, and even dumber, through no fault of our own? Experts contend that in Western societies, the average intelligence has fallen by 10 points.
In blue states, we tend to think of red state politicians as much crazier than our own. However, they’re the ones who think of environmental protection as “woke” and unnecessary. So perhaps their own destructive policies are just the result of being even more poisoned than those of us living in cleaner environments, and if their brains were less chemically addled, they might listen to science again—if they ever did.
Even the people who don’t believe that environmental protection is essential for our survival must know, unconsciously, there’s something wrong, and it makes them fearful. They might even feel it in their own bodies, but they can’t think about what really makes them uncomfortable and afraid. It’s easier to foist their discomfort on the Other, because that validates their racism, sexism, and other prejudices, while relieving them of any need to stop the poisoning of the planet. Corporations don’t care if their products are destroying us and the earth, as long as the shareholders are happy, but corporate CEOs have an unfortunate penchant for sociopathy. We are becoming mentally diminished for profit.
The situation we’re in is insane, so hanging onto our sanity is challenging. Doing anything about it, when our computers and cell phones—and for some, cars—are essential tools of life, makes combatting these assaults on our health and the planet harder still. But we can start with simple measures, like replacing the chemical air freshener spray in the bathroom with books of paper matches. Go back to bars of soap. Buy organic foods and natural fiber clothing, and avoid, whenever possible, anything plastic. Support alternative energy, but refuse AI, and most of all, make sure the most woke candidates win elections.
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The automobile entered our lives during Proust’s youth, and the world had not arrived at our current state of poisoning. As a result, finding a relevant Proust quote wasn’t easy. This one is dedicated to the un-woke who refuse to involve themselves in real world issues, courtesy of the character Bloch.
“Sir, I am absolutely incapable of telling
you whether it has rained. I live so
resolutely apart from physical contingencies
that my senses no longer trouble to
inform me of them.”
—Swann’s Way
Proust Said That 