Happy Doing Less?

 The all hallowed bubble or the Trumpian Utopia has been presented as reality, since Donald Trump emerged into the American political landscape.  Rest assured he has been painting this picture his entire life.  Need some snake oil?  How about some magic elixir that stops the pain?  Donald Trump has been selling fantasy, since the puppet Ronald Reagan drastically reduced income taxes for the rich.  "Yuppie" also emerged, and it was Donald Trump selling Manhattan dreams to the young and upwardly mobile Nouveau riche directly benefiting from "Trickle Down Economics."  In the 1980's, a decade in which I lived a large and important portion of my life, I felt what has happening in the American economy was acceptable.  To me "Trickle Down Economics" was working, because the consumer saw businesses, merchants, and manufacturers reinvesting in their companies.  There were tax loopholes to be found, but I saw American commerce flourish as a result.  Never was an American mall so well stocked or decorated for the Christmas holidays.  It was boutique, designer, and gourmet to the hilt.  I looked forward to reading the Land's End or L.L. Bean catalog, because the clothing they offered truly was of a higher quality than mall fodder.  The musical instrument market burgeoned with the introduction of the Yamaha DX-7 and the Korg M-1.  Ray Kurzweil set the stage for soul-moving sounds in music production.  All of this being said I have a right to reflect on the current "Conditions of America."  Never has it been worse.  There is this saccharine veil of comfort provided by internet streaming on a smart device.  Never are you very far from digital comfort, if you chose to suck on the teat of an iPhone.  I do not.  I want nothing to do with a portable consumer device controlling my home's security system.  It is flashy and convenient, but it is not trustworthy.  I went to graduate school to learn how to use the Apple Macintosh computer mostly for music purposes.  Other than the proliferation of millimeter waves in our personal airspace, apps that are available today again are consumer level software.  That is the chosen market.  I like the professional market, but it is difficult to remember.  Anyone can have a recording studio on their laptop.  Anyone can shoot a movie on their iPhone camera.  What does any of this have to do with the Trumpian Utopia?  It is candy.  It is sugar sprinkled on shit, and it in no way confronts the problems and issues of this nation.  We have been living in a the daze of the surreal for a long time, and it is the Republicans who have been pitching this illusion.  Science?   No need to worry about climate change.  The arts?  Why do we need them?  Journalistic integrity?  Big Brother lies to everyone to aid the rich and keep them in control.  George Orwell's novel, "1984," came three decades later as did the predicted catastrophe of 2012.   We are in it now.  What am I talking about?  I am talking about the Republican philosophy of denying everything real and hoping everything stays the same, while their compatriots rape and pillage America.  You can wear the rose colored glasses.  You can bury your head in the sand.  You can do what the cruise industry requires simply and "Greet and Smile."  After the onslaught of Covid 19, you can wake up and smell the shit.  I knew it would happen in my lifetime, because I have been writing about it for some time.  I didn't know our war would be a war with a manufactured covert pathogen.  That was pretty sneaky, but we are onto you.  I guess it takes living through a Great Depression, World War, or pandemic to understand life's true challenges.  Waking up each day with a smile is a nice thought, and your Crew Trainer will tell you to put all of your baggage in a trunk and slide it under the bed.  In America no longer can we do that.  We cannot ignore the ensuing decline of American integrity, prosperity, and happiness.  We are not great anymore, and the proof is in the pudding.  The reality is you can't make a Hollywood level movie on your iPhone.  You can't write a symphony on your laptop.  You can't make art unless you possess the knowledge.  Talent helps.  I am an artists, but it is difficult to remember.  When I came back to North Carolina to look after my mother, I had to stop thinking about making art.  Today it doesn't matter, because there is almost no art anywhere, especially on television.  Television sold out the day it invented "Reality TV" and stopped paying professionals to do the work.  Music was compromised the day Napster allowed copyrighted content to be bootlegged on the internet.  Thus far it has not regained its former worth for the American soul.  I don't think there is an American soul, and if there is it is just Republicans still wishing things will just stay the same.  Ignore reality.  Ignore selling America out with Globalism.  Ignore reality.  Ignore grown up life.  Ignore the school of hard knocks, the Protestant Work Ethic, and home grown values.  Ignore God.  Ignore religion.  Masturbate to pornography free and prolific on the internet.  I'm not sure why I keep chugging along.  I am not happy doing less.