In these times of hysteria and sociopathology, it may be useful to remind us that there is “nothing new under the sun,” as Ecclesiastes put it. The Mark Twain of our time surely was Hunter S. Thompson, whose words still drive me crazy and apply so directly to what the Trumpworld has brought us.
From: Extreme Behavior in Aspen: “We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear – fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, fear of getting down-sized or fired because of the plunging economy [or AI], fear of getting evicted for bad debts, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer. . . ”
From Fear and Loathing in America: “The towers are gone now, reduced to bloody rubble, along with all hopes for Peace in Our Time. Make no mistake about it: We are At War now — with somebody — and we will stay At War with that mysterious Enemy for the rest of our lives.”
“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.”
“I miss Nixon. Compared to these Nazis we have in the White House now, Richard Nixon was a flaming liberal.”
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: “There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning… that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail.”
From Kingdom of Fear: “We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the whole world—a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully… We are human scum, and that is how history will judge us.”
Wow! All quotes are so timely.
It does feel like we are witnessing the dying days of the US Empire under the rule of a Caligula -like monster
Art best illuminates tragedy. Here’s Times theatre critic Helen Shaw capping her review of a new production of Death of a Salesman:
“But, as this production makes clear, Miller’s Willy is … not simply an avatar for all us little guys. Willy insists on self-aggrandizing falsehood; he then bullies everyone around him into mouthing his lies too, chivying them along and talking over them till he gets his way. He isn’t Everyman: He’s a specific, recognizable kind of danger. If this is Willy as a “common man,” just imagine him with power. Sitting at the Winter Garden, I did — and I recognized him. My blood froze to ice.”
Love seeing these Hunter Thompson quotes, John. I’m trying to guess exactly when each was written, what was going on, but at the same time they’re so connected to What’s Going on Now.