PTSD

'As we all feared, it looks like Trump is going to run for President again’, said Johno, ‘still claiming the last election was stolen from him, and his supporters still fervently believing it!

'Around the world, but particularly in the US there appears to be a mass break-out of a new strain of PTSD, Post Truth Societal Disorder, where consistent lying by leaders, who are often Sociopaths, is not seen as problematic and if the facts don’t match your subjective reality, call it fake news. There is an alternative fact-free reality for those suffering from this PTSD, if you believe it to be true, then it is.’

Janno looked up. 'I see the US has just declared Monkeypox a public health emergency.’

‘Luckily Trump isn’t currently the president, as he would no doubt have dismissed the seriousness of it,’ Johno replied. ‘When Covid originally broke out, ignoring his health advisor Anthony Fauci, he said the outbreak would be temporary: “It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle – it will disappear.” In fact the US has recently surpassed one million deaths from Covid!’

'What a sad week it has been here as well. Two truly iconic Australians have died,’ said Janno. ‘First Judith Durham of the Seekers and then ONJ, Olivia Newton-John. Such happy memories from watching Grease.’

'It’s incredible how some songs take on a life of their own and evoke such strong emotions, even many years later,’ said Johno. ‘Very few on this planet leave a long-lasting legacy, but I’m sure their catalogue of outstanding musical recordings will be enduring.’

'How doubly wonderful that they both also left us a legacy of good deeds. Judith with her support for Motor Neurone Disease and ONJ with her support for cancer treatment and research,’ said Janno.

This was the strange paradox of the Saps, thought Alphy. On the one hand, they could be brutal and barbaric and on the other, compassionate and caring.

'In contrast, I wonder how many billionaires die, having used their fortune to benefit others?’ said Alphy, who had reported back to AC that structural inequality was a key failing in Sap societal evolution.

He continued, 'Isn’t it interesting that two of the most prominent billionaires, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, are spending enormous sums on space programs to reach other planets. Luckily, Earth doesn’t have major catastrophes that could benefit from a large-scale injection of funds.’ Alphy was quickly adapting to the Aussie Saps use of irony and sarcasm.

'I couldn’t help noticing,’ said Janno, ‘that their next-gen space vehicles are phallic shaped.’

'Big swinging dicks – on an intergalactic scale,’ said Johno.

'It conjures up all sorts of ugly imagery,’ replied Janno, ‘given another billionaire egonaut Richard Branson, has a space company called Virgin Galactic.’

'Meanwhile back on Earth, with ONJ’s song “Let’s get physical” ringing in my head, Xi Jinping, is practising another potential Chinese take-away,’ said Johno. ‘A Taiwanese speciality, the “Sweet and Sour Pelosi”.’

Yet again, Alphy was despairing at the dangerous ineptitude of the Saps with respect to international relations. He couldn’t resist having another barbed comment about the latest events.

'Talking of alternative realities, One Country two systems, now that’s an interesting construct.’

'More like virtual reality,’ said Johno. ‘We all know it’s an illusion, but we keep pretending it’s real.‘

Finally, Janno turned the conversation back to Trump. 'Interesting turn of events that an ex-President has been raided by the FBI.’

’They are rumoured to be looking for classified documents from the White House,’ said Johno. ‘Trump is showing all the signs of preparing to run for President again. Therefore, the Democrats and many others would clearly like to find evidence of criminal behaviour that would result in Trump being ineligible to nominate for the Presidency. If that happened, perhaps we could all celebrate by playing Judith Durham singing the ‘Carnival is Over,’ he said grinning.

Robert StygallAugust 14, 2022