The worst part of living this distance from reality — or maybe the best part — is the knowledge, even if it is only subliminal, that we cannot go on like this.
Gaza Will Be Free, 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2023. (Mike Maguire, Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
By Patrick Lawrence
Special to Consortium News
I am sick of reading that the Israelis’ genocidal murder spree in Gaza is justified as a matter of self-defense.
I am sick of reading nothing at all in corporate media, while reading daily in independent media, about the Israelis’ genocidal murder spree in the West Bank.
I am sick of reading nothing in mainstream media about the Zionists’ plan to construct a version of Eretz Israel, Greater Israel, that never existed.
I am sick of reading about Zionist settlers in the Occupied Territories without any mention that they are all criminals.
I am sick of being told that Hamas is “a terrorist organization,” ditto Hezbollah, when these are no more or less than liberation fronts.
I am sick of reading that Hamas tortures hostages and the phony accounts of mistreatment coming from those Hamas has released.
I am sick of seeing no photographs in Western media of the scarred and three-quarters starved Palestinian hostages Israel lets out of its jails in exchange for decently treated Israeli hostages.
Released Palestinian prisoner. Did any Israeli POW emerge looking so emaciated and with similar experiences of torture? pic.twitter.com/8WCt0LdtPI
— tim anderson (@timand2037) February 9, 2025
I am sick of America’s silence — in government, in the press — as Israeli settlers and occupation forces shoot American citizens of Palestinian background — two of them, in recent days, children and one of whom died.
I am sick of Western media’s silence as the Israeli military targets, hunts down, and murders hundreds of non–Western journalists reporting from Gaza.
I am sick of The New York Times’ incessantly repeated sentence, “The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.”
I am sick of reading that the Zionists’ military will investigate its own war crimes and crimes against humanity.
I am sick of people such as Sheryl Sandberg still pretending that The New York Times’ infamous takeout alleging Hamas’s sexual misconduct on Oct. 7, 2023, has not been thoroughly exposed as systematic Israeli propaganda.
I am sick, for that matter, of seeing Jeffrey Gettleman’s byline in the Times, as if this out-and-out punk did not decisively discredit himself as well as his Zionist-supervised newspaper when he reproduced Israel’s fabrications in his “Screams Without Words” “report” in December 2023.
I am sick of hearing that anti–Semitism is rampant in America because it is “anti–Semitic” to object to the criminal conduct of a nation that has earned no right to exist. I am sick, I may as well add, of walking around being told I am an anti–Semite by this preposterous definition.
I am tired of reading that bombing Yemen is a justifiable act when the Houthis and the South Africans, they alone, act according to international law when they attack the Zionist terror state in the courts and on the seas.
I am sick of being told the jihadist murderer who seized control in Damascus last year is acceptable because he wears a suit when he has to and is not Bashar al–Assad.
Syria’s President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, formerly known as Al-Jolani,greeting European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib in Syria on Jan. 17. (European Union, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)
I am sick of the incessant use of the word “unprovoked” when Western media describe the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.
I am sick of hearing that Moscow’s stated intent to de–Nazify Ukraine has no legitimacy because there are no Nazis in Ukraine.
I am sick of the suggestion that I am to take Volodymyr Zelensky to be anything more than a puppet of Washington and a rampant crook beholden to the Nazis who do not exist in Ukraine.
I am sick of listening to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, tell me that Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than a tyrant intent on reconstructing the Czarist empire when, statesman to stateswoman, she is unworthy of carrying Putin’s attaché case.
I am sick of listening to American and European officials state with phony gravity that Russia intends to invade the whole of Western Europe.
I am sick of reading that China “claims Taiwan” as if the island is not historically Chinese territory. And I am sick of hearing that China could “invade” Taiwan, its own territory, at any moment.
I am sick of watching ignoramuses (ignorami?) such as Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Kristi Noem — U.S. attorney general, F.B.I. director and secretary of homeland security — act as if they are serious human beings properly assigned to some of America’s highest offices. This is to leave unmentioned the frightening primitive who employs these people and his crypto-fascist aide de camp.
Alas, readers, there is so much to be sick of in the world at the hands of those who purport to lead the Western half of it. I have not the time and my esteemed editors would not give me the space to offer a complete list.
But we must record our sicknesses, all of them — our maladies, our fatigue, our shared nausea, our unrelenting tsouris as we make our ways through our days. Let us remind each other of them whenever occasions arise, for our sicknesses are the beginning of our objections and our objections, best outcome, the beginning of action.
If I had to describe in a brief phrase the burden of being alive in the third decade of the 21st century I would say it derives from the distance those who run the Western world have taken us from reality.
Think of those items on my (very partial) list of sicknesses. Each one is a painful reminder that we in the West have lost our moorings and, indeed, our humanity and reason — each one an expression of the state of unreality imposed upon us.
This thing we call reality is full of suffering, as the Buddhists will remind us whenever we ask them, and we always speak of it in these terms. “Get real!” we insist to one another, as if this is a bitter undertaking we would rather avoid. But don’t we realize, when reality is taken away from us, how what is ever difficult is equally ever to be celebrated?
Politicians on either side of the international date line, West and East, are no strangers to lying and misrepresentation. There are no angels in high places in the world as we have made it, no philosopher kings (which, I come reluctantly to wonder, may be our best way out of the chaos of our time). But it is only as empires end, if I read history correctly, that societies enter into what Hannah Arendt used to call “an Alice-in–Wonderland atmosphere.”
The worst part of living this distance from reality — or maybe the best part — is the knowledge, even if it is only subliminal, that we cannot go on like this. The American imperium, which is the author of all our vaporous conceits, cannot go on indefinitely pretending about Israel’s innocence, and who the Russians are, and the evil intent of Chinese, and all the rest.
This is not only impossible to imagine: It is by definition impossible plain and simple. It is impossible according to the laws of history.
I come now to the true burden of all our maladies. Our Sandbergs and Zelenskys and Gettlemans and von der Leyens: These, a few of the clowns populating our time. They are what D.H. Lawrence used to call “T.I.P.s,” temporarily important people. But they serve to remind us that to live again in any kind of better world we must make it ourselves.
Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, lecturer and author, most recently of Journalists and Their Shadows, available from Clarity Press or via Amazon. Other books include Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century. His Twitter account, @thefloutist, has been permanently censored.
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The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Excellent article Mr Lawrance. Thank you Consortium News.
“We’re getting older & older & older & older; &, sick & tired of getting pushed further & further & further out of the way.”
…… “And, Then There Was One,” the beyond tragic & true story of a family, husband, wife, baby, each, living, dealing, dying with & from AIDS, complications, thereto. This film, left me emotionally wrecked. To get “my bearings,” i tuned into CN. It was late, near or after midnight. At first glance, i read, “Patrick Lawrence, Late–Imperial [M’Ladies].” I’m thinking, What kind of ladies?!? I focused on the photo, “is that the President of MX, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo walking in the dark?!?” It’s late. Then, “S N A P!” The poster, “GAZA WILL BE FREE.”
……Snap! “Bearings” back; &, Patrick Lawrence isn’t in Mexico. Lawrence’s headline is “Late Imperial-Maladies.” Oh, $hip! “Sail On. Sail on, ol’ mighty Ship of $tate aka The Empire;” AND, PATRICK LAWRENCE, $trikes, BACK!!!” Talk about knock’n ‘Empire, cold-stone sober!!! ¡CLARO QUE Sí!
…… Patrick Lawrence’s “got“ this, 100%!!!
…i.e., “We,” the people are sick & tired of, imo, the fakery & the phuckery!! Sick & tired of the real criminals, US Presidents 42-47, their Boards of Executioners, the M.I.C., the US Treasury, the DoJ, the US Congress & the Ayatollahs, on the SCOTUS, living “FREE,” from accountability. Never tiring of deceiving, destroying, or killing plant, animal & human life, in a heartbeat.
Hence, the “universe” raises its voice, “Never Say Die!” Just, “Keep’n It Real!” Living & dying, in the present; AND, “There Was One,” of many, G.O.A.T., Poets, GERALD STERN. Gerald Stern, (R.I.P.), never let us forget that, universally, “Bad things happen to Good people.” Amidst, the suffering, “we” can find peace. We can “make our own weather,” i.e.,
……“So one day, when the azalea bush was firing away and the Japanese maple was roaring I came into the kitchen full of daylight; &, turned on my son’s Sony. Sliding over the lacquered floor, in my stocking feet, for it was time to rattle the canisters & see what sugar & barley have come to; & How “BOLERO” sounds, after all these years; &, if I’m loyal, still? AND, when, did I have a waist that thin? And, if my style was too nostalgic? &, where were you, when I was burning alive, nightingale?” Gerald Stern
xx
….. “When Words Fail, Music Speaks:” Ravel’s “BOLERO,” Plaça del Mercat (Market Square), a small square located in the historic center of Palma de Mallorca, Spain,February 23, 2013 @ hxxps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IsF53JpBMlk&list=RDIsF53JpBMlk&start_radio=1
TY, Patrick Lawrence, CN, the Readership, et al! “Keep It Lit!” Ciao
Thanks LeoSun for so lyrically invoking and expressing the comradery of Consortiumnews in your comment to patrick’s exquisite screed of outrages.Your eloquence has prompted me to look up the poet Gerald Stern on You Tube.Thank you!!!! His poem”Roses” is a wonderful gem in i’ve no doubt a treasure trove.
Thanks LeoSun. Your comment to patrick’s exquisite screed of outrages hits home.Your eloquence has prompted me to look up the poet Gerald Stern on You Tube. His poem”Roses” is a wonderful gem in i’ve no doubt a treasure trove.He may just be one of those essential poets you can hang your hat on,even in the midst of “rattling the canisters” .Ah…the ardent comradery of Consortiumnews.
Awh, BurlingPark, Thank You!!! No doubt, “Love” rocks here, “the comradery of Consortium News;” &, “Patrick’s exquisite screed of outrages,” is “golden!” imo, Malcolm X, “LIVES!”
…… “One day, may we all meet together in the light of understanding.” Malcolm X
And, BurlingPark, “LOVE, Rocks!” Here > Chris Hedges: “Death of an Oracle.” The poet, Gerald Stern. November 4, 2022 @ hxxps://consortiumnews.com/2022/11/04/chris-hedges-death-of-an-oracle/
“Keep It Lit!”
Concerning “live again in any kind of better world we must make it ourselves” for myself, I live in the realization that “I’m at play in the fields of the Lord (the sacred, divine, holy; the eternal as I am a Pan-Thesis) knowing who and what I am, where I come from, and most importantly, where I am in the moment” I have no inclination towards what these so-called “people” know or realize about life and living, of which, I know how to live in my own sink and I will NEVER deviate from myself!
I once worked at a agency that was ruled by a seriously condescending egomaniac who mirco managed and bullied his way through his tenure. He planned, plotted, mendaciously navigating his course through a highly controversial, politically charged project which ended when it was learned he had ordered certain language be changed in an official report.
My take. all along was communicated to some of my coworkers through an analogy.
The fellow made nothing but enemies of his workforce and others he had interactions with on a frequent basis, alienating all he encountered. A large group being political and ethical enemies. The posse.
This group, as my story goes, made up a posse who took continues shots at him as he ran. Led by a strong willed stalwart , as his posse grew so did the number of shots fired at dear leader. One of which proved to be fatal on the spot. The story of the deceit was leaked, the damage done ending with his departure. It can be done I’ve seen it happen.
The bad guy can outrun some of the people all the time, most of the people part of the time, but not all the people all the time.
It is simply a matter of time and the quicker the better for all involved, IMHO.
I share all of the things you are sick of. But it will not be a “philosopher king” who saves the world. It will be the overthrow of capitalism in a socialist revolution. All of these things we are sick of are down to capitalism in the end.
There is fundamentally one Reality: biophysical Reality; humanity has come to live in instrumental realities, the functioning (or destructiveness) of our behaviors in the living space. It is biophysical Reality with which all of our many instrumental realities must eventually coincide. What isn’t clear in Lawrence’s passionate and appreciated piece is that the instrumental realities that sicken him are not replacing more ‘correct’ realities, but are ascendant exactly because humanity has come to live in only instrumental realities, some more agreeable than others, but all generally increasingly out of step with biophysical Reality as our numbers increase and as our technical dominance damages ecological systems. The old saw, reaping what we sow, is taking on a sickening prominence.
Wikipedia: Polemic is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial topics. A person who writes polemics, or speaks polemically, is called a polemicist.
Some might categorize Patrick Lawrence as a polemicist; others may describe what he’s put to print here in “Late-Imperial Maladies” as simple human common sense.
Whether Mr. Lawrence meets the definition of polemicist or man of simple human common sense, or any one of the many human character trait descriptions sandwiched in between polemicist and man of common sense, it is safe to say one thing with absolute certainty:
Mr. Lawrence’s message here is one of profound, paramount importance for every man, woman and child on Earth.
Very well put Jerry.
What makes me sick too is the fact that our government is run by a foreign state.
“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy. The warrior’s approach is to say “yes” to life.”
– Joseph Campbell (“The Hero With A Thousand Faces”)
That is what I come back to, when I need motivation to face the difficulties of the world. I try to remind myself that the only way to remain joyful is to accept everything that is happening; in that way I don’t get caught so much on the events that are annoying. Being caught on those, which are now in the past, would get in the way of experiencing more fully what is happening now. I don’t fully succeed, and that’s also okay.
Thank you, Mr. Lawrence, for continuing to bring our attention to the present.
Joseph Campbell was a huckster who was also a real anti-semite (as opposed to all the fake “antisemitism”).
As for huckster, I don’t think so. There is real wisdom in his writings and he did not commercialize himself.
As for being antisemitic, I think that’s also false. I think Campbell recognized some fundamental problems in Judaism, which then carry over into Christianity and Islam. In particular, the idea of Original Sin, that humans fell from God’s grace and were therefore cast out of the Heavenly Garden of Eden. It is an attitude that humans are intrinsically sinful (bad) and deserve punishment just for being here (like Job).
Growing out of that and penetrating all of the Abrahamic religions is a pervasive attitude of judgement. A judgemental attitude is the biggest obstacle to personal growth. Jesus (like Buddha) recommended unconditional love, but only a few Christian groups really promote that (Friends / Quakers are a happy exception).
I see plenty of good reasons to dislike Judaism, and that does not mean that I dislike those who follow it. Just as I can dislike Zionism without feeling antisemitic.
Some people criticize Campbell for advocating that you should follow your bliss; they say he put too much focus on the individual. But Campbell grew up in America and recognized it for what it is: a highly individualistic society. In that context, focusing on the hero’s quest (a tradition from Arthurian legend) is appropriate; it means doing your best under the conditions that you have. And he was very much focused on transcending the individual to achieve union with higher spirituality, an attitude consistent with Hindu, Buddhist, and other traditions. Joseph Campbell was a yogi. And, like the rest of us, complicated.
Lastly, when Campbell says, “Follow your bliss”, he also says, “And then prepare to bleed.” Because, if you really surrender to your bliss, you will accept the suffering that comes with it. Most people forget to include that part.
Thanks Duane M for your sincere and worthy attempt to synthesize,clarify and put into context the great many thoughts of Joseph Campbell.
I share your frustration on reality but not to worry we will soon be saved by the Rapture!
Well said and the very essence of this raging fever.
We cannot bend truth for any self conceit. Free Palestine. Free America. Free the world of empires.
“The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.” I have always believed that the mission of health workers was to care for everyone, friend or enemy, when sick or wounded. So, is this not a good thing?
Hi, Tedder,
Thank you, for posting a reply, to my “post,” @ Craig Murray’s “Trump, Tariffs & Trade,”4.15.25. I like Professor Hudson’s & Adam Smith’s “Free Market,” seen as one free of economic rent and monopolies.”
Hoppy “4/20,” Everyone!!!
Onward & Upwards! Ciao
Other than the abuse, genocide and grand scale theft of personal and public property, I could perceive it a gift to live in witness to the end of so much blinded failure. May we live through interesting times and find community to do it with.
Thank you so much
May i say the people of the global majority are sick of western imperialism.
I suppose I have a very Buddhist question, coming from that age where Eastern thought tried to penetrate the American walls of cannonballs.
“The worst part of living this distance from reality”
Why is the author living at a distance from reality? The author appears to have an excellent grasp of the situation, which is why I always enjoy his essays. The author seems intelligent and this piece shows that he has a grasp on reality. So, the question is, why is the author living at this distance from reality? I wasn’t sure of his meaning when I first read it, but then in the next phrase he uses the term “we”, thus acknowledging that he is himself at a great distance from reality. Why?
The rest of the world can go nuts. So what? … as I like to hear Miles Davis say with his trumpet. So, what?
The rest of the world can even kill me. So what? Send me up in a mushroom cloud. So what?
I’m just riding on the wheel of life. So what?
If others are on a trip to find out just how bad Karma can really be, so what?
Not one bit of this means that I have to be at any distance from reality that I do not choose for myself as I travel on my adventures. I control my own distance from reality.
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Hunter S. Thompson.
I am a pro in retirement, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost track of reality. Too much practice being weird for me not to be a pro at this, even though I’ve got a cane by my rocking chair as I listen to Miles play his trumpet …. So what?
Congratulations on being so old that none of this unfolding nightmare affects you in any way whatsoever.
For those of us not yet in our twilight years, we still have to attempt to exist in this awful excuse for a society, and proud proclamations of indulgent disinterest from the “vintage generation” achieve nothing except to remind us who to blame for the current state of the world.
In future, do us a favour and spare us the dismissive self-satisfied rocking-chair routine, please.
Human civilization is suffering from a lack of collective vision with an addiction to self interested protection and dominance. The male military protection racket and its profit motives is self defeating. So too is the religious culture wars for dominance of world culture and self defined superiority. We are the cause of our own sickness.
I am sick of people that try to ignore the reason that this drama started, i.e. the brutal murdering, raping, disfiguring and kidnapping of 1500 civilians.
I am sick of those heros that lack the courage to fight their war dressed in a uniform and instead hide in civil clothes in schools between their children and in hospitals between the female patients.
I am sick of those, who glorify this kind of cowardice.
I am sick of Israel establishing settlements in areas that belong to other nations.
I am sick of the Israeli army defending murderous settlers.
I am sick of the primitivity of fairy tales, the so-called religions and their gods, in the name of which imaginary clowns human beings are murdered, raped, tortured, mutilated and enslaved.
The notion of some equivalency of expected behavior between a people occupied, jailed, and murdered for decades versus a modern nation state’s military agents is risible.
I suspect the global majority is getting ready to introduce us to a very harsh reality when the dollar is dropped as reserve currency. At that point, our bullying spree will end. So will our propping up of that criminal enterprise in the Middle East.
I recently heard someone refer to “ego death” regarding what the US is confronting. I think it’s pretty apropos. Our pathetic excuse for leadership over the centuries were certainly overconfident in their assumptions regarding their certainty of US superiority. They have sold that mindset to the public which has largely embraced it. Barack Obama publicly embraced the idea of American exceptionalism. Our approaching fall from the artificially high pedestal we have placed ourselves on will be breathtaking. At least some of us see it coming. Thank you Patrick.
Picture Wily E. Coyote having just run off the cliff…. in the air …. legs still spinning.
The worst part is not when they realize that they can not go on like this.
The worst part is the puff of dust way down there at the very bottom of the canyon floor.
—–
We always had to build a better world for ourselves. We have the long history of humankind, stretching back over the millennia, that teaches us that the elites never just give us such a place …. no matter how many times they promise it as they wage their own fight to gain power. We have always had to build a better world for ourselves.
—-
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” – Hunter S. Thompson
A voice of light in a world of darkness. Thanks so much.
I agree totally with Mr. Lawrence on all these aspects. And especially on the ursula von der leyen part. She makes me so sick.
Thanks for that,made my morning
The degeneracy of The American Empire is fatal. It is now, beyond question, the most sick, vicious, and utterly evil empire in the history of mankind. It is a terrible thing to have to wish for the destruction of one’s own native land, but nothing less than its ruin and elimination as a power can bring any hope of a livable world.
My friend, while I sympathize, I also disagree. The notion that the American empire is the worst ever is yet another aspect of exceptionalism. No, we are not the worst ever, not the strongest (in relative terms), nor the largest, nor the richest, etc. …
Is it not enough to realize we have strayed far far away from the path of a legitimate democratic republic ruled by law and need a strong dose of correction?
Bravo, Mr. Edwards. I am with you and Patrick Lawrence one hundred percent.
“I am sick of hearing that Moscow’s stated intent to de–Nazify Ukraine has no legitimacy because there are no Nazis in Ukraine.”
Denial of ongoing genocide, and Nazis flourishing, is staggering, but prevalent. There is no moral compass operating. An end to the empire is long overdue.
There is a moral compass operating…. it is in your soul.
Do not trust corporations, known to act as psychopaths, nor leaders picked by corporations, nor the media that is owned by corporations to provide a moral compass. They are only in it for the money. That single minded focus on the purely material goal is what makes learned people write books that point out that corporations act like psychopaths.
In other times, I would not disagree with following the money trail, but it’s not the only thing we are confronting these days. We are living in the time of convergence of Power, Profits, and Prophets. An incomplete analysis is another name for faulty. Overlook any one of these at y/our peril.
Mr. Lawrence never disappoints in his essays. What can’t continue, won’t continue. Good to see the world, and Americans of conscience, pushing back. The harder we push back, the sooner this nightmare will end.
..comprehensively succinct..thank you from those comprehensively censored
Thanks!