(122) Gwynni

There is no way to say this without sounding mysterious and I feel I have exhausted my mystery for today, but it’s factual: there are signs everywhere and people just ignore them, even people who say they want one. I went to a discussion group, posed as “dissident” but really just nervous liberals who were a bit unsure about transgenderism (totally not homophobic). They spoke about Diogenes the Cynic, a guy who stripped it all off and lived an honest life in ancient Greece—I like Diogenes. Later, when we went to someone’s flat for a drink, I noticed on a table a small map that depicted the local area—there was a pub called Diogenes the Cynic.

I pointed it out, mentioned that it was significant given that we had just spent ages talking about Diogenes and given that it was hardly a usual name for a pub. No reaction. Not even, “Oh yeah, totally.” Nothing. Not a flutter. I’ve noticed that it’s often the case with these signs: you point them out and nobody reacts—it’s like it sinks into psychic butter and never clicks. They just went back to their usual chatter—about whether or not to convert to Catholicism or whatever “bold stand” they wanted to take this week.

It took me a while to realise that people do not care about these signs because they are too self-absorbed and/or busy in the manipulation of other people—it’s not even leftist, they can be absorbed in their “anti-woke, restore the West, save the church” campaign and so not be interested in the signs. Partly, it’s modernity—people are trained to ignore these things from birth; or to demand some statistical table to back up the observation. In one case, all they said was “now I’ve given up drinking it’s not relevant to me”—they were so caught up in their narcissistic battle with faked alcoholism, with little Virgin Mary ikons for support, they couldn’t see a sign right there.