Clock: Chapter 21

Would that I could feel such things, I might actually feel some guilt about what happened to poor Carlin. But that word itself carries much confusion with it.

Guilt is sin, sin is guilt, penance is guilt, and guilt carries penance.

Joy and sorrow is one thing, but then humanity created morality, and while it provides a somewhat decent standard on how to live, it can be swayed and changed by too many things, and the system for what should make you feel guilty never does.

The biggest battle in human history… is still the ongoing war between scientific advance, and religious morality.

The tricky thing about war is it’s never a battle of absolutes. It’s nothing more than two opposing ideologies. The only thing these ideologies can ever seem to agree on is there’s only enough room in the world for one of them.

Ideology is an exercise in the removal of freedom. Removal of free will, thought, and function. There are still modern religions that say that women originated sin… women, the only creatures among them that can give life to the next generation, are somehow also the origin of evil… This is because of belief. It is unchanging, static, it cannot adapt, unlike humans, whose domination over this world is because of adaptation.

Thoughts change, feelings change, belief does not. It is a relic, and unneeded reminder of a history built upon brutality and ignorance.

And yet… so far from now, when they have finally past their prime, these things still persist.

The time of information has past… it has given way to a new form of imperialism. Empires now built on consumerism and decadence. The meek and the poor develop and sell that which is eagerly consumed by the people left that can afford excess.

Parties where wealthy daughters often spend their time getting drunk or high and fucking any man they see… and it’s propelled into the media, like that’s actually something to aspire to.

So simple…

Drink more. It’ll solve your problems.

Fuck more. Children make you immortal.

Eat more. It’s an easy way to distract yourself.

Television rules their minds, and as they develop a better understanding of the world and how to exploit technology, the easier it’s become to pacify them.

The bottom line is always money and time… invisible non-existing things govern all aspects of life. Consumerism itself has now become a religion as well. So many aspects of life are covered in miniature transactions. So many people piss and moan about it, but they’re more than willing to bow down and keep paying.

With the “advancements” society has accomplished, the older ways of the world actually start to look almost as if they had things right. Most religions left now serve as interest groups for corporations, while the few pure and untouched ones have moved into extremism.

The resources on the planet are starting to run dry, but they don’t even realize it. Even truth and fact can be argued amongst these creatures, and the decaying of their home is something that would be seen as an inconvenience to their world of consumerism.

Amongst the sea of dead is a dessert. A man fought to defend it once, but failed. Because of his unshakeable belief, he was left with nothing. He is a living relic, and he knows that… but he still has a part to play.

Not a single soul now in this theater… I’ve been left to my own devices, to watch the events unfold, alone. The tangible emptiness is striking… both inspiring and horrific to see. Such fine craftsmanship put into creating this place… and no one exists to marvel at it.

The stage is dirty now, too much use, too little care by those involved. No one exists to clean it, to repair it. The wonderful red color of the seating is clouded by too much dust… but… the show must go on.

It has to.

It was not by my hands that this stage is here. That is why it brings me pain to see it decay. This was my gift, and I’ve squandered it. So much insight, so much I’ve seen, so much I’ve gained… but I can’t fix it.

Maybe L.E.X was right?

“This place belongs to you… but creation is not something I will leave to you.”

If only you had… I could have avoided so many tears.

“They are not yours to govern, they are yours to watch.”

But it’s always the same!

“This is what I ask of you…”