“So you have put your hope in something else.”

August 23, 2015 9:56 AM

Living in the Age of Permawar by Mohsin Hamid [The Guardian]

You see from your nook that humanity is afflicted by a great mass murderer about whom we are encouraged not to speak. The name of that murderer is Death. Death comes for everyone. Sometimes Death will pick out a newborn still wet from her aquatic life in her mother’s womb. Sometime Death will pick out a man with the muscles of a superhero, pick him out in repose, perhaps, or in his moment of maximum exertion, when his thighs and shoulders are trembling and he feels most alive. Sometimes Death will pick singly. Sometimes Death will pick by the planeload. Sometimes Death picks the young, sometimes the old, and sometimes Death has an appetite for the in-between. You feel it is strange that humanity does not come together to face this killer, like a silver-flashing baitball of 7 billion fish aware of being hunted by a titanic and ravenous shark. Instead, humanity scatters. We face our killer alone, or in families, or in towns or cities or tribes or countries. But never all together.

posted by Fizz (7 comments total)

A great line, "It is the state of fear you slip in and out of, curated by the entertainment business."
posted by Oyéah at 11:09 AM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Relevant, lovely.
posted by Oyéah at 11:18 AM on August 23, 2015

That's lovely. (For reluctant clickers, it's about common humanity and fiction, not about the war per se.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 11:21 AM on August 23, 2015

And yet, during this time of Permawar, Globally, Deaths From War And Murder Are in Decline. This is obviously untrue for some specific population groups in certain areas, but some of the biggest complainers are members of the safest population groups (ironically becoming some of the biggest proponents of Permawar).
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:49 PM on August 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

but some of the biggest complainers are members of the safest population groups

If you're worried about the war on your street and the imminent fear of death is the sword of Damocles over your head, you're probably not thinking a lot about "permawar" as manifested in media and discourse.
posted by chimaera at 4:51 PM on August 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

This actually put me in the mood for positive change in my life, so that's good.
posted by bird internet at 7:30 PM on August 23, 2015

This is a beautiful essay. Thank you for sharing.
posted by amy27 at 4:17 AM on August 24, 2015