The Age of Blindness

The purpose of the Age of Reason was to end the privileged debauchery of the religious and political elite. We have, in its place, created a new Age of Blindness, Where we once had darkness, and then a path of light, we now find ourselves blinded by the light. Our eyes may be open, but we cannot see anything.

Religious lies and dogma still separate man with vicious opinions of the unknown, but the scientific method has now added a new element of moral certainty. With science, we now claim to know the unknown mathematically, and believe it to be true just as fervently. Where before someone would open the Good Book, and claim to understand every mystery, today we open a book of numbers, and claim equally to have understand every mystery. We trust these numbers on a piece of paper more than our own two eyes.

Nothing represents this blinding light better than nuclear power. Our “reason” did not slow the old-age impulse to build bigger and stronger weapons. We are now caught in a cat-and-mouse game with terrorists, hoping to prevent being victims of a weapon we created, A dirty bomb, the intentional bombings in Japan, power plant accidents, and our bomb testings all share a common feature: The release of poison into our environment in concentrations that are not safe. Commonsense is no longer a part of the Age of Reason.

Our lexicon refers to “a jobless recovery,” as if an economy that does not provide sustenance to people somehow has value. “The numbers look good, we are turning the corner.” The machines are fed, but the people go hungry. I had a good year, I like the numbers written on my bank statement better than the numbers written on it last year. We can no longer separate our happiness or our actions from the numbers written on a piece of paper. Numbers define our past, present, and comfort with the future.

En masse we fill out forms for April 15. It is our duty as citizens to complete tax forms. It is for the greater good, and somewhere in the bowel of bureaucracy someone will read and audit our work. The massive collective effort of looking at numbers on paper has no known limit. With each passing generation we have more people employed looking at numbers. Not thinking, not writing, not analyzing, barely contributing. All for the purpose of filling a giant-sized file cabinet with sequential nothingness.

But this grand collection of numbers on paper would not be complete without making it a crime too. We collect the numbers, and then make sure no one alters the numbers to their “advantage.” Now we have people who watch the people who watch the numbers. If only a number itself were real, then we would all be wealthy beyond our wildest dreams.

How is it possible to have so much wealth, so much production, and so much misery side-by-side? Most revolutionaries are quick to blame the elite of privileged debauchery. I do not. We have tried theocracy, we have tried monarchy, we have tried capitalism and communism. In each case we ended up with an elite of privileged debauchery. It is time to recognize that we are blinded by numbers, and have been for hundreds of years.

“No taxation without representation!” Which is it that we desire? Numbers or Liberty? We revolted against a system of taxation, and created one even worse. World trade agreements, banking, financing, tariffs and protections all justified by numbers on paper. We sought a solution to life’s mystery and misery through science and reason, and have solved neither. Our light now shines too brightly, and we are making the whole world blind.