Optimism & Humor Return

Is the recent 'Age of Anxiety' coming to an end, or are we in for more unpleasant surprises?

This evening Dr. McCullough addressed a sold out ballroom dinner for the Republican Club at Heritage Ranch—the largest Republican Party club in North Texas. The atmosphere of high spirits, optimism, and humor was palpable.

“Amazing how much better everyone feels than they did when we were here two years ago,” Dr. McCullough remarked to me over dinner. I still had a vivid memory of the event, when the same crowd seemed downright gloomy about our nation’s prospects.

At a recent gathering at my uncle’s house, I saw an extended family photograph taken at his Christmas Party on December 23, 2019, and I was shocked by how much younger I looked. Back then, I had a happy go lucky attitude towards life, which I found, on the whole, to be an enjoyable adventure.

The last five years have often struck me as an “Age of Anxiety,” to allude to the title of W.H. Auden’s 1947 poem. Since March 2020, I have often felt a sense of dread and foreboding at my perception that terrible people are governing the world and that they have terrible things in store for us.

This sense of foreboding often struck me as akin to the unease we feel when we contemplate our mortality. Again, to quote Auden, “Death is the sound of distant thunder at a picnic.” During the last five years, it seemed (metaphorically) like every bit of leisure resembling a carefree summer picnic was intruded by the sound of distant thunder.

I believe that our recent ‘Age of Anxiety’ was not induced by external events beyond human control, but mostly by the U.S. government and its friends in the media, who have apparently been determined to vex, unsettle, inflame, and even terrorize us.

Last night my youngest brother (David) and I found ourselves exchanging silly text messages, just like we used to during an earlier, more carefree time in our lives. Our subject was comparing his GMC Sierra pickup truck to my younger brother (Michael’s) Dodge Ram Laramie.

John: Michael insists that his Cummins diesel with 1000 pounds of torque and 6-speed "68RFE" transmission will kick sand in the face of your GMC Sierra any day of the week. His truck works for a living; yours is all hat and no cattle.

David: Mikey’s truck is for sure a larger and has a more powerful plant. However, the Dodge is great for making runs to the county dump with roll away dumpsters. The GMC is designed for getting the most out of an outdoor lifestyle with style, maximum payload, safety and authentic frontiersmanship.

John: I too have perceived a certain rural gentry elan in the Sierra that is missing from the laboring utility of the Ram.

Where did this surge of silly humor come from? I believe it came from our perception last night that, under President Trump, we will enjoy a more lighthearted and humorous era.

President Trump having fun on stage with the Village People

Though I may be proven wrong (as the Empire will certainly strike back) I sense that the legion of malevolent killjoys who have infested the public forum for the last four years have beaten a hasty retreat. They will likely regroup and return, but I am cautiously optimistic that we just might manage to have a good time for a few years.