through the looking glass

‘There’s nothing more dangerous than a resourceful idiot.’ ~ Anonymous

through the looking glass

I arrived at work to find all but one patient had been discharged: an individual who had recently been in and out of A&E in various states of distress after self-harm and overdoses. Fortunately, this person was pretty relaxed at the crisis house and we mostly spent the day watching Netflix and they later cooked brownies – easy money, can’t complain!

We watched the recent Louis Theroux documentary about the Manosphere. My colleague was aghast, wondering how can such a thing be so popular! He was bemused by the fact that influencers repeatedly contradicted themselves; I could only reply that we live in an age where such blatant contradictions no longer matter, if they’re even noticed at all.

A Manosphere influencer can bemoan the “sluttyness” of modern women while simultaneously promoting generic looking females who make a living from OnlyFans. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

A trust fund baby, raised in privilege, an avatar of the system, can run on an anti-establishment ticket as representing the people to become President – twice. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

One side of the political isle can decry the other’s bad taste, simultaneously bemoaning cancel culture while claiming it doesn’t exist, then demand the cancelling of those who offend them. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

University establishments, which have basically become profit-driven, private corporations, can pass themselves off as “left-wing”, indeed, can even be derided as such by their detractors (which is all rather convenient for the vapid culture war industry). The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

(As an aside, if there’s one thing I learned at university it’s that the educated middle classes can convince themselves of anything.)

Supposedly left-wing activists provide running commentaries of their omnicause campaigning via highly centralised, capitalist tech platforms, owned and controlled by a handful of rich white men, which does little more than grease the wheels of a zombie-consumerist culture. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

Influencers can portray themselves as “edgy” via the most conformist of means. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

LGBTQ groups ally themselves with Islamic causes. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

Wealthy, jet-setting celebrities ally themselves with environmental causes. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

A street artist can be lauded by the establishment while simultaneously cast as rebellious. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

The arts enjoy corporate and government sponsorship while making claims to “subversiveness”. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

And there are those who proclaim to be “truth tellers” via the most spurious medium known to man, from which they tend to derive said “facts”, no less. The contradiction doesn’t matter, if it’s even noticed at all.

I wonder if it will be long before North Korea and Islamic states will be regarded as paragons of human rights and freedom. If it will be long before zombie-consumerist capitalism will be seen as a paragon of equality, diversity and sustainability that exists in harmony with the natural world. If it will be long before podcasts and influencers’ colonisation of the mind with polarised banality will be considered art.

War is peace, up is down, left is right… I wonder how long before we are irreversibly through the looking glass into the End of History’s eternal state of stupid deemed intelligence?

2026