The Wasteland Manifesto

I discovered this written in an old library book some time ago. It was my inspiration for writing this blog, so I wanted to share it with you all. Hopefully, you will find it as insightful as I did. 

The Problem 

In our modern world, the old assumptions have been killed. The old gods are dead.  

Now we are free! 

We have finally achieved our freedom. No longer do we have to restrain ourselves from indulging in the pleasures of the flesh. Love can be love, and love can end when we want it to end, and no one is hurt. We are so enlightened that we will no longer hold onto any hateful views. Or any views really... Anyway, believing in things is so outdated!  

Now we are free! 

We can just all agree on a few things that someone else will decide on... like a professor! They will decide what we ought to believe. They have degrees in Gender Studies and Postmodernism! Yes, they will decide what we will believe, and no one will have to talk anymore. Anyone that tries to talk... that's when we know that they are the hateful ones! 

Now we are free! 

Now that we are free we no longer need to hear ridiculous stories about people that have been raised from the dead! How absurd! We all know that we just rot away into nothingness! That way we leave this world quietly, hurting no one, disturbing nothing.  

Now we are free! 

We don't need anyone to save us! Nothing is wrong with our lives! We drink for fun! It’s not that we can’t face reality, so we drown it in beer! It's not that we question the point in even getting up in the morning! It's not that our families are broken, our friendships are shallow, and we can no longer feel anything even while we have sex!  

Now we are free! 

We don't have to grow up anymore! That was just a big old lie anyway, told by The Man to make us feel ashamed of ourselves! We are perfect the way we are. Our fear and pain and loneliness and impotence are not things to be corrected but flaws to be loved! 

Now we are free! 

And dying... 

We are drowned in our freedom. The promise of the revolution has turned to ash. 

We are meaningless. 

The Solution 

I dust off an old book in an ancient and lonely library in a secluded corner of the world. It is a simple story. A hero sets out from his home to face danger in a strange land. He overcomes a terrible dragon and returns home with a magical sword. I read this story over and over again.  

There is something here that we are losing. There is something in this story which we must regain.  

It is our story. It is every story. 

I take up the sword of my fathers. I say the ancient prayers. I stand amidst the wailing sands. The wasteland is all around. The wasteland gnaws away within me. 

I look to the ancient tome. I know there is an end to these dunes. I now know there is a way out. 

I know we are greater than our fear and loneliness. I know we can learn to speak again. If we can only take up our fathers' swords and lift our heads to the horizon, we can find the way out. 

So long as we know there is a way out, we can escape the wasteland. 

So long as we hold onto hope, we are free.