Sisyphus without his boulder!

I seldom write anymore, not because I don't want to, mostly because I can't. I think it was because of one of two things: all the unfinished drafts I have in this blog and even the last blog post I have in this blog, everything feels so low effort to me. There is no depth in it, as if there was no life in what I was writing, and I know it's true. Or the fact that I don't think it matters.

Life is at an impasse, and I was thinking it was just for me, but it turns out that's not really the case. I was talking to one of my close friends/mentors, and he was super depressed about it as well. He said, and I quote, "It's as if life has no volatility anymore, nothing is exciting. It's like we are in low IV markets."

I couldn't agree more with him. There are signs which point to impending doom, and we are acting as blind as we always have been about it. I don't think the general populace understands how bad things are, which is worrying.

The world we live in is built and maintained purely based on trust. Think of any huge economy we have in the world, you will see that every single one of them is a high-trust society. I mean, as what Harari said previously, even money has value just because we think it has value. The moment we collectively believe that money does not have value, it stops being worth what it is worth.

And who do we trust the most? The people in power, the people we elected to power. I mean, "for the people, by the people" that was the fundamental principle of a working democracy, was it not? Or were the textbooks lying when we were young?

Well, recently we have seen the facade slowly starting to fade. The people in power are the ones who are the most corrupt. Not that I am surprised about corruption, just the levels of it. The Presidents and Prime Ministers of countries, CEOs of multi-billion-dollar companies, turned out to be pedophiles, and nobody bats an eye.

The country I am a part of is moving more towards religious extremism. Even basic necessities like pure drinking water and air are lacking in this country, and somehow people still believe we are one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and the next giant superpower. I am not sure what everyone is collectively smoking and where they get the maal from, but it looks to be very potent stuff.

Things have gotten so bad that it has hit the grassroots level — kids are discriminating based on religion. Even the predominantly CPI(M)-ruled Kerala has slowly started to show signs of religious extremism. I think this is what happens when there are divine beings calling the shots. Setting that aside, the fact that we have people who have died from drinking water provided by the government is more scary.

What is the point of being double or even triple-taxed when all we get back in return are roads that fall apart and the air and water that makes you sick?

Furthermore, the impending doom of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is also quite scary. Entry-level jobs are not real anymore. Multiple roles that are seen as professions right now are going to cease to exist, and we would be walking headfirst into one of the biggest unemployment markets in history.

This has led me to wonder, what do I have to show as proof of life for the past 24 years on this planet? I don't even know what I am good at. But then what about people who have grown up with one goal in their mind and achieved said goal? Now take away what they always knew/excelled at, and what do these people do? Like Camus tried to make us think — take away the boulder from Sisyphus, what is he? The absurdity of life will slowly hit people.

With how fast things have progressed in the last few decades, the crash this time around should be mind-boggling.

Well, I am unsure how things will turn out. I would not say I am looking forward to seeing what would happen in the future, because the future looks bleak no matter where you stand. Some of the most optimistic people I know in life are lost on what to do in life. What do you live for when you do not know what your purpose is? It will be quite an interesting journey for all of us in the coming years. Hopefully, I am wrong, and I end up being the boy who cried wolf.