JessicarulestheUniverse | 2021 : vimarsana.com

JessicarulestheUniverse | 2021


This is the text of my keynote address at the BDAP (Book Development Association of the Philippines) Literary Festival on 29 Nov 2020.
In 2016 it occurred to me that the apocalypse had begun. A little late, since many had expected it at the turn of the millennium. This apocalypse is not the stuff of biblical Revelations, at least not literally. It is less spectacular, more life-sized, more plausible and therefore scarier. It could happen. It’s happening.
In 2016 all my assumptions about the world were upended one by one. All around the world, far right populist strongmen were elected NOT despite but because of their appeal to the prejudices and hatreds of the people. There have always been demagogues, but we believed that the people would reject them. It turns out that we didn’t know the people, and we were horrified at what they believed. Reason became powerless against fear and loathing. Soon it became apparent that it was useless to argue by bringing up facts: they would not change anyone’s mind. The very foundation of knowledge—the truth—was under attack. I still recall my bewilderment at hearing the term, “post-truth”. How can supposedly intelligent people believe fake news? How could the truth be out of fashion? I felt as if gravity had vanished. We had come unmoored and were in danger of drifting off into space.

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