A Little Bit of Sanity

this piece is why I love George Saunders, tho the rest of his extraordinary work also helps a lot. Hopefully most of you have read it, but if you haven't, please, please, please do. And if you have, do yourself a favor and read it again.

Manifesto; A press release from PRKA

Last Thursday, my organization, People Reluctant To Kill for an Abstraction, orchestrated an overwhelming show of force around the globe.
At precisely 9 in the morning, working with focus and stealth, our entire membership succeeded in simultaneously beheading no one. At 10, Phase II began, during which our entire membership did not force a single man to suck another man's penis. Also, none of us blew himself/herself up in a crowded public place. No civilians were literally turned inside out via our powerful explosives. In addition, at 11, in Phase III, zero (0) planes were flown into buildings.
During Phase IV, just after lunch, we were able to avoid bulldozing a single home. Furthermore, we set, on roads in every city, in every nation in the world, a total of zero (0) roadside bombs which, not being there, did not subsequently explode, killing/maiming a total of nobody. No bombs were dropped, during the lazy afternoon hours, on crowded civilian neighborhoods, from which, it was observed, no post-bomb momentary silences were then heard. These silences were, in all cases, followed by no unimaginable, grief-stricken bellows of rage, and/or frantic imprecations to a deity. No sleeping baby was awakened from an afternoon nap by the sudden collapse and/or bursting into flame of his/her domicile during Phase IV. ...

Click the link, read the rest. It's barely an exaggeration to say this collection of words might be the only reason I stayed something resembling sane through the dark core of the Bush era. George Saunders's writing makes me feel a little better about being human, even when he's being painfully honest about our shared flaws.