The Monster

Nobody fired the "starting gun."

None of the big things matter anymore and there are too many "little things" to track anyway. Yeats had it right, but was iffy on the timeline. Things didn't fall apart; at least not all at once. Everything that happens happens over time, where no one  ever bothers to look. 

Most people have a hard time imagining themselves a year in the future, but the monster is eternal, and invisible; its machinations intersect our reality at all the right angles; daily, over decades. Centuries, even.

If home is a pale blue dot, the monster is a Boa constrictor the size of Mars, suffocating all light. Few know it exists, outside of a handful of key players. Most of them don't really understand what it is for. Everyone inside plays their part to a T, dutifully sincere in their private belief that -- who they imagine themselves to be and what they present to the rest of us -- remains coherent. I wish I could tell you that there was/will be a moment once when a hero steps up and smashes the facade, but I can tell you those who try are fed to dragons for their trouble.

People don't change; that's the first key right there. Except some do, and the rest of us buy their tee-shirts. I was into marketing before I learned to type, and my job was to keep the illusions fresh and -- the hype -- "larger than life."

I guess my actual job title is "content creator." It's vague enough that most who hear it fill in the blanks themselves, which suits me fine and saves me the trouble of lying. Truth is: I make stuff that appeals to a particular niche in a marketing segmentation report. One group is comprised of wealthy freelancers, frauds and assorted "free thinkers." Another? Coffee-cup stay-at-home "moms" with smartphones, SUV's and 16-plus hour days. The trick is to map it all out, like a role-playing game with just a few variables. When you look at a job in the 4th dimension, its easy to see where it all comes together. I simply apply a little pressure where the niches rub together, and let human nature do the rest.

If feeding niches was my path to riches; I wanted "insider access" and everything that comes with it. I saw right away that the whole thing was for show only, --fronts and no backs. Once you see it, "getting ahead" is as easy as crossing a busy street in rush hour traffic. Avoid the cracks if you can: you aren't worth any bonus points until you look down at your feet.