Only the Lonely, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

July 12, 2015 Victor El-Khouri 10 Comments

Am I the only one here?

Back in the day, there were lots of different columnists on this page.  For the last few weeks, though, it’s just been me.

I didn’t eat the others.  Honest.  Maybe I just bored them to death.

In any case, it’s an awesome responsibility to be the only person posting here.  I feel like I should be writing about the Grexit, because that affects hundreds of millions of people.  It’s Europe and money and class and banks.  But I don’t want to, because I don’t understand it.  I suppose I could write about it anyway, but that doesn’t seem like a public service.

I could write about the election, which is now a mere 15 months away.  There’s a Republican debate in a month or so, and that could be entertaining.  Except it’s going to be a clown car collision.  I’ll need something to write about next month.

Capitalism has been throwing its weight around in a variety of odd ways.  A few months ago, we heard that one of the reasons that Indiana changed its religious freedom law was that several large corporations with offices in the state objected to the bigotry.  The Confederate battle flag is coming down from its post in front of the South Carolina State Capitol. because, among other reasons, big business doesn’t like it.  I don’t for one second think those businesses act like this because they have a political or moral conscience.  I think they act like this because it affects their bottom line.  They can’t attract top talent or attract an audience of cool Millennials if they don’t do (what I consider to be) the right thing.

Some people call this “political correctness.”  I call it profit motive.

This week’s example:  The United States Chamber of Commerce is experiencing a split, as the health insurers among its members and the tobacco companies.  It will be kind of interesting to see who wins.

But I don’t really want to write about any of this.  It’s funky in New York, with that humid July weather that feels like all 20 million New Yorkers are stuffed into one giant stinky armpit.  I want to write about how we get by under these barbaric circumstances.  I want to know why my tomato plants produce fruit that rots when it’s still green.  I want to debate the very meaning of time itself, especially as it relates to how much sleep I’m getting.

In order to do any of this, I need some company on this page.  At the very least, leave me some notes in the comments.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, wishes she could go to Michael Davis’ awesome Comic-Con party.