the metaphor heard 'round the world.

Apparently there's thing called a 'fiscal cliff' and we're going to fall off it. (Or whatever.) I know it has to do with the national budget, and I can probably come up with a reasonable hypothesis as to what the phrase means, but I don't really feel like mobilizing any brain cells toward that end. I realize that my lack of interest and concern makes me a full-fledged 'American' in the bovine sense of the term. Whenever I see people get really worked up about shit like this—economic, monetary shit—I can't help but pity them. I know this is the wrong attitude—but I'm speaking on the level of emotional and not intellectual response. I just don't feel as though I was put on this planet to fret about a symbolic monetary value system.

Yeah, easy for me to say, right? My income is such that I don't really have to worry about food or housing or whether I'll be able to afford my recurring porn site subscription. As a consequence, my indifference is egregiously irresponsible—and I admit that. And I believe that cultural decadence finally triumphs not when a society is merely indifferent—but when it becomes indifferent about its indifference. And that's me. I don't even care that I don't even care—about the fiscal cliff, government spending, taxes, blah blah blah. 

You see, I am a human being—and as a human being, I am limited in my capacity to care. I just can't care about everything, and that means that certain things that probably deserve my attention will have to suffer my indifference. (Did you notice the wording of that sentence? Without thinking about it, I implied that my concern and attention is a privilege of sorts. This probably isn't the right attitude, but as the subjective centers of our own little universes, it's difficult to counteract our egotism altogether.) 

Fiscal cliffs just aren't things that arouse my passions. Even though I admitted my irresponsibility earlier, I can't quite bring myself to apologize for it. Generally I'm racked with guilt about any number of things, but economic apathy isn't one of them. I guess I want the poor to be helped, but I feel as though it's a bit like worrying about having terminal cancer while you're on a sinking ship. Don't ask me what's the cancer and what's the sinking ship in that metaphor. It's all just one big knotty obfuscated way of (frankly, my dear) not giving a damn.