Hey Loop, did you ever see that movie the Neverending Story? Recently came across a YouTube video that mentioned some interesting facts about a character from that movie, and it got me thinking about social issues in our society.

Anyways, if you've never seen that movie before, the premise was that this rather nerdy and awkward kid discovers a magic book that parallels his own world/reality, and that the main character from the land of Fantasia in the book is pretty much a reflection of his own soul. Fantasia is slowly being destroyed by a malevolent force called the Nothing, and in the end the kid is the only one that can save the fantasy world, and the world of fantasy and creativity for future generations of earthlings.

The YouTube video got me thinking about that destructive force known as the Nothing, and how right now in the real world I think we are witnessing something similar to the Nothing. Except what we are experiencing in the real world nowadays is obviously not some paranormal force, but rather a similar sentiment that is causing so much grief and misery in society. In the movie it was said that when human beings lose their creativity, the fantasy creatures inhabiting the world of Fantasia along with all of their adventures just eventually fade away into the nothingness, a comparison that could be made in the real world in that all kids eventually have to grow up and face adult situations, but often times when they do they end up sacrificing other facets of their character which in turn could eventually pave the way to negative emotions.

Look at where we are today compared to say, twenty or so years ago, with seemingly record high numbers of people who are very discontent with life suffering from crippling depression and various forms of destructive addictions. How did it come to that in a relative short amount of time? How did we go from being one of the happiest and productive countries to absolute misery and skid row? A force similar to the Nothing is eating away our society I think, however in the real world it manifests as the politically correct movement which is aided by the collectivist ban-happy crowd who like denying others their individual liberties.

I think that overall manifestation could conceivably take on various other sub-forms, and one that comes to mind as being such an example would be the gun control crowd. There was a character from that movie, a wolf-like secondary villain named Gmork, who was helping the Nothing in any way he could, and was sent to kill the only one who could stop the Nothing. Now, substitute the Gmork character for any of the known modern day gun control activists, like that @Garban feller for instance, and one could see how that movie actually parallels our reality, and oddly enough both the names Garban and Gmork start with the letter G, so...

There was a scene where the hero in the movie confronts the Gmork and asks him why he is helping the Nothing, and Gmork responds by telling him that the people have lost all hope and by extension their creativity, and those who have no hopes are easy to control and he who has the control has the power. The gun control movement and the individual activists who comprise the movement are eerily similar to the Gmork, preying upon desperate people who want a quick and viable solution to problems. In this case the perceived problem with gun violence, and in their frustration and sense of futility they have given into a manipulative force that has promised them a solution all the while is just using them in a bid for more power plays (aka, pandering to secure votes, etc). Garban could easily be substituted for any other gun control activist out there, as there's no shortage of them that are far more aggressive than he is even. Just the words "gun control" are quite telling, and remember, he who has the control has the power.

So, you have a destructive force in our society, depression and a feeling of futility etc, combined with another entity (the PC movement & the ban happy crowd) that is actively helping said destructive force undermine our society, and the final result is what we are currently witnessing, every sort of despair and misery and hardship one could imagine from serious economic woes to direct assaults on individual liberties to a rise in random acts of violence to an ever increasing group identity crisis. The truly disturbing part in all of that chaos is that the wrong groups/factions are being blamed for the ills in society. For example, look how the NRA gets blamed for the death of kids when no NRA member was responsible for those mass shooting incidents. Instead, the blame should be put squarely upon the individuals who actually committed the heinous crimes, but our society has become so screwed up that violent offenders are being given lighter prison sentences while law abiding citizens are having their rights infringed upon.

Over the years I've noticed that the younger generations nowadays lack in the creativity department, and look to those who offer the most simplistic solution(s), so deep thinking for oneself is not exactly required in their opinions. Ask yourself this... just how inventive are these kids who are marching with groups like March For Our Lives, aside from the obvious rather underhanded creativity (dare I call it that)? Does David Hogg strike you as the creative and intellectual type? Sure doesn't to me, so I don't think I'm imagining all of that.

Just curious what your take is on that and if you ever saw that movie before? Strange and trying times we live in, too many people falling prey to the "swamps of sadness" while predators like Gmork rush in to take control of things, and help make sure that the black empty void keeps claiming new unsuspecting victims.

I think The Dailey Show should keep the line up going for a while. All are spectacular comics & Al Frankin needs a platform. Chelsea, Leslie, D.L., Wayans. All remarkably talented.

I haven’t seen it since Trevor left. I’m trying to reduce exposure to the nonsense of society and humor is part of it. I also have not been relating to the humor’s POV like I did with Jon. It reflects good changes in younger audiences but loses my interest.