Benson Rant: I Wish Too Many People Would Just Shut Up

I’ve had it. I’ve simply had enough.

Unfortunately, I can’t turn off social media, because of my job, but I’ve had it.
It feels like everyone has anointed themselves experts. All of the sudden, everyone is an economics professor. Everyone is a specialist on infectious diseases. In the past two months I’ve found out I live among freakin’ geniuses; geniuses with access to pithy memes.

And who do I really feel for? While all these geniuses are sitting in life’s penalty box right now, filling Facebook with the truth, as they see it, there are serious people. People who aren’t spouting off at every opportunity, who are going to work, whether it’s to care for actual sick people, or simply trying to keep the rest of us fed, and any number of other “essential” services, while we wait out this invisible monster of a virus.

It’s been a gnawing feeling in my gut for years now, that my generation, the Boomers, is the worst generation in the history of mankind. The so-called “Greatest Generation” came back from saving the world from a real-life monster, and, even as well intentioned as it was, to give their children a better life after surviving the Great Depression and another world war, ended up raising a generation of self-absorbed crybabies, whose mantra seems to have always been “if it feels good, do it”.

And and outgrowth of that is, if you don’t like what you hear, just throw a label on it, something like “Fake News”. Hey, that’s catchy. And if you’re on the other side, you roll your eyes and complain about the other F. N., Fox News.

And don’t even get me going on phony self-righteousness. We can invent faster computers, put people into space; wouldn’t it be great if someone invented a working “BS” detector? Because it feels like every public person at this time has an agenda. And so many of the people we label leaders have failed us, failed us miserably. I get down on my knees and pray every night to please tell me who’s telling the truth, and who is lying to me.

Oh, that's another thing that we can add to the list of things that should scare the hell out of us. "DeepFake". It's the technology that let's someone alter what you see, making it look real.  A benign example is the State Farm ads during "The Last Dance", that appear to have the 1998 ESPN hosts predicting the future. There's also  this YouTube video that are just plain scary when thinking about the possibilities.

I don’t know a lot of things. I really don’t. It’s quite humbling. But one thing I have picked up on. There’s not a lot in this life that is black and white. Usually the truth is somewhere in the middle. I wish the neo-geniuses would just maybe sit down and be quiet, and the people who actually know what they’re doing, know what they are talking about, let those people be heard and do what really needs to be done. And if you don’t agree, don’t belittle them or wish for them get the virus.

Your mama raised you better than that.