Staying sane in a world gone mad

It's difficult not to be angry and/or frightened at much of what's going on in the world. The country is facing its most dire Constitutional crisis since the 1860's. The dominant political party harbors pedophiles while they marginalize gay men and women who want nothing but the freedom to love and/or fuck consenting adults. The nightmare scenarios of human-induced climate change models are coming true. Archaeological data is confirming that we are on the same path of destruction that previous failed societies have followed, but we are moving much faster. Our government is still wasting American money and American lives on fake WMD's, leaving us unable to deal with real WMD's elsewhere.

All of this, to be sure, is troubling. Nonetheless, a cursory survey of human history shows that the world has always been mad - at least since the advent of agriculture. How, I ask myself, can I maintain my sanity in spite of the insanity surrounding me?

I feel a twitch of revelation/inspiration when I think of someone like Woody Guthrie:

I've always had a fondness for the slogan emblazoned across Woody's guitar: This Machine Kills Fascists. Music has the power to defeat fascism because it can open people's minds and persuade them to consider things from another perspective. Fascists seek to silence all viewpoints but their own, so music - all art, really - is the natural enemy of fascism.

Woody's simple but revolutionary message was that one cannot afford to stop having or expressing unpopular opinions if one is to have any hope of retaining the right to opinions at all. Your machine can kill fascists, too. All you have to do is use it to communicate with someone. I think this is the key to holding onto your wits while trapped in the nut house that we call Earth.

This is what I've been listening to the past few days:

1. Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere
2. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Letting Go
3. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain
4. Man Man: The Man in a Blue Turban With a Face
5. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Etiquette
6. Final Fantasy: He Poos Clouds
7. XTC: Skylarking
8. Kate Bush: Hounds of Love
9. V/A: Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man