Wait. Watt?

He's a man that has divided opinion for well over a decade. There are those that see James Watt, cofounder of bang average (with the exception of the half-decent Elvis Juice), not-really-craft is it, beer brand Brewdog, as a mysogynistic, egotistical, self-serving bully-boy grifter that made his fortune, and more importantly to him, his fame, off of the hard work of others, paired with a willingness to be an overtly obnoxious prick, and then there are those that think that's a good thing.

In reality, the current incarnation of Watt is little more than a symptom of society today as it wrestles with itself once more trying to find a place of balance. This balance, of course, never really happens for long, because society is like a car that has had to make a sudden manourvre to avoid crashing. The oversteer left, then right, then left, then right. And, just as you think things are under control, another near crash, another swerve to the left and right, and on we go.

During the oversteer to the left, you get environmentalists, Hollywood actors, adorable little pop singers, softly spoken geography teachers, authors, and the like all waxing lyrical about how we just need more love and compassion and veganism. Think of people like Greta Thunberg, George Clooney, and almost every Geography teacher that there has ever been. The problem is, on this little sojourn to the left, everyone has stopped working, to sing Kumbaya around an artifical camp fire because burning stuff is bad and so all the rich folk and the leaders of countries (not sure why I separated those two), aren't making as much money as they were before and they get all angry about it. So, they cause a little near crash and as the car lurches to the right, usually because someone decided they wanted a new yacht and convinced everyone the Kumbaya lot actually murdered Jesus or are the reason it rained on your birthday, you get business moguls, billionaires, and ageing country rock music singers shouting at you online in CAPS! Think Kid Rock, Trump, Musk, Tate and, yup, you get James Watt.

And so, here we are, after a few years swerving awkwardly to the left, on things like climate, mental health and well-being, we're seeing an overcorrection to the right, damning those things and doubling down on the other things, like immigration, equality, integration and the problems with diversity. You even get an attack on individualism, in a country founded on individualism.

As with most of my thoughts, I don't really have an answer, just observations really. And even that is untrue, it's really just one observation, and it is this:

Humans are absolutely impossible to get along with.

Some humans can sing, some dance, some climb mountains, some do nothing, some paint, some create the most amazing things, some destroy them, some can lift and carry immense weights, some sit idle in thought, some are mathamatical, some are great wordsmiths, some are immeasurably stupid, some care and attend to others, some wage war on others.

The human being covers a remarkably wide range of physical capabilities. The human condition covers an even wider range of intentions and desires. The combination of those two things is where it all get a little bit murky.

The left, right, left right maneouvre that we have going on today has been going on forever. We just gave it the names, then colours, and now we have given it a personality. One that we define and redefine to suit a particular purpose. It's all just a game. But it's not the game you think it is. When you choose who to vote for in an election, or how to respond to a situation, or what to think about something you were told or have just read, consider this; It's a game in which you are, to quote the kids, an NPC (non-playing character). You can be impacted by those that are playing, but you cannot really change the outcome of the game. The game is created, and governed, by the real players, and the rules are never shared, but can be changed at any time they choose.

Imagine going to a poker game, in which you are playing against the best poker players in the world. However, you have never played poker, they never tell you which version they are playing, and then they decide when, and how much, you bet, or fold. And if it looks like you might luck out and win a hand, they change the game.

Wanna Play?

Most of us think we're driving our own little existence along the roads of life, choosing our destinations, our direction of travel and stop-offs along the way. But in reality, we're simply reacting, constantly, as the map gets updated, the roads are opened and closed ahead of us and the destinations we set our hearts on get bombed into oblivion.

So, does this have anything to do with James Watt? Yes, and no. Yes, because, like many before him, he's a populist that buries his self-serving nature behind a veil of 'appealing to the people' and he's now a divisive voice inside your head, yet another one, forcing people to react one way or another, left or right perhaps, with targeted, often offensive (passive and sometimes less so) comments or references or behaviour.

Populism. It's got a lot to answer for.

Remember High School? Everyone wanted to be in the the popular crowd. And there was the popular kid, every school had one. And yet, after leaving school, that kid, that crowd often sort of faded away into obscurity, because everyone realised that what they represented was shallow, empty and lacking any real substance.

Maybe it's time we started thinking of the myriad popular voices on social media, the news, the podcasts, all of it, that frequently spew forth targetted, divisive content in the same way...challenge them for real substance and value.

Ooh, sorry, gotta go, someone just sent me a TikTok of someone else's TikTok reacting to another person's TikTok saying something mean and snarky about a kid that suggested something sensible. So, I'm about to spend three hours staring into the digital middle distance whilst my own kids stare into their own digital oblivion, listening to the popular, reminding them that they're unpopular, as they develop mental health conditions and the washing sits in a pile on the floor as the fridge leak creates a substantial puddle in the kitchen...at least that saves me having to get up and refill the dogs water bowl...wherever that is, or the dog is...