The disembodied gaze of the establishment media passes over the myriad brush fires which break out over the body politic. Of course the disembodied establishment media enjoys its state of disembodiment, and seeks to maintain that state by encouraging the social bodies that it is connected with to ignore the brush fires.
Some establishment media does accomplish what amounts to the raising of eyebrows, or the scratching of the chin, but otherwise it is better that the people tune in, and perhaps talk hushedly amongst themselves after the report, and then go back to work the next day.
And for now that seems to be the extent of it. The media's searchlight passes over some fresh abomination or insult, and there is a frenzy which eventually quiets down, or which is eclipsed by the news of some new scandal or catastrophe. The attention drifts, and the myriad brush fires continue to burn.
The core culture grinds onward, its repetitions wearing ever deeper grooves into the earth, and its gear teeth are slowly ground down. The gears gradually drift out of their respective orbits, and traffic increases from the core to the fringe until the two equalize, at least temporarily. Real change happens at the fringes, its delayed effects eventually reaching the core in some way.
One particularly insidious example has to do with lead, which has been spread throughout the land over the last century, pushed outwards in wide circles through greed and recklessness, and then hidden from sight through a cowardly refusal to account for its harms or even its existence.
Its delayed effects come to the surface in the course of breakdown. In the case of Flint, fresh water reserves dwindled or were deemed expensive by a contracting society, and so the city switched to a polluted water source that was cheaper to administrate, which in turn corroded lead piping which leeched into the water flows.
This incredibly callous and reckless act only accelerated a process that is in motion throughout the United States, particularly in the east. Many cities throughout the eastern US have been actively fudging their water tests in order to ignore the lead problem. There is simply no collective will to replace the labyrinthine tangle of old lead piping. No, much of the work being done in these local governments is to maintain an illusion of a collective will, while the actual work required for ameliorating the problem is not done.
The early usage of lead might not have been in bad faith (well, maybe it was), but today its dangers are well known.
There is a flash of insight: the material foundations are breaking down. And this is followed by yet another flash: those with the power and the privilege position themselves upon the corpses of the vulnerable, so as to delay the consequences of the breakdown for themselves. Resent is spread in turn, and trust is steadily destroyed through the repeated revelation of lying authorities, which occurs on top of the material destruction with consequences of its own.
Lead poisoning leads to body aches, anxiety, and depression, all of which sap the psyche. It also leads to profound long term health effects, especially in the young. The damages to individual health, social trust and regard, and real wealth is incalculable.
Imagine these effects interacting with a global destruction of trust and respect in social institutions. It is appropriate to mention once again the fractal quality of this breakdown, which is even difficult to put into words due to its breadth and complexity. Within every sector of society, and on multiple levels of interaction, a breakdown proceeds, which affects a sustained attack on the integrity of global functions such as collective trust.
