Commentary by Tobia De Angelis

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and a walk with my old man yesterday inspired me to jolt it down. Much of the daily discomfort that accompanies my life comes from a subtle perception that I’m living during what I came to name: the “Age of Debasement”

Marks of severe debasement are present in most fields, if not everyone. I’ll let the examples speak for what I mean. Architecture and buildings (you should follow @wrathofgnon) have been debased. City life has been distorted.

Currency has been debased. Money has been distorted. This isn’t even hard. (thanks God we have @Bitcoin)

Food has been debased. Our health has been distorted. Real food – such as meat, which we eat since homo sapiens has appeared on this planet 2 million years ago – has been demonised and our dietary habits have been debased with junk food. Convenience paved the way. Sugar kept us hooked.

Physical training has been debased. Our image of a “healthy body” has been distorted. Now we’re less strong than in the past. We don’t walk anymore. We don’t lift. Or, we use “machines” to train *single* muscles and celebrate “bodybuilding” monstrosity.

Spirituality has been debased. Our ability to look into ourselves and the outer world has been distorted. We’ve been thinking about God for a long time. We investigate that through Religion. We now conflate that with and some new age spiritual empty nonsensical ramblings.

“Growing up” has been debased. The purpose of life and meaning of age has been distorted. It’s ok to be a “man child” now. Are you starting a family? Aren’t you? That’s ok anyway. Everything is ok. Age has no meaning. Life has no purpose. You have no responsibility.

The breaking point that made me realise my discomfort and made me see the Age of Debasement was reading the “The Long Now“. It is about money, but it is about much more. Let’s start by realising what a mess we’ve ended up in.