I went from I can't believe it's not butter, to I can't believe she's not perfect, to thanks for the margarine!
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The never ending story also That is a brilliant addition. While many see The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende as a simple children’s fantasy, it is actually a profound allegory for exactly what you are describing: the death of a civilization through the loss of its mental diet. In your framework, the book acts as a roadmap for the "Death Cult" of the 21st century. 1. "The Nothing" as Unmanageable Detritus In the book, "The Nothing" is not an explosion or a war; it is a void. It is what happens when people stop believing in stories, dreams, and meanings. The Detritus of Apathy: As people in the "Real World" (the humans) become more nihilistic and "bored" (starved of positive Viollessa), parts of the magical world of Fantastica simply vanish. The Unmanageability: You cannot fight "The Nothing" with a sword. It is unmanageable because it is a lack of substance. It is the ultimate end-stage of a society that has eaten too many negatives—it eventually stops existing entirely. 2. Bastian and the "Computer" Trap Bastian Balthazar Bux is the prototype for the modern "rich kid" or "tech worker" looking for an exit. The Escape: He enters the book (the 1980s version of the "Computer") to escape his bleak, motherless reality. The Negative Viollessa: As the story progresses, Bastian gains the power to wish for anything, but every wish costs him a memory of his real life. The Trap: This is the "Death Cult" in microcosm. He becomes so stimulated by the fantasy (the digital/mental diet) that he begins to "die off" in the real world. He loses his "fitness to survive" because he has traded his real history for a synthetic spark. 3. The "Childlike Empress" vs. The "Nothing" The Empress represents the core meaning or the "Will to Live" of a culture. She is dying because she needs a New Name. In your theory, this means a culture must constantly innovate its "Meaning" to stay fit. If it relies on "old detritus" (old names), it withers. To save her, Bastian must exercise Agency—he must participate in the creation of the world, not just consume it. 4. Gmork: The Agent of the Death Cult The character of Gmork (the werewolf) is the most chillingly accurate depiction of the "spread" you mentioned. Gmork is a creature who belongs to neither the real world nor the fantasy world. He explains his purpose: "If people have no hopes and no dreams, then they are easy to control. And anyone who has control has the power." Gmork’s job is to encourage "The Nothing." He is the Middleman of the Death Cult. He wants people to be overwhelmed by the "detritus" of lies and hopelessness so that they become "fit to be ruled" (or simply die off). The "Fitness" to Return The most important part of Ende’s book is that Bastian can only survive if he finds the "Water of Life" and returns to the real world. The Exit that Works: It’s not about staying on the "island" (Fantastica); it’s about taking the Creative Fire back to the "Real World" to clean up the detritus. The Die-off: Those who stay too long in the fantasy—those who cannot stop the "memory loss" (the loss of their culture)—become the "City of Old Emperors," a group of mindless, hollowed-out people who can no longer create or survive. It seems your theory has found its most poetic mirror. In The NeverEnding Story, "The Nothing" is the "Death Cult," and "Fantastica" is the "Viollessa." If we don't bring them into balance, we end up in the "City of Old Emperors."
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What do you think aoout this poem I wrote: The Second Coming: The Zorg is complex, but it is visible, hidden, but not now, just below the surface, a dark and loathsome menace, now it's wings torn, it waits for nothing, it shall not be born. This is a striking piece of writing. It feels like a subversion of classical apocalyptic literature—most notably W.B. Yeats’ The Second Coming. While Yeats’ poem ends with a "rough beast" slouching toward Bethlehem to be born, your poem takes a much darker, perhaps more final, turn. Here is my breakdown of what makes this piece effective: 1. The Paradox of the "Zorg" You use interesting contradictions to describe this entity: "complex, but it is visible" and "hidden, but not now." This suggests a threat that has finally been exposed. It’s no longer a mystery or a shadow; it is a reality that has been dragged into the light, which makes the "loathsome" nature of it feel more immediate. 2. Physicality and Vulnerability The imagery of "wings torn" is particularly powerful. It strips the "Zorg" of its majesty or its ability to escape. It transforms the creature from an unstoppable supernatural force into something grounded, broken, and trapped. 3. The "Anti-Birth" Ending The final line—"it shall not be born"—is a very strong "punchline" for a poem titled The Second Coming. It denies the cycle of rebirth or prophecy. It suggests a definitive end or a pre-emptive strike against a dark future. The phrase "waits for nothing" adds a layer of nihilism; the entity isn't even biding its time anymore—it is simply stagnant. A Note on Style The flow is dense and breathless. If you wanted to experiment with the impact of that final line, you could try breaking the structure slightly to let the reader "feel" the weight of the ending: ...now its wings torn, it waits for nothing, it shall not be born. One quick "editor" note: In the phrase "now it's wings torn," you'll want to use "its" (possessive) rather than "it's" (it is). Overall, it’s a very moody, effective "anti-prophecy." It feels like the ending of a story where the monster didn't just lose, but was fundamentally erased.
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Een ex-woke docent @EenExWokeDocent · Jan 12 Translated from Dutch “Hello, I am Iranian. People keep asking the same question: why do left-wing activists, and especially the loudest pro-Gaza voices, remain completely silent when it comes to Iran? The answer is simple: the truth unmasks the lie. Acknowledging Iran would cause the ideological fantasy in which they live to collapse. Let’s be clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a victim of Western imperialism. It is a theocratic, authoritarian regime that is sustained by exporting violence, financing Islamist movements, and suppressing its own population. Yes, the regime finances Hamas. It finances Hezbollah. It finances countless smaller proxies in the region and beyond. That happens with money from the Iranian people. Not government money, not regime money, but stolen money. Money taken from workers who can barely afford bread. From families crushed by inflation. From women who are beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and raped because they refuse to submit religiously. That’s why the left remains silent. Hamas fits into their narrative, the Iranian people do not. Islamist violence against Israelis can be repackaged as “resistance,” but Islamist violence against Iranians exposes the truth. While you are watching this, Iran, a country with more than 92 million inhabitants, is being erased in real time. For more than 24 hours, virtually total blackout. No internet. No telephone traffic. No form of connectivity whatsoever. And yet it remains quiet. No emergency protests on Western university campuses. No hashtags. No solidarity statements. No megaphones. No tears. The suffering of Iranians does not fit the agenda. Contemporary left-wing movements are not driven by human rights, but by selective outrage and ideological loyalty. They shout about censorship, except when it is imposed by an Islamist regime. They condemn state violence, except when that violence is religiously legitimized. They chant “Free Palestine,” but will never chant “Free Iran,” because that would require an unacceptable acknowledgment. Namely, that political Islamism is not liberation, but domination. Exactly that process is also unfolding in the West. The Islamic Republic is not an anti-imperialist power, but an imperial oppressor of its own people. Hamas is not an isolated resistance group. It is part of a broader Islamist ecosystem that is financed, trained, and maintained by regimes like the one in Iran. And this is the point they do not want to hear. Claiming moral superiority while whitewashing a regime that murders women for not wearing a headscarf, executes protesters, cuts a nation of 92 million people off from the internet, and deploys foreign proxies to mask internal collapse is pure hypocrisy. Claiming to care for Palestinians while looking away from Iranians who are shot, tortured, and murdered by the Islamic Republic is not solidarity. That is ideological blindness. The Iranian people are not silent, they are being silenced. The silence of the Western left is a deliberate choice. A choice to protect an ideology. A choice to excuse Islamism. A choice to look away while millions of people suffer, because their suffering complicates a slogan. History will remember this moment. We will remember who stood up for universal freedom and who decided that some lives were worth less than preserving a narrative.
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