Conversations with Lucifer part 2

"I remember you."

He didn't look like the devil.  A chunky white middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a faint smell of stale coffee all around him.  He'd traded in his Hawaiian shirt for a teal sweatshirt and matching pants.  We were standing at a table in a cell phone store.

The last time we spoke, it was eight years ago in a dream.  I'd forgotten all about it.  He spent his time bragging about his big plans- was in such a good mood that he gave me a winning sports team, on the house.  When I woke up, I'd forgotten all about it.

"And you're going to forget this time, too."  He snapped, pacing as he sipped his drink from a mug.

Something was different.  He was irritated.  And, while he didn't look dangerous... it's not real healthy to be the focus of Lucifer.

"Not you, dork."  Apparently, he could read minds or at least my mind.  He pointed vaguely upwards.  "That one."

"What, God?"  I looked up, not seeing anything but the dirty whtie ceiling.  "What does he... she... umm..."

A chuckle escaped his lips.  "Listen, kid, when you're the creator or creation, you are a one of one.  You can be whatever you want.  God's either every gender or none at all.  But the important thing is that God is ANNOYING!"  He shouted the last word.  Strangely, none of the other people in the store turned to look at him.  Or paid any attention to us at all.  

"God's up to something."  He muttered.

"How do you know?"  I shouldn't have asked.  I know I shouldn't have asked.  Curiosity killed the cat- and probably me as well.

"How do I know... I know.  I've been playing this game for years.  Sometimes I'm ahead, sometimes they're ahead.  But now... now..."

I waited for him to continue.

"Things are going well.  Too well."  He started counting off on his fingers.  "I've got people obsessed with elections at the exact moment the quality of the people in charge is at the lowest.  People are worried about everything- the living conditions of the planet, whether AI is going to take over their jobs, drugs and mental illness."

He continued,   "My masterstroke was creating a technology that allows everyone on the planet to instantly communicate with each other, so you humans can confirm that your neighbors are, in fact, the sick nuts that you always suspected.  That was..."  He lifted his hand to perform a chef's kiss. ".... my finest work in centuries."

He was building up to something.  I let him.

"Smart."  

Did I mention that I hated that he could read my mind?

"Tough shit."  

He took another sip before continuing.  "Here's the thing.  I make moves, God makes moves.  Every time I get ahead, God changes things.  But usually I can figure out what God's doing.  Can't stop it, but I can try and counter it.  But..."  Lucifer shrugged, "I've had the the whole game to myself for eight years.  God's planning something- I just can't figure out what.  I've been getting away with murder.  It's easy mode."

He paused, "Maybe they've left.  You know, abandoned the game.  Maybe if God's gone, I'll get bored and leave all of you alone..."  A pause.

"Nah...  tormenting you human is way too much fun.  I could do it for eons.  So I'll just keep harassing you all."

"... over the small stuff."  I immediately closed my mouth.  I shouldn't have said anything.  I shouldn't have said anything.  I shouldn't...

He snapped his neck around to look at me.  "What did you say?"

"Noth-"

"You forget that I can read your puny brain?"

I sighed.  "You keep talking about the game you're playing.  But what if God is playing a different game- and one you aren't doing anything about?"

"Bah."  He spat on the floor.  "Have you looked around?  Things are going to Hell.  If I can keep up the climate change, that might be literal."

"Look..."  I grabbed a tablet and typed in a search.  Pretty soon I found what I was looking for, and showed him the chart:

"The world's population has boomed, but the number of people living in extreme poverty has dropped.  Starvation is almsot extinct- in a world of over 8 billion."

"That's just food."  He protested, but still listening.

"There's more people on earth.  They are living longer.  They are richer.  It is better to be alive now than at any point in human history.  How does that lead to you 'winning'?"  

Now he was annoyed, "OK, smartass.  COVID.  I not only brought back the plague years, but made everyone paranoid to go outside."

I nodded, "You did.  And just over a year later- one year- a vaccine was developed.  It's not perfect, but it's taken COVID from a worldwide plague to a manageable disease.  And the technology that was used to develop the vaccine is also being used to defeat other diseases."

"Face it."  I said.  "You're doing end zone celebrations while God's running up the score on you."

Lucifer scowled, grabbed the tablet, and blasted me across the face.  That's all I remember.  

What the hell happened?

 I am utterly fascinated by this chart:

Not the political aspect- Liberals being more depressed than conservatives, or women being more depressed than men.  I'm sure there are a 1,000 theories explaining that.

What I'm fascinated is why depression starting rising in 2014, and continues to rise today.

What the hell happened in 2014?

If it had started in 2008, I'd explain it was because of the economic collapse.  If it had started in 2001, I'd blame 9/11.  If it had started in 2020, I'd understand it was because of COVID.

But 2014?  What gives?

I don't see it as politics- in 2014, Congress went from Democrats to the Republicans... but the Democrats held the White House.  And since 2014, we've gone through every iteration of the two parties being in and out of power.  Depression keeps rising.  So I don't see politics being the cause of the depression.

I have two theories, and I suspect it's a combination of both, plus other factors I haven't realized yet.

The first was offered by my friend Don Mewha- who aruged that we've always been this depressed and are just doing a better job measuring.  It's a valid theory... I do think people are more willing to accept being depressed nowadays compared to the past, and that this is a recent development.

And yet... if this were the main cause, I'd expect a sudden jump in depression levels, not a steady rise over the years.  I'd also expect it to even out.  And- this is anectotal- more people I know first seem more depressed or angry now than they did a decade earlier. I'm not ruling out this idea, but I don't think this is the main reason

My other theory?  Social Media.  Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram.  It was around before 2014, but we seemed to have reached a critical mass right around when the depression levels shot up:

I'm not quite sure why there is a strong correlation between social media usage and depression levels.  Maybe because social media is a drug that pours outrage and awful behavior into it's users.  Maybe because as people have to ability to speak to the world and listen to anyone in the world, they are drawn to the most horrific stories, depressing them.  Maybe...

I don't know why.  But there seems to be a strong correlation- to the point that, if I were a father, I'd ban my children having a cell phone or account on social media until they had graduated highe school.  

I am open to being wrong on my theories.  But I don't know a better one that explains things.

Take this Stadium and shove it

It's March 1st, which means my least favorite two months of the year are completed.  It's dark, cold, often snowy or wet, and there isn't even the holidays to break up the monotony of January and February.  Mind you, on March 1st it's still dark, cold and wet, but there's more hope in the air.

Here in Cleveland, Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, is pushing for a new Stadium.  One with a retractable roof.  

Football stadiums are expensive.  The most recent stadiums have been around $2 billion- but SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles has over a $5 billion price tag.   That's over $5,000,000,000.00  And while that is in California instead of Ohio, a new stadium is going to be pricey.

Now, if Haslam, who is supposedly worth about 4.8 billion wants to pay for it himself, more power to him.  But I haven't heard that.  And Haslam is busy purchasing a stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.  He has priorities.

So he will likely 'ask' the city of Cleveland to foot the bill.  Now, Cleveland has already lost one NFL team because the owner wanted a new stadium.  So the people of Cleveland will get flashbacks that if the city doesn't pony up, the team will leave.

But First Energy Stadium is only 24 years old (aren't sports stadiums and fields supposed to last for decades?), and the NFL only has 8-9 home games a year.  Cleveland can find a lot of better uses to spend more billions of dollars to help the city.

This is a horrible idea- and if Haslam wants to flee, I'll be glad to hold the door open for him.