The Peace and Stability We’ve Taken for Granted

Mike contemplates the fragility of global stability and the passage of time as he celebrates his 36th birthday.

Good evening, this is Mike George coming at you live from Crimson House in Alexandria, my beloved home for the last several months. It is another beautiful evening here — it almost feels cliché to keep talking about how gorgeous it is, but nature really is putting on a show.

I’m currently hiding behind my screen doors, which are a absolute necessity in Louisiana to keep the bugs and critters from invading. I always remind myself that nature always wins in the end, doesn’t she?. Speaking of nature winning, look at this stick I found. It’s covered in this beautiful moss or lichen—it’s a living thing material, or well, it was living.

I don’t have a ton to say tonight, which I’m sure is a relief to some of you. I’ve been pretty bad about keeping up with the "interwebs" lately. I’ve become like that creepy family member who doesn’t post anything but sees all your business while lurking in the shadows. I used to be a "content producer," but now that I’m 36 years old, I feel like I’ve said everything I need to say. Now it’s the kids' turn to deal with the mess our parents—and our generations—left behind.

We love to complain about the Baby Boomers and the plastic in the ocean or global warming, but let's look at the good things they left us, too. Looking at Ukraine right now is a stark reminder of the peace my generation took for granted. I was born in '86, and I refuse to identify as a Millennial — honey, I have wrinkles and gray hairs, I am not a Millennial girl. Most of us have never seen a major war; we’ve lived in this bubble of stability, and now we’re seeing Cold War 2.0 start to unravel those delicately woven international institutions.

And don't even get me started on gas prices. We are still addicted to oil, just like George W. Bush said back in 2008, and 14 years later, we’re in the same spot. I have zero sympathy for people complaining about $5/gal gas — honey, you’re lucky we even have gasoline left, so just relax.

I actually have a lot of gratitude for the United States government and our international institutions. People laugh at the United Nations, but without a platform for consensus, we’d probably be in a nuclear war by now. I admire the career diplomats and whistleblowers—people like Fiona Hill or James Comey—who stand up for the framework of our country. The world isn’t as stable as CNN or billionaires at million-dollar lunches make it seem.

On a lighter note, thank you for all the birthday wishes!. It’s mind-blowing to realize that while I’m 36, my Facebook profile is 18 years old. That’s half my life!. I remember when you had to have a university email just to get an account; it was so exclusive back then. Now Facebook is just a subdivision of Meta, which is like a drag queen and her daughter changing clothes but staying the same underneath.

The weather down here has been phenomenal — about 25 degrees and humid. We had some intense storms recently, but shoutout to Cleco and the Alexandria utilities for getting the power back on so fast. I almost went chasing a tornado during a warning last week, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I was bracing for the worst weather of my life moving south, but Mother Nature is either being kind or she’s just lulling me into a false sense of security before she really strikes.

Anyway, thank you for keeping my feed tolerable. Stay safe out there, take care of yourselves, and take care of each other.