The Foxiarchy Must Pay

I am happy to provide a narrated version of this post, here:

I knew I wanted to review books someday, but honestly felt a little presumptuous about my ability. Who the hell am I? And why would people care about how I see the world?

Nevertheless, there comes a time when you must put yourself out there. So, here goes.

Hat in hand: I am NOT confident I have this book figured out. Some of the ideas were over my head and the entire time I was reading, I felt like an imposter, sort of pretending to grasp themes that were frankly out of my league.

But I remember another great novel, The Little Engine That Could. Persistence is key. I will not let feelings of inadequacy deter me from doing this, and I hope you all will help point out what I am missing, here. Let’s do this together. Please.

While I am very nervous about this, my previous hacky analysis of Infinite Jest and Eraserhead provided at least some preparation for dissecting deliberately cryptic art with embedded morals.

Plot Summary

(spoiler alert)

In the story, a falling acorn hits Chicken Little in the head. Chicken Little, not realizing it was an acorn, runs immediately up the “ladder of inference“, and notifies other animals that the “sky is falling”. Taken as truth, all of the other animals are running around in total hysteria, until Foxy Loxy (who is a fox – I assume the name is not just coincidence?), points out to everyone that it was just an acorn. The sky is not actually falling. Foxy Loxy’s message: “Chill, everything is OK.”

Analysis

I think Foxy Loxy does a really bad job identifying with Chicken Little’s view. Obviously if Chicken Little says the sky is falling, and ignites an emotional conflagration that seems to color everyone’s mood as panicked and fearful, which in turn makes everyone rightfully feel the world is a dumpster fire on the brink of ending, then the RIGHT thing for Foxy Loxy to do would have been to unquestionably join the panic. After all, just because it was an acorn, does that REALLY prove the sky is NOT falling? Absolutely not.

From my perspective, Foxy Loxy was outrageously tone deaf and clearly demonstrated ineptitude for “reading the room”. That’s the thing about Foxes and the Foxiarchy – their privilege leaves them totally blind to ACTUAL suffering in the world. Honestly… the world would be much better off with no foxes. But at the very least – they can shut up and let everyone be justifiably outraged and cynical.

The truth is, foxes aren’t the only enemy here. Acorns are too. And there are systemic reasons that foxes and acorns have been colluding to keep “us” from ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING to protect against falling skies. Foxes and acorns cannot be reasoned with – they are simply different and the ONLY way to protect ourselves is exploiting every possible opportunity to point out what idiots they are – and make our irreconcilable differences abundantly clear.

Some Foxes, the deceptive bastards that they are, will attempt to make the following points: we are all just conscious creatures simply trying to be alive and at ease. We are all the same. Our differences are merely an illusion and hostility is anchored in identification with thoughts.

This is UTTER bullshit. You mean to tell me, there is an “ego” identity obstructing all us non-foxes from noticing that “we are all one”? That if only we sit and reflect, we might see this? That hatred toward anyone is actually evidence of ignorance? Give me a break!

Conclusion

This story is a caution about deception. Not only is the sky falling, but it’s falling in the best interests of foxes and acorns. The only way things are going to change is if we all get together on social media and flame the shit out of them. The louder we cry, the greater our chances of winning. Yes I know, there is a beautiful world out there to be enjoyed but we must NOT be distracted with that right now. We must be consumed like the Eye of Sauron with ALL the things that make us angry until it annihilates any sense existential questioning and compassion for one another. Remember: compassion is weakness.

If you actually think that “everything is OK“, then you are some combination of oblivious, or privileged, or uneducated, or stupid.

One more wrinkle:

There is a another theory that elephants (not depicted in the story) actually are pretending to be foxes and want to divide us. The theory goes that the more we deepen an “us” vs “them” mindset, the better that helps the elephant’s agenda. Listen – I don’t know the elephants but they are probably colluding with the foxes. Either way, the elephants are also not “us” and at that is all that matters. When in doubt – remain as irate as possible at other tribes and sort it out later.

One thing I know for sure: It is colossally idiotic to see the emptiness of ego, desire, and hate, have compassion for each other, and simply be. That is a recipe for disaster. Nothing screams “out of touch” more than that. After all, if you take away our tribes and stories, who are we? That is way too scary to think about.

I now leave you with the original story, for your analysis. I’d love to hear what you think. Watch out for the sky, everyone.