By Dr Joanne Paul
Copyright trinidadexpress
So would you believe, I originally signed up for Netflix just to see the series Lucifer with Tom Ellis. The series ran for six seasons, and it ended in 2021. It is still though the funniest thing ever. The concept is that Lucifer has come to Earth to take a break from hell. While here, he investigates crimes with a police detective and sees a therapist to resolve his issues. Although he is into partying and pleasure, deep down he is a good soul who is learning to become a better man. A total reversal of the Lucifer stories we have come to know. A total upside-down.
Although Lucifer, the series, is make-believe, presently, I think we all feel a bit like things are reversed and totally upside-down from the previous reality. We are having war in Gaza, started in 2023, with 60,000 persons killed as of Saturday, a total humanitarian crisis, with persons starving, and yet it continues with no stopping or resolution. The Ukraine/Russian war will probably continue for a few more years, interspersed with inconsequential ceasefire talks that would go nowhere. Russian jets and drones are now entering NATO and European airspace, giving hints of Russian incursion.
Florida aims to stop its vaccine mandate so parents can choose to vaccinate or not vaccinate their children. If this is successful, other US states would follow. The problem, though, with vaccines is that you need both individual protection and herd protection. So even if your child is vaccinated, your child would be more protected if the majority population were also vaccinated. With various US states going towards cancellation of vaccine mandates and with our proximity to the US, this will affect our protection against diseases which have been minimal or eradicated like measles, mumps, polio. As a Paediatric Emergency specialist, and someone who has spent most of her life focussed on children’s health and welfare, this goes against everything I have learnt, reinforced and propagated.
One of the most topsy-turvy, world upside-down things is the reality that the US is moving from being a country with a firm democracy, with a historical free speech mandate and constitution, to one of an authoritarian country, following the playbook of Hungary, Turkey, China, Russia, North Korea. Suddenly there are soldiers in the streets of many cities, there to instil fear and prevent the start of protests. The larger universities, often the focal point of student protests, have been enucleated with funding reduced or cancelled. ICE officers have been sporadically rounding up anyone who looks like an immigrant, no matter what their story or context. This last issue with Charlie Kirk probably pushed things closer to the line. Anyone saying anything against Charlie Kirk was fired, hounded, publicly shamed, with the government, including the Vice President, leading the charge.
And then came the issue of the late-night shows. These late-night shows have a history of making fun at everyone in addition to satire and news analysis, giving a much-needed perspective, aside from that of the mainstream media. First, Stephen Colbert was given an instruction that his show would end in June 2026. Then recently Jimmy Kimmel was suspended for making anti-government MAGA comments in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. Before that, though, the government had signalled via tweet that Colbert would be first, then Jimmy Kimmel, then Jimmy Fallon, Seth Mayers, then The View. I am sure my favourite, The Daily Show, will be attacked at some point also. There is also the once-weekly Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Suddenly late-night shows are being suspended and cancelled because they make jokes and criticise the government. Authoritarian much?
Speaking to a friend a few nights ago, she stated that there was no turning back. The US was now on the full pathway to being an authoritarian country from that of a full democracy. ‘The US we once knew,’ she said, ‘is now gone’. On Thursday night, the guest on The Daily Show was Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa. She spoke about this being a playbook, strategy, pathway, almost like a process flow diagram. First, the legislative arm must be in support. So far, the Republican Party has been supporting, not wavering, toeing the party line. Then the Judiciary. The Supreme Court is presently government mandate-aligned. The billionaires have also been toeing and aligning. The administrative arm has been disrupted and fired. With all those arms or estates, that act like guardrails, now non-functional, the media is the last arm of accountability to keep things in check. On the show, Maria Ressa thought this was political Armageddon and not political apocalypse. She thought there was still a chance of a fight back.
All I know is that things have changed and that everything feels upside-down. Venezuela is sending threats of war and attack, old diseases may come back again to attack our children, I cannot believe I am standing by as hundreds are dying every day in Gaza, and I feel hesitant to enter into the authoritarian US, the same as I would entering China, Russia or North Korea. It is all surreal as if it were make-believe.
I think I may just watch over all six seasons of Lucifer. At present a Lucifer with a good soul seems less surreal, more steady and more comforting than our present reality.
Dr Joanne F Paul is an
Emergency Medicine Lecturer with The UWI