A lot of f** related words…a feeling of disillusion… and the smell of tobacco
At least that’s how I imagine that scene… a late night conversation between Hemingway and a pal of his over a bottle of whiskey.
We’ve all heard the stories about Hemingway being temperamental, moody, a generally larger-than-life figure that enjoyed drinking, boxing, hunting, cheering bullfighters, and...yes, writing, of course. Hemingway was also a survivor. He lived through malaria, pneumonia, dysentery, hepatitis, diabetes, ruptured parts, and even plane crashes.
Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.
Imagine going through all that and not being alive to see what society has become, with all the good and the bad.
He would have had so much fun with it all… early Ryanair flight to Spain for a bullfight (why do I think Ryanair always flies first thing in the morning), back in a Parisian cafe for the evening, and going through security for a long (but safer than ever) flight back home to Havana… or imagine how well he’d manage all those damn hangovers with today’s medicine and junk food to soak up the booze.
On the other hand, he probably wouldn’t enjoy the politically correctness of today’s society but that’s on him for being a raging sexist. Or was he? Misogynistic or misunderstood? Many are still debating but one thing is for sure: he wouldn’t be able to be so outspoken nowadays.
What about capitalism and consumerism? I bet my bottom dollar he’d have a lot of opinions.
And what better company to illustrate them both, than Amazon?
Almost anything you need is not just a few clicks away, it’s also going to be delivered to your doorstep in a maximum of a few days.
Coming from a man who allegedly said “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”, today’s “buy today, think of how you pay your credit card tomorrow” philosophy would have been a major clash in ideology.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure he would have loved Amazon's initial business model: selling books online but those days almost seem like something from Hemingway’s time.
With how things are going, it won’t be long before we buy everything on Amazon. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amazon will be a big part of the Metaverse everybody’s talking about. Let’s say we end up in the Metaverse. Amazon is bound to be there, selling you everything from Nike’s NFT sneakers, to cat token food for your cyber cat.
Things seem to be moving in that direction but I agree with something Hemingway said:
“Never confuse movement with action.”
But that’s just me… thinking out loud.