(Socotra House Staff, formerly known as “those people down by the loading dock.” Front Row, L-R, “HR.” Responsible for a variety of support tasks, including in-office medical emergencies, moving the lap-top from one unoccupied table to others, management of the Socotra LLC 401k portfolio, donuts and general Staff well being. Middle Row, L-R: “Compliance Personnel.” Responsible for keeping our collective dierriers secure while athwart constantly changing Federal guidance. Upper Row: Legal Staff, including our actual attorney who swears he will overturn his disbarment on a mistrial basis and an assortment of para and pseudo-legal support personnel. As Mr. Socotra once proudly observed, “they were just as efficient down by the loading dock.”)

Mr. Socotra, patriarch of the LLC that bears the family name, and in full recognition that phrase contains not one but two (and possibly three, according to Legal Staff) Compliance issues, has been under great pressure of late. Those that follow this now historic column (meaning only that it has attained sufficient volume over the decades to burn nicely) have observed the attempt to carry on a tradition of ironic surrealism. That narrative was originally a response to deranged Marxist agitators encountered some half century ago by now ancient Socotra Staff, ostensibly over a conflict in Asia, SE corner thereof.

It wasn’t, of course. It was about a fight here in America. It was easier then, since the collectivists were trapped in the class struggle pounded out by kindly old Karl on the free table the British Museum loaned him to create his fascinating scientific methodology to social evolution.

The disputes of that now long-ago day have continued, and are reflected in large cultural movements. Which is to say, “middle class” status of many in this country was changed into something else. Something repugnant, which is a word experiencing a resurgence in use as any casual search engine can tell you.

That mutability is fun. Reviling the bourgeoisie has always been entertaining, since it included the generation of the astonishing Boomers. Where once it was the “inequitable” distribution of wealth, it is now the establishment of inexorable, coordinated and endemic oppression by an implacable union of Anglo-Saxon and European oppressors who could not stand one another in formerly distant climes.

You know. It is the old stuff cleverly re-packaged, just like the weather, which is now not inconvenient sometimes, but a global crisis requiring us to do a bunch of stuff we wouldn’t normally even consider, even if we thought it up.

Despite these debilitating overhead costs, the Editorial Board is committed to supporting the just warriors who strive each day to keep us both current and compliant. We would normally introduce our staff by name, but Compliance representatives informed us that could be construed as “doxxing,” and identify the GPS coordinates of what we call at Socotra World Headquarters “The Barn.” It could then subject ALCON to potential vulnerability.

Currently the staff is engaged in a vigorous discussion regarding dawn tomorrow. Should the solar orb appear over the fields to the East, we will consider it a good omen for the prospects of a weekend ahead. A compliant one, of course, although that is subject to change. We owe that to the Legal Section. We hope that guy can get his license back.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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