Den of Thieves

I used to think the world was nuanced, full of shades of gray, levels of sophistication, and degrees of morality.

That’s all a smokescreen to dupe those of us without any real influence to think that we’re in our position because of forces outside of our control– that it’s our lot in life, but due to no fault of our own or the gods or fate or any other outside factor.

The concept of nuance is a defense mechanism to keep us sane AND a tool used to create the insanity we suffer. It’s an Ouroboros, feeding upon itself, digesting itself, and shitting itself out to perpetuate its own existence.

All that exists is the nastiness that creates and destroys everything we care about and despise, and those of us caught up in that carefully-planned chaos who can’t do a damn thing about it– and even then we often mistake ourselves for the helpless one when in fact we’re just another agent of that machine.

Yeah, there are no good guys– no innocents– no bystanders in Den of Thieves, save maybe the hostages used to temporarily distract the corrupt cops from the crook’s real heist. And even they would likely turn around and gun down crook and cop alike if it meant saving themselves from the terror of being held hostage and the uncertainty of living through that moment.

If there’s any concept of morality, it’s measured in the body count left when you exert your power, and there’s no real way to exert said power without that number being higher than zero. Lowest score wins, if that’s even a game you can play.

Den of Thieves isn’t revealing any of this– it’s just a pop culture, pulpy symptom of the unending disease. It’s just like Trump, his flunkies, the mainline Democrats or anyone else in the world who has all the power yet chooses to flaunt it in self-perpetuating, willfully-destructive ways. They’re just reflections of a natural order that hates its own creation, wants to see it destroyed, and reborn again to repeat the nasty deed all over again.

Just like another heist. There’s never “just one last heist, then we’re out.” You either plan for the next one, or die in the street at the hands of the next scumbag waiting to take your mantle.