Less Than Zero, Brett Easton Ellis’ 1st novel, was released in 1985. The movie, a loose and overall above zero translation of the book hit movie screens 2 years later. The year after that, 1988, I read Less Than Zero for the first time – I was in eighth grade. That was my introduction to emotional dissonance as a form of temporary existence. I’ve since learned some people live their whole lives this way.
The entirety of the novel has a melancholic ’80s vibe milieu veiling every scene, every moment, which is the way I felt for most of my life up to that point – and beyond. Even during the highest of highs, nothing ever felt quite right – like everything was going to be ok. Life felt as if I was in a rowboat adrift on Lake Superior shrouded in sea smoke – a simultaneously beautiful and strange experience but always wondering where exactly I was, what direction I was headed and intermittently despondent because I didn’t have any oars. Life was a lot then, so too now.
Fast-forward 40ish years and here we are, living through a new and different hell than the one we experienced during the 2nd “great” reconstruction under the morass of Reaganism. Then, much like today, we had an expanded domestic War on Drugs (or war on the financially disadvantaged, more specifically); Central & South American interventions – (then) in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Chile; (now) in Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Cuba, & Mexico; extremely one-sided economic policies benefitting the rich and costing the poor; neocons and neofascists supporting similar political ends in more public forums; and all the while being fed bullshit about it being some version of morning again in America. In many ways, societally, we are in a similar space – though less than zero theoretically, the major difference being technology developed in recent times and its reach.
What does this have to do with negative integers, you say. Well, much like the characters in Less Than Zero, we find a dichotomy occurring that is inherently coherent yet thoroughly disconcerting. The archetypes have similar backstories – good-looking, smart, wealthy, Southern California, – trappings generally associated with a “good life”. So it would be expected that they are relatively happy; But they’re not. All of them feign happiness at times, Julian even appears truly happy once or twice but under the surface they all have no idea what life is about and they assume happiness is supposed to be part of it. They’re simply going through the motions in hopes of uncovering a secret somewhere down the road. This isn’t all that different from most people at that age in life, we just didn’t know that back then. So what’s it mean?
Maybe nothing, maybe a lot. It makes me think about the happiness paradigm as it existed then, and now, making it some kind of accessory that comes with certain lifestyles or socio-economic class. So the question is, is being happy the point? If so, I think we’ve failed, collectively, on a grand scale. But maybe the point isn’t about a particular emotional state, maybe it’s about existing in a space that feels ok more often than it doesn’t. Is that acceptable in 2026, when people are living in space?
And therein lies the conundrum, can one exist in a state that is neither primarily joyful nor full of existential questions surrounding the meaning of life and interspersed with super-sized episodes of dread, fear, loathing, pain, etc.? And if there are other possible ways to exist, what are they? Reserved (Lutheran); Cold; Stoic (Scandinavian); Indifferent; Passive (Minnesotans & Brits); all of which I’ve embodied at various points and grew up surrounded by but often associated with an unpleasant existence. And, what if the emotional state is masked; externally happy-go-lucky but internally woebegone-staid-unfortunate; does it change the way we perceive the actual emotional state of those we’re viewing? I have no answers, only questions.
Connecting Then and Now
2025 witnessed the rollout of full-on fascism in American politics. The newly installed regime uses force to wield power and overrun anyone who opposes their goals. This return to the ways of the ante-bellum south, where slave catchers ran roughshod over the rights of citizens, has many Americans worried about what it means for our constitutionally defined government framework. Similarly, it seems as if many of our country-people are either unaware, unbothered, or wholly supportive of what’s happening. Do they not recognize themselves in historical photographs – violently attacking Civil Rights protesters? Lynching Black and Mexican Americans for ignoring White society’s expectations? Placing Japanese Americans in concentration camps? Firing LGBTQ individuals working in the Federal Government? How quickly we forget our past. We live in strange and horrible times… – Less Than Zero? No, but teetering.
So the question is, what do we do, as a nation, as a community, as individuals. I recommend resistance in any and every form conceivable. The Civil Rights movement required the work of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, Malcolm X, and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as much as it needed the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Diane Nash, John Lewis, and Bayard Rustin. Non-violence has a role, so too does violence, or at the very least the threat of violence. More often than not, power negotiates in bad-faith with those it deems weak or manageable. If we are to level the playing field where compromise can occur, joy and simplicity can coexist broadly, and diversity, equity and inclusion are seen as both necessary and proper by an overwhelming majority, the pen and the sword will both play a role. In addition to constant resistance, advocating with local, state and federal elected officials will galvanize them to fight.
Hereto, opposing political paradigms have intensified and compromise has largely gone the way of the Dodo. At this point, I must confess I’m more confused than I was when I started thinking about this subject, nearly 40 years ago. Less Than Zero really rattled my brain and it’s still vibrating. Maybe this is non-sensical and further evidence of just how far I’ve veered from the days of Cowboy Killers and Old Swill (which I still enjoy on occasion). Or maybe I don’t have the requisite moments of quiet to sit and think things through. Whatever the case, I’m still pondering these questions, subliminally more often but always there.
In Conclusion – We Are More Than Less Than Zero
Educate, advocate, disseminate goodness, go on and hate (fascists), don’t hesitate to complicate the goals and aims of the drumpf estate;
move your body six-seven-eight, keep time with those who elevate, allow spirits and souls to reverberate, mix the roux of ‘Sota – love this state
gotta turn up the heat an’ expose ice-gate,
move through the streets down Nicollet and Lake – participate in the change we’re making – now don’t be late;
If we are to continue paradigmatically opposed, like indifference and hate, we should expect the situation to exacerbate – tensions, crimes, lawlessness, in the aggregate; then it’s time for change – time to create, something based on norms to which we all can relate
Please donate to those in need, turn up and turn out, carry the weight; keep on keeping torches bright, find your people, celebrate!