Told By an Idiot, Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

By James Banakis

July 25^th, 2025

Don’t be puzzled by this line from Macbeth. It’s not a commentary on my occasional contributions to John Kass News. It’s going to make more sense later in the article. Let me share with you what I’m rereading this morning. It’s the wonderful biography of William Shakespeare, Shakespeare, by Peter Ackroyd. I first read this about a dozen years ago. As a devotee of great biographies, I enjoy delving into the mundane parts of the lives of notable historical figures. I compare that part of their lives which make them relatable to us. I find it fun hanging out with whoever I choose to read about. Many authors who research biographies will liken the experience to moving in with their subject. The gifted writers can pass on that experience to their readers.

Businessman and self-help author Bob Proctor once said, “If you read a book a second time, you don’t see something in it you didn’t see before, you see something in yourself that wasn’t there before.”  Brilliant! This observation has changed my reading habits and reintroduced me to my most appreciated books. Try it yourself with a book you loved reading but haven’t gone back to in 15 years. Find that something in yourself that wasn’t there before. I know in high school I hated Shakespeare, and now I’m astonished at his mastery of every human condition.

My interest in Shakespeare percolated after viewing the 1998 film, Shakespeare in Love. While the film was not historically accurate, still I was taken with the humanizing of the characters. The premise of the film is that almost everything in life is a mystery, and it unfolds much like attending a play. Sometimes life is a tragedy, sometimes a comedy, and sometimes a romantic tryst. Strange as it may sound, the film reminded me of the experience of opening a restaurant, which I have done many times. Like Shakespeare in the film, sometimes you improvise on the fly, as you develop what becomes the finished product. Most of the time I was surprised that everything comes together in a fun, mysterious, and gratifying way. In time I was able to accept that mystery is a normal part of life and when it pops up in unexpected ways to embrace it and not fight it. When we realize that there is much in life that we cannot control we can just hold on and watch how things turn out. Our lives are but a play.

The Phillip Henslowe character towards the end of Shakespeare in Love, addresses a panicky Mr. Fennyman,

“Allow me to explain the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster.”

Fennyman asks, “So what do we do?’

Henslowe replies, “Nothing. Strangely enough it all turns out well. How? I don’t know. It’s a mystery.” 

There was a book I reread for fun recently. It wasn’t a great book by any measure. It was in fact a serious book that became overtime, hilarious. Back in 1980 there were a series of bestsellers, The Peoples Almanac, The Book of Lists, followed by The Book of Predictions, by the same authors.

When this last book was published, I was a 30-year-old and still willing to accept that there were certain learned experts who could reasonably predict the future. This book then compiled hundreds of eminent scientists, historians, and other self-proclaimed geniuses predicting the future in the next 40-50 years.

When I first read the book, I was a new father and very concerned about the future world that my offspring were going to inhabit. I’m happy to report that over 40 years have passed, and 90 percent of the predictions are not only wrong but hysterically wrong.

I’ve never been one to look to the future. I try not to dwell on it. I know human beings are incapable of doing any more than guessing. Today, I’ve learned to reject anyone who acts as if they can predict political outcomes, the stock market, sporting events, Blackjack, and yes even the weather.

It seems that most of the experts in this book had us running out of food, breathable air, oil, and all reason by 1990. The only thing they seemed to get right was that the United States would have a lot more Hispanics. Nuclear War was predicted at some point in most every prediction. Not surprisingly the Soviet Union in so many of the predictions was going to become the most powerful nation surpassing the United States in everything. Most predicted a new ice age by 1990. No one predicted the rise of China. One genius predicted a return to streetcars by 1990, and a rejection of automobiles as a form of transportation. In short, all the experts have been proven to be just silly self-important, condescending idiots. If you happen to find this book in a used bookstore, pick it up. It won’t disappoint.

Why did I digress, and bring up The Book of Predictions? It’s because if I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that nobody knows anything that will occur in the future. All of us think we would like to know, yet nobody is promised tomorrow. There are no EXPERTS! Nobody has any knowledge of what is true beyond the very moment you now read this. There’s always been a market for people who pretend to know the future. In the final analysis, it’s a mystery.

Ancient Greeks and Romans, like Julius Ceasar, celebrated in Shake sphere’s play, had a soothsayer examine the entrails of animals to predict the future. Macbeth consulted the three witches. My grandmother would read the coffee grounds of her upside-down Greek coffee cup. She and her girlfriends would entertain themselves as she predicted visions she saw in the remaining grounds. I had coffee with her once and she read my cup and pointed out I was going to be swimming in money soon. Of course, Yia Yia was mistaken, but I’ll always appreciate her confident, overdramatic theatrics. Listening to today’s cable news analysts is just as reliable as having my grandmother read my coffee grounds.

Today, cable TV and podcasts are overpopulated by these predicters. In the last election, all the major polls were way off, as they confidently anticipated a razor thin election. Once proven wrong they have the confused gaze of the losers you can see at the racetrack or sports betting venue. If you’re not familiar with the gaze, it looks like a cartoon bubble is above their heads saying: “What the hell happened? It was supposed to be a lock!” On election night, many forecasters were brought to tears.

Trump derangement syndrome has taken idiotic forecasting to a new level of ineptness. Once the election was over the 90+ percent negative Trump coverage continued only now there were catastrophic predictions which would take place in the first 6 months of his term.

• Continued massive inflation
• Members of the press incarcerated in concentration camps
• Stock market collapse
• Economic depression because of tariff’s
• World War III
• Trump cognitive collapse
• Unparallel joblessness
• Trump unable push through his agenda in Congress

As we now know, in each case, the exact opposite has happened. So much for the experts. If I wasn’t such a sarcastic, naive optimist, I’d assume that all these talking heads were merely hoping these outcomes came to pass.

Back to Macbeth. Maybe like the three witches in Macbeth, the media through their omens and prophecies, are attempting to influence actions even if they don’t control the outcome. The witches’ prophecies created unease and drove the plot onward. Isn’t that what the media is doing with their forewarning? Shakespeare used prophesies to build suspense and drama. Isn’t this what the media are doing? The media’s audience is the American public, and we are being manipulated, like a clever playwright controls his audience. Improve the quality of your life and turn off cable news.

Anyway, if we could know the future, would any of us like to see the exact date and time of our own demise? Much like Woody Allen, “I’m not afraid of dying. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”   I’ve always found life to be much more interesting when you don’t know where you’re going. Concentrating on the journey and not the outcome is much more enriching. Remember, oddly enough, the story of your life comes together in the final act. We don’t know exactly how. It’s a mystery.

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”

– Bob Dylan

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

-Yogi Berra

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Jimmy Banakis is a life-long restaurateur.  He was an honorary batboy for the White Sox in 1964. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Chicago-Kent Law School.  He claims the kitchen is the room he’s most comfortable in anywhere in the world. He published an extremely limited-edition family cookbook. He’s a father and grandfather, and lives in Downers Grove Il.

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