In the maze of thoughts ... The pandemic of unhumanity and the veneration of misery.

“I want my neighbour’s goat to die.”

“Really? You don’t want one of your own to get a better life?”

“No, I don’t want better life. I just can’t stand them being happy.”

Above is an excerpt from a rather dark “joke” that I stumbled upon on one of my social dives. I personally wouldn’t call it a joke for not only the fun factor isn’t really there in the first place and these days it’s not even a joke by gallows humour standard anymore but more of a factual statement. It’s telling when people say satire is dead because it’s difficult to distinguish from reality. Same comes with humour when it becomes a coping mechanic instead of a “spice of life”.

But why do we continue on this path? Why do we willing remove parts of our humanity, let alone the positive ones and dive deeper into the swamp of misery? Why instead of looking for ways to brighten up the world we only looks for excuses to justify wrongs and punish those who even think about enjoying good moments that happen?

A little personal dive for starters. I didn’t use to be the “icy blue-eyed big woof brother”. In fact, I used to be very gloomy, cynical, self-deprecating and “smiling through pain” type of person. Sure, I could put on a mask of someone neat to stay around but that would eventually slip and reveal who I truly am. And in retrospect it eventually pushed people away.

Weirdly enough, it’s yet another thing where furs opened my eyes. Funny, how the people “hiding” behind their characters are actually more genuine. Sometimes in bad ways too but that’s the “occupational hazard” as my former teacher would’ve said. That said, seeing so many folks around just living and having fun despite some facing potentially life-threatening hardships. They have fun, they genuinely smile, they enjoy being in the moment.

And yet, whenever you get into the wider world, especially online, you see way more misery and hatred. And not just from the “expected” perpetrators but sometimes from the very communities that foster the positive nature of things and want to create a better world for everyone. So what is it? Is the positive look just a shell or is there an issue with people themselves. Then you start accounting for the “outsiders” and whoo boy does it escalate. The “joke” at the very beginning becomes very much a reality. Crowds of people who barely even know what they’re talking about swarm in and start tearing the community down harder than a flock of vultures picks a corpse clean. Why? See the “joke”. They can’t stand someone being happy.

But where does it come from? Were they denied their own happiness for their entire existence that they were “programmed” to hate everything that is even remotely good? But then this would for example deny the “kids rebel against their parents” principle. Taking this example, people like that would be expected to double down on the rebellious act but instead, they’d rather choose to “sink” into the proverbial swamp, be it to “deal with the issue” quickly or to “fit in” only to find out in the latter case that it’ll never work, fueling the misery even further.

But that’s on an individual level. What about groups? Entire societies? Hell, let’s just look at our world. The constant rush, the never-ending chase of something new/cool/whatever, blindly embracing trends just to make sure you don’t become ignored (sorry to break it to you, love, but you’re not doing it right, mainly because it’s not you). All this effort and no moment of stopping and just living has been creating a mindset, in which fun isn’t allowed. Because if you stop, then you’re suddenly “out”; out of “fight”, out of the “cool kids club”. Everyone seems to be in on the “grindset mindset”.

But guess what happens when you don’t allow yourself to be happy? That’s right, misery creeps in and starts growing. Suddenly, anything joyful starts turning into a distraction. Later, it becomes an obstacle; a nuissance. And once that miserable attitude settles in, all the nasty habits bubble out. Why? Because they’re an easy way to “handle” the situation; the “fan-favourite” non-solution.

Now, being a 90s kid, I went through that “edgy” and “nihilistic” era that I guess many of my peers went through. And guess what, even back then it was considered odd to be that way. So what changed? Well, Internet happened. Online social spaces became wide-spread and suddenly many people found their “tribes”. And for some reason, one of the core traits of netizens (good lord, I feel old using that word and I’m way younger than many on-line “pioneers”) has become the “Misery and hate is cool and who displays any form of fun is a brain-dead imbecile”. You’d think this stuff goes away quickly and you might be right if this was a thing recently. But this was a thing back then so it has had a lot of time to “mature”. And sadly it crept into many communities and into people’s mindsets. And Lord knows why people consider this a sign of “being a mature adult”? Really? Being a misery-craving happiness-hating sack of meat and bones is being and adult? No wonder so many look back at being kids.

Want an example? How about Gamers ™? One of the candidates for the most insufferable and immature communities. If you’ve ever been in any community focused around a video game, especially big and/or competitive ones, whoo boy, my condolences to your braincells. Like, the level of absence of any level of basic humanity is insane. The “people” (I really struggle with relating to humanity here) are so depraved of it that if you killed a baby in their presence they’d happily piss on their dead body. Sorry for a really harsh analogy but especially these days I’d be surprised if I was far from truth. Hell, just look at any online forum related to games. Or you know what, don’t. Save your sanity.

Want something more generalised so I’m not scapegoating a group? Not that it’s going to get that much better but there’s a reason I personally consider Reddit a cesspit. Because good lord almighty is that place more pretenetions and snobbish than the most stereotypical depicition of “royalty” in a sloppy TV show.

Speaking of furs, the fandom for some reason attracts so much hatred from outsiders. Why? Is it because it’s weird? How come other fandoms at the same level of establishment don’t suffer from the same? Sure, furs are a bit more explicit (sometimes to a point where it might be advisable to do a good level of personal risk assesment before sharing something because you don’t live in a vacuum and being inclusive doesn’t necessarily mean having no boundaries at all) but

A) vast majority of things you heard are pure bullshit

B) this slander ironically often comes from people who are even more “deviant” and not-so-rarely in ways that would have them end up with a knife to their throats.

In an overwhelming majority of cases, whenever you see a fur, it’s just someone having silly, sometimes cheeky, fun with who they are and who they want to be. Is that too much to ask for? Oh, right, fun not allowed. Only misery.

Ok, enough poking at “fun police”. Let’s look on a different side of this “battlefield”; those who actually fight for the betterment of humanity. Or at least they claim to do so. Because this area has been infected by the misery virus as well. Tell me, how many times have you encountered someone with whom you agreed in principle but their approach pushed you away? Maybe you got a step further and you were acquainted to someone or cooperated with someonelike this and eventually your paths diverged only for your “now former” colleague acuse you of the very thing you were “fighting” against. These instances are honestly even more infuriating to me personally because it kicks the usually good goal right in the face.

But why? Is it because your ideas were different? Is it because one of you decided to lower their efforts due to not being able to work at the 100% anymore, be it because of health or other circumstances? If so, how does that make one fight for better world when they do so using the very same methods that already forster one hell of a miserable atmosphere. To borrow a part of a quote from K. Marx (yes, that K. Marx): “From each one according to their abilities …” and under those abilites aren’t only the physical ones but also mental ones. Not everyone has the same level resilience or ability to commit and pushing them past their human limits only fuels the already inhuman world we live in. And guess what that would make you; the very same thing you’re trying to fix, except you have the right “excuse”. But let me give you a piece of advice: Not even frontline soldiers in active conflicts are fighting 24/7. They too get moments of respite during which they want to take time to live instead of fight. And these people are specially trained to have huge physical and mental resilience. So what makes you think you can one-up them?

“So, wise guy, what do you want to do with all this?” you’re probaby asking with a noticeable snark in your voice. Well, let’s take a peek into my self-mentoring and take few lessons

And most importantly, NEVER throw away any portion of humanity (or whatever your species equivalent of it you follow :3) just because it makes your job easier. Or the cycle of cruelty will never be broken. I’m sure you’re aware that there are philosophies and ideologies that were created in good faith. At the same time, our history shows how easy it is to turn them into a tool of cruelty and oppression as well. Trust me, I know. Or more precisely, my predecessors do.

So, don’t just set things on fire. Build brigdes for those who need help to cross the river. Help those trapped in the swamp to get out instead of waiting for them to crawl out.

And as always, remember to smile. For a smile is beacon of light telling everyone that your heart is home. So make sure that beacon shines bright to make it easy for everyone to follow it.

R.R.A.

#InTheMazeOfThoughts