I must not fear. Fear is a mind-killer. Fear is a little death that brings total obliteration …
By borrowing the inital verses of Litany Against Fear, known these days mostly through the Dune franchise, we’ll take a peek into today’s perception of fear and how it makes people do really bad decision in long-term. And also how it’s extremely weaponised by the manipulative and/or hopelessly naive.
Oh dear, I’m already at ten of these “drops of wisdom” (take with a train load of salt). And with this one, I’m about to do another kick into a hornet’s nest. Why? I dunno, probably because I’m a fan of weird kind of self-flagellation (don’t take this out of context >:3). But this one’s probably going to be short because the idea is rather quick to grasp.
Absolute freedom is impossible. Because for freedom to be truly absolute, you must allow for someone else’s freedom to be taken away.
Oh dear, this is something we see every day. Every single day we see and hear people screaming “My freedom is being attacked! I’m oppressed!” Now, there’s of course a significant group of people that is in fact having their freedoms under scrutiny, be it racial minorities, sexual minorities etc. And no, just because they’re not being lynched doesn’t mean everything is fine. It’s not fine at all and if you try engaging in some genuine perspective taking, you’ll start taking off your rose-tinted glasses. Why am I saying this? Because this text isn’t aimed at these people and calling them out for “whining'“. Not at all. The post I’m writing here is very much aimed at people who start screaming “My freedoms!” whenever they get called out at their miserable behaviour. They know they’re doing something bad and they got spotted. Well, my dear, “free-dumbs” (I’d use harsher language but … let’s keep, how we’d call it back then, some “institutional culture”), take a comfy seat, grab your favourite snack and listen. For I’m about to show you how you’ve become your greatest tyrant and how to get out (gosh, I’m getting reminded of the first post in this series).
Reward for selfishness is loneliness Reward for arrogance is foolishness Reward for greed is emptiness
We live in an era in which grabbing some form of attention, be it positive or negative. And more often than not the people that are seen the most are rather unsavoury. Yet despite their sometimes utterly henious traits, they gain worryingly larrge following which easily ignores all their faults. But what’s their end-game? What do they want? They want “more”; more people in their cult, fuel for their egos, more things to demonstrate their self-perceived superiority. But what these people don’t realise or willingly ignore is the hidden cost. They feel exceptional, invincible. Until the inevitable comes and then what? Who will help you?
Reward for selfishness is loneliness
Who will help someone who thinks only about themselves? Why would anyone risk their well-being for someone who doesn’t care?
Reward for arrogance is foolishness
Why should you need help if you’re so great? How come you’re not capable at delivering your promises despite your miraculous claims?
Reward for greed is emptiness
Who are you trying to impress with all this stuff? What do you have to offer as a person? Who are you?
Something more positive this time around after the rather heavy stuff. We often stumble upon various motivational quotes and posts, lifting up the positive vibes and stuff like that. While I wouldn’t necessarily call them a form of toxic positivity since they don’t “push” that mindset down your throat, they’re not really effective either. Mainly because they’re just kind of placed in without a larger context which makes them fall flat. So, to not do that, I’m only going to pick two rather short quotes from my personal list and focus on these.
Be curious, not judgemental.
Don’t punish. Motivate.
We sadly live in a time of a lot of unnecessary conflicts. And because we like to stand on the “right side of history”, we tend to take sides with which we sympathise with. But that choice may not be as straight-forward. And we quickly forget that there are two basic rules, at least by my book, which should be applied at the same time.
I can already see you going: “What in the Jesus and all his carpenter friends is that title?” Well, I felt “poetic”. And it’s quite poignant when you get into what I’m about to say in this chapter, this time aimed at “public idols” and their “senseless adoration”.
Public figures are not to be worshipped and/or trusted. They’re to be kept on a tight leash and made sure they do their job right. Remember, you gave them this job so you’re their boss. Not the other way around.
Recent visits to social circles (yes, I’m an idiot for inflicting this damage to myself) have been in the light of witnessing certain people and their deranged thoughts. I won’t name but I believe everyone can guess who’s on my mind. And as my already messed up blood pressure was going even more haywire I couldn’t help but scream inside my head this question: “WHY ARE YOU GIVING THAT DEGENERATE THE ATTENTION???!!!” I was and still am competely baffled by the fact that the same people who avoid certain spaces have no problem reposting the stupidity of whoever they’re avoiding just to have this dopamine rush of “owned the fucker”. Well, strap in folks for you’re probably about to discover your own stupidity.
I wasn’t expecting to jump into this one so early but an article circulating social spaces gave me, let’s say, spiteful energy >:3 The article in question is an opinion piece and apparently is about, wait for it, kid-dults. First, what the fuck is that word? Second, the author must be one hell of a misrable person. I’ll admit I haven’t delved into the article but the title itself is repulsive enough. Doesn’t help that the it’s also denoted by “RIP ADULTHOOD”. Well, dear author of the article and anyone who this in a similar fashion, allow me for a quote (most likely not mine originally but it’s the message that’s important):
Never abandon your inner child. For doing so is like killing your soul.
Have I got your attention? Am I hearing your “mature” comments? Am I seeing your nose pointing upwards in self-fueled pride? Good. Now grab your favourite beverage and or a snack. And make sure it’s some comfort food because you’re going to need it >:3
Time to ruffle some feaethers again. And I know I will because I already managed that with this one:
Those who claim to bring freedom will be the ones who will restrict it the most.
We’ve been hearing this song quite a lot recently, especially during the pandemic years where we really had to have a chunk of our freedoms temporarily taken away or at least have it heavily checked in an interest of public safety. How well that worked and how well or badly it has been handled will be a debate for decades to come and I highly doubt everyone agreed with everything that was done but that’s not what I’m trying to focus on. My intention with this “lesson” (can I even call it lessons?) is to focus on these various “freedom fighters”, shouting and screaming “THEY’RE CONTROLLING YOU!” whenever a regulation come into play or some rights are adjusted, often benefiting common folks. Welp, let’s strap in for the ride.