Whew, took me a while to get back into the writing. Been a bit creatively busy with my other artistic venue. Anyway, this post from Soatok got me inspired and while I already answered there, I think the idea deserves a bit more than a small reply. So, let’s dive in.
Lately I’ve managed to catch up with some folks I haven’t talked to for quite some time. In some cases months or even more than a year. This experience reminded me a little bit of the time when there was quite a lot of people around, even if it was just in the virtual space. Over the years however, things happened and we’ve drifted apart. Letting go of the place that held us together also created a bit of an empty space. However, now the same folks are slowly showing up again. And I look back and see all the bridges which were built before; barely holding. Yes, there are some not-so-great individuals which I’m happy to have distance from but many were, one could say, caught in the crossfire. Which raises the question: Should the bridges be mended?
And throwing a bone to the gullible masses doesn’t suddenly make you generous. A small conversation from a fellow writer Benny here, which then became a longer write-up, got me inspired. The post that started the writing parts of our brains was this response:
“Does anyone truly earn billions of dollars?” If someone claims so, a nice follow-up question would be: “At whose expense?” Sadly we can often figure out the disturbing answer.
“Can we even hope to rely on their altruism?” I'd dare to go as far as saying that being a billionaire and being altruistic are mutually exclusive. If you desire to hoard, you can't give honestly. More often than not altruistic people have barely anything (sometimes to their own detriment but that's a different story). The “generous” gestures of the wealthy are just that; a hollow gesture designed to gain some surface level sympathy and to “appease the masses”. See every single present populist.
As we’re trying to make sense of the glaring incompetence of the naive and cruel ignorance of the “dominant”, there’s a thought that has been brewing in my head. Ever so often, when we feel overwhelmed or unheard, we look for someone who could guide us from the proverbial cave towards the light from the outside. But let’s stop for a while and ponder this; what would such a guide look like? What should be their qualities? And most inmportantly, how can you know they’re the right one?