Don’t Read Just Agree

Our world has evolved. What causes enjoyment any more? The whole call of nihilism seems to have me in its grasp. I have value and purpose… I think. But I often have imposter syndrome in my own practices. Do I genuinely care about being the best I can be? Actually, I’d say probably not. I hate the mundane work. I hate the lack of challenge. I hate dealing with unenthusiastic people. The whining is just non-stop. All you ever hear any more is complaint after complaint.

The endless put downs on social media, or even anything on TV or in movies. It’s all combative. It’s all taken the form of the WWE.

But at its core, there may be something wrong with me. So how can I practice what I preach when I don’t do enough to prove that I believe it anyway?

What often comes across in something like this is an endless stream of gripes that don’t matter at all.

It’s society’s problem, not mine.

But that’s categorically false. I don’t find enjoyment in things because of me. I like to read, but that may just be because there’s nothing I like to watch any more. Nothing peaks my interest to watch. It’s all vapid and meaningless… with a few exceptions. I may in fact fall into the category of the reader who is reading simply for the show of it. But that’s not it. I do enjoy reading. I enjoy the stories, from the dense stories of Dostoyevsky, to the whimsical nature of Sanderson. I enjoy the deep, ancient philosophy of Plato, and the modern critiques of Taibbi.

But whatever it is you are reading, you hear criticism from every side. Oh, Sanderson is pulp, fluff, mere fantasy… a Mormon, as if that’s a dirty word. Crime and Punishment, you think you’re better than me? You enjoy reading? Is it lonely up there on your pedestal? Reading is for people who don’t have anything better to do. Reading is for weak men.

I know you’re a bigot conservative who exists in the manosphere because you’ve read Jordan Peterson, Jocko Willink, and David Googins. The word “bigot” gets thrown around so much by people who don’t know the meaning of it.

I know you’re a whiney lib because you’ve read Caste, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and seek out books from different cultures. An interest in how and what people think has nothing to do with political agendas

You’re a conspiracy theorist because you think 1984, Brave New World, Handmaid’s Tale, and Fahrenheit 451 are important books that everyone should read. I really do, especially now.

You read boring books about history and geo-politics. Victorian novels are so stuffy and slow. Why are you even bothering to read Dante? (These are all comments I’ve heard from anyone from friends to teacher colleagues)

We live in a culture that preaches no judgment, but if anything, judgment has accelerated. You either agree with me on all fronts or you’re the devil. You’re a bigot, you’re a lib-tard.

You don’t fall in lock step on every issue we deem important, then you’re one of them, not one of us.

You want nuance to arguments? You want to look at the whole picture rather than a snippet? You want to learn about all facets of a critical, complex issue? You want to ask questions so that you can better understand the why’s and the motivations? Maybe we should get to a place where it’s ok to say I don’t know enough about that topic to have an opinion.

Think again.

You agree with us 1000%, or you better pound sand.

We know what’s best for you, we’ve been told. We’ve done all the research so you don’t have to. We will make the decisions for you, we know what’s best. We do this because we want what’s best for you, we know what’s best for you. We do this so that you don’t have to, we’re such caring people. We know what’s best for you. All of you.

You just want to be happy and docile. Here’s a new phone, a new game, a new tournament. A new pill. But you should also be angry at them for disagreeing with us. You better fit the narrative… have all the right things in your profile. You better believe what we tell you. And you better not say anything that goes against it, or we will destroy you. We’ve done it before. Why are you any different?

This is what our society has fallen into.

You’re one of us or you’re one of them.

Completely and fully. There are no exceptions. No alternatives.

You can’t listen to Jordan Peterson and like snippets. You must like all of it or none of it.

You can’t listen to Bernie Sanders and like some of his ideas. You must like all of it or none of it. You can’t want to keep the ARs and be pro-choice. Hell, you can’t even ask a question on the trans topic… to anyone. We don’t want you to better understand this. Just believe our side. We’re the correct side. History will be on our side.

So fall in line.

We win and you lose.

And in this approach, we’ve all lost.

Don’t believe me? Look at what is happening. Mental health is an alarming issue. Mass shootings. School shootings. Suicide. Loneliness. The overmedicated society. We teach them all the things that will make them depressed.

It’s all about money.

It’s all about me.

We don’t value how to solve the problems unless we can monetize it. We don’t want to hear from the other side because of our fragile egos and unwillingness to maybe find some common ground.

We say that you can fix things. But we don’t practice what we preach. We have shown kids, from the top down, you should always act like a 5-year-old. You should always be the bully on the playground. As long as you’re on the bully’s side, you’re good.

The next writing will be the start of searching for these solutions. They’re out there, but it’s going to take some work.