This is a perfect explanation and description of one of the major causes of the problems in human society, which is ingratitude by those who are lazy, incompetent, narcissistic and otherwise incapable of building anything of value. They know it and hate themselves if they allow themselves to face that reality. Instead, they tear down, break and destroy in as much as they are able all the good that producers and builders create in order to pathologically build themselves up. Your entire article states this clearly and succinctly.
The Freudian view of depression viewed it as anger turned against the self. There is some truth to this.
When I see some angry activist trash our culture, our nations, capitalism, patriarchy and all the rest, it seems to be a version of this. They are the eunuchs in the harem and at some level must be aware they too can participate but choose not to. That awareness cannot be confronted so I suspect it is displaced. It is projected. But they must be angry at themselves.
At the core is the ingratitude though. The unwillingness to embrace all we have and then try to build on it. Like refusing to write on Substack because it is not perfect.
I don't think it is a coordinated effort so much as a reflection of human nature. The resentful and the listless dislike everything they see. So they grasp at philosophies to help explain and lessen the effect. It is capitalism, oligarchy, fascism etc.
The next step is easy. Lets improve things. Lets distribute resources better, lets improve education. But all of it ignores how hard it is to create a first world society. Few can do it.
It is human nature to destroy what we don't understand.
If one lives their life via mass-media, the conclusion that everything is horrible is inevitable. Eventually, you become so inured to feeling status quo is as their reporting, and that the blame is to be put upon whomever they point at. This in turn makes you shun the ones they allude to as being guilty, no matter who they are and without you checking any facts.
It's not coincidence that capitalist mass-media since the tail-end of the 1990s has been denigrating free discourse online, and citizens reporting themselves on what they see, hear and experience or know.
Freeing someone from this is not easy, and must either be done using the same methods as mass-media, which requires the same power and control over capitalism and its servant the state - or one on one, over time.
I said this before I think? Doing something tangible and real helps against the malaise, the anomie and the feeling of being blasé. Start having live plants in your windows f.e. Begonias, petunias, whatever. Learn a bit about them, maybe how to make cuts and joins and create your own hybrids.
Such a small thing will help you feel better and will, how strangely it may sound, arm and armour you to enbdure and triumph over the never-ending flood of dross from mass-media.
Today, I've built a wattle fence, scraped and tarred the rowboat, exercised the dogs, gone for a walk in the forest with my wife (and the dogs), and delivered firewood and freshwater to a neighbour, an old couple; last Winter they had a power outage and their pipes froze and broke, and they've been mired in a fight with the insurance company since. Hence, we supply them with water and helps them go buy firewood, since they still have no power either.
I'm not telling this to show off - I'm telling this to give examples of small, simple things that even I can do. We all have lots of those small opportunities to do something. Pick one. If it's not for you, pick another. Even the act of looking is a thing in itself.
I’ve heard it said that there’s a reason the story of Cain and Able is the second one in the Bible, and I deeply appreciate the wisdom in the ancient observation it captures. The axis between the grateful and the resentful is truly one of the most profound in human nature.
The happy caveat is that we are capable of moving along the line toward gratitude and away from resentment. It takes a strong will toward self reflection, but it is available.
The young, I think, are naturally more resentful. To quote The Who, “a young man ain’t got nothing in the world these days.” That spirit, a natural part of our makeup, can drive a young person to achieve things to be grateful for. But it’s important that achievement and the resultant gratitude be modeled. Unfortunately, the resentful can also get ahead in our culture; perhaps this has always been so.
I am grateful to my parents and other adults in my younger life for teaching me the possibility of effort yielding gratitude-worthy results. I am also grateful for those who speak reminders, and warnings against forgetting.
I always think of that WHO song when I read some young person complaining about how all the boomers had it made and they have it so hard. That song came out around 1969!
"You know nowadays, it's the old man who has all the money, and a young man ain't got nothing in the world these days!!!"
Nothing changes I guess! Although, at least today they don't have to worry about being drafted and sent to Viet Nam like the Boomers. See, something else to be grateful for!
Seems to me that I f you’ve got an option, why not choose the gratitude side of the axis? But maybe I say that because I am fundamentally oriented toward gratitude, that’s just how I’m wired. Not that I can’t be a resentful ass, but I do tilt grateful. Fundamental difference?
I was banging my desk in agreement at one point just going 'eh oui ! OUAIS! Il a raison la!', I must admit that I've been thinking lately how good some things are here and how much better I enjoyed life in Quebec and how pleasant it'd be to move there. Course it's expensive, it's got problems but the people are kind, it is French and there's the problems of having to make sure to have money for a house but these challenges give hope and joy for the coming year.
I can't fathom that those at the top feel this sort of joy, or that of completing one's serials, or of sharing things with others. It is enough to make me pity them.
The thing about a first-world country is that it takes generations to build it but a few mere years to destroy it.
It'll be taking the rest of our lives I think to course-correct and fix these mistakes if we're lucky. All because a few hundred psychopaths have no impulse control.
But we must always remember, this is the only life we get. Make it happen or wither. To spend time improving the world with grand schemes is absurd. We must protect what we already have.
The key to happiness is gratitude. These people, who negatively look at what they perceive as imperfect, will never be happy because they have no gratitude for anything.
Some may simply be suffering from an immature idealism, where they can't face the realism of what the consequences could be if their demands were met. Others are so shallow that they get their sense of identity from joining complainers about so called wrongs.
Being miserable and dissatisfied is a wasted life. Even the poorest American has things the richest people in the world did not have a century ago. Air conditioning, electricity, refrigeration, running hot water, all the books in the world at your fingertips, the ability to speak to people at a great distance for practically nothing, and the ability to travel distances in a much shorter time are just some examples.
I believe there is economic injustice, but I think most of the world-saviors have no idea how or why. They just embrace some sixteenth-generation, post-modern Marxist claptrap and feel self-important because they're on "the right side of history."
It's not about capital. It's about land. But fixing it doesn't require destroying religion, the nation, and the family... so they're not interested.
This is a perfect explanation and description of one of the major causes of the problems in human society, which is ingratitude by those who are lazy, incompetent, narcissistic and otherwise incapable of building anything of value. They know it and hate themselves if they allow themselves to face that reality. Instead, they tear down, break and destroy in as much as they are able all the good that producers and builders create in order to pathologically build themselves up. Your entire article states this clearly and succinctly.
The Freudian view of depression viewed it as anger turned against the self. There is some truth to this.
When I see some angry activist trash our culture, our nations, capitalism, patriarchy and all the rest, it seems to be a version of this. They are the eunuchs in the harem and at some level must be aware they too can participate but choose not to. That awareness cannot be confronted so I suspect it is displaced. It is projected. But they must be angry at themselves.
At the core is the ingratitude though. The unwillingness to embrace all we have and then try to build on it. Like refusing to write on Substack because it is not perfect.
Perfection is rarely achieved in any domain. Caveat: except for this article for which the word perfect is not hyperbole.
You are very kind. I appreciate it.
We all have something to contribute to a better world I think, however modest.
Amazing perspective!!! Who is behind this? The usual suspects?
I don't think it is a coordinated effort so much as a reflection of human nature. The resentful and the listless dislike everything they see. So they grasp at philosophies to help explain and lessen the effect. It is capitalism, oligarchy, fascism etc.
The next step is easy. Lets improve things. Lets distribute resources better, lets improve education. But all of it ignores how hard it is to create a first world society. Few can do it.
It is human nature to destroy what we don't understand.
If one lives their life via mass-media, the conclusion that everything is horrible is inevitable. Eventually, you become so inured to feeling status quo is as their reporting, and that the blame is to be put upon whomever they point at. This in turn makes you shun the ones they allude to as being guilty, no matter who they are and without you checking any facts.
It's not coincidence that capitalist mass-media since the tail-end of the 1990s has been denigrating free discourse online, and citizens reporting themselves on what they see, hear and experience or know.
Freeing someone from this is not easy, and must either be done using the same methods as mass-media, which requires the same power and control over capitalism and its servant the state - or one on one, over time.
I said this before I think? Doing something tangible and real helps against the malaise, the anomie and the feeling of being blasé. Start having live plants in your windows f.e. Begonias, petunias, whatever. Learn a bit about them, maybe how to make cuts and joins and create your own hybrids.
Such a small thing will help you feel better and will, how strangely it may sound, arm and armour you to enbdure and triumph over the never-ending flood of dross from mass-media.
Today, I've built a wattle fence, scraped and tarred the rowboat, exercised the dogs, gone for a walk in the forest with my wife (and the dogs), and delivered firewood and freshwater to a neighbour, an old couple; last Winter they had a power outage and their pipes froze and broke, and they've been mired in a fight with the insurance company since. Hence, we supply them with water and helps them go buy firewood, since they still have no power either.
I'm not telling this to show off - I'm telling this to give examples of small, simple things that even I can do. We all have lots of those small opportunities to do something. Pick one. If it's not for you, pick another. Even the act of looking is a thing in itself.
I agree. As much as possible remain anchored in the real world. I live in a city but like to walk. I don't have any plants but am considering some.
I agree many get their information from mass media. They remain plugged in to the matrix and always will be.
I’ve heard it said that there’s a reason the story of Cain and Able is the second one in the Bible, and I deeply appreciate the wisdom in the ancient observation it captures. The axis between the grateful and the resentful is truly one of the most profound in human nature.
The happy caveat is that we are capable of moving along the line toward gratitude and away from resentment. It takes a strong will toward self reflection, but it is available.
The young, I think, are naturally more resentful. To quote The Who, “a young man ain’t got nothing in the world these days.” That spirit, a natural part of our makeup, can drive a young person to achieve things to be grateful for. But it’s important that achievement and the resultant gratitude be modeled. Unfortunately, the resentful can also get ahead in our culture; perhaps this has always been so.
I am grateful to my parents and other adults in my younger life for teaching me the possibility of effort yielding gratitude-worthy results. I am also grateful for those who speak reminders, and warnings against forgetting.
Thank you!
I always think of that WHO song when I read some young person complaining about how all the boomers had it made and they have it so hard. That song came out around 1969!
"You know nowadays, it's the old man who has all the money, and a young man ain't got nothing in the world these days!!!"
Nothing changes I guess! Although, at least today they don't have to worry about being drafted and sent to Viet Nam like the Boomers. See, something else to be grateful for!
All it takes is the willingness to see.
Yes. It takes effort. Why bother when so much misery is available at our fingertips. They don't call it doomscrolling for nothing.
Seems to me that I f you’ve got an option, why not choose the gratitude side of the axis? But maybe I say that because I am fundamentally oriented toward gratitude, that’s just how I’m wired. Not that I can’t be a resentful ass, but I do tilt grateful. Fundamental difference?
Perhaps. Most are wired to attend to anything triggering fear as it helps survival. Easily gamed of course.
Well said.
I was banging my desk in agreement at one point just going 'eh oui ! OUAIS! Il a raison la!', I must admit that I've been thinking lately how good some things are here and how much better I enjoyed life in Quebec and how pleasant it'd be to move there. Course it's expensive, it's got problems but the people are kind, it is French and there's the problems of having to make sure to have money for a house but these challenges give hope and joy for the coming year.
I can't fathom that those at the top feel this sort of joy, or that of completing one's serials, or of sharing things with others. It is enough to make me pity them.
The thing about a first-world country is that it takes generations to build it but a few mere years to destroy it.
It'll be taking the rest of our lives I think to course-correct and fix these mistakes if we're lucky. All because a few hundred psychopaths have no impulse control.
Well done, great essay Spiff, sorry for rambling.
Can't beat a good ramble.
But we must always remember, this is the only life we get. Make it happen or wither. To spend time improving the world with grand schemes is absurd. We must protect what we already have.
Glad you liked it.
Agreed and bienvenue.
The key to happiness is gratitude. These people, who negatively look at what they perceive as imperfect, will never be happy because they have no gratitude for anything.
Some may simply be suffering from an immature idealism, where they can't face the realism of what the consequences could be if their demands were met. Others are so shallow that they get their sense of identity from joining complainers about so called wrongs.
Being miserable and dissatisfied is a wasted life. Even the poorest American has things the richest people in the world did not have a century ago. Air conditioning, electricity, refrigeration, running hot water, all the books in the world at your fingertips, the ability to speak to people at a great distance for practically nothing, and the ability to travel distances in a much shorter time are just some examples.
Completely agree. Most of us need to recalibrate. Life is amazing.
This resonates.
I believe there is economic injustice, but I think most of the world-saviors have no idea how or why. They just embrace some sixteenth-generation, post-modern Marxist claptrap and feel self-important because they're on "the right side of history."
It's not about capital. It's about land. But fixing it doesn't require destroying religion, the nation, and the family... so they're not interested.
https://gameofrent.com/
I think some are receptive to these causes. It fills a void. But they are still ungrateful.