There is the sanitized bubble of reality that you're born into and then there's this vast, treacherous, uncharted wilderness outside of it
There's something strange about the various comments sections of the world, as well as news/media organizations. Can't quite articulate it
Witness different people talking about Aleppo, abortion, sex education, about oil, the Middle East, the South China Sea, drugs...
Witness how angry ppl get in comments sections of YouTube videos that attempt to explain the history of nation-states and other human tribes
As a 26 year old agnostic Tamil S'porean man, I feel like I've never had a true tribal identity or in-group. I was never initiated anywhere.
Perhaps the most incensed I've gotten is having to talk to foreigners who assume that me being Singaporean means I'm oppressed, lobotomized
But I don't think that's even 5% of the intense, bezerker-level outrage ppl feel about (for eg) Taiwan, Tibet, Palestine, Kashmir
Observe the insults people use. The word that sticks in my mind right now is "imperialist". One of dozens of an interesting class of word.
Rapist, oppressor, genocidal, fascist, cuck, libtard, dictator, extremist, hack, shill, zealot, elitist, radical, idealogue, demagogue...
Lemming, obstructionist, defeatist, sympathizer. These are much more interesting, worrying words than asshole or motherfucker or bastard.
I would love to read some oral histories about these tremendous ideological conflicts that seem to happen under the surface of public life
It's amazing to me that people go about their lives while secretly harboring such intense feelings abt things. Surely it must be distressing
I mean, I get literally anxious sometimes just thinking abt how venomous OTHER people are. What's it like to harbor such loathing yourself?
My suspicion is that it's correlated with all the everyday ills of the world. Addiction to sugar, drugs, porn, conflict, anger, violence
I think it's tough to carry hatred or resentment inside your body without it seeping into the rest of you ,and then out of you, to others
This is why I'm beginning to believe the greatest act of charity is to cleanse yourself of hate&anger - even if those feelings are justified
I know this is much easier said than done. I think nobody has the right to ask this of anybody else. We can only try to do it ourselves.
I'm still very confused, though. Bc I don't understand the world around me. And people who SEEM to understand it often reveal blind spots.
A part of me wishes I could pick some in-group to be a part of, some out-group to be outraged by. There's a comfort to tribal affiliation
But I have always been a class clown, a trickster, and I can't help but get bored with each group's inevitable drama and politics
What I want, I think, is a tribe of my own; a sense of pride&belonging. I have to accept that I'm not entitled to that. It's a lot of work.
@visakanv so get to work. 😉
