Fear is the True Opiate of the Masses

There are two kinds of Fear. There's the Fear that is real, clear and present, naked in all its horrific extremities, right before our very eyes. That Fear is immediate. That Fear is true. It calls for action. It calls us to either face it head on, or be conquered and enslaved by it.

And then there is false fear, which is the Fear of the unknown, or the unknowable. Lest we forget, that there is always someone in our midst, usually many, many someones, in fact, who seek to USE false Fear to jerk us around. They want to get us to do their bidding, to pull our strings and make us dance like otherwise lifeless, soulless marionettes. All for their entertainment. All for their own selfish personal, psychological needs, wants, and cravings.

Because Fear, either the first or the second kind, be it true or false, is invasive. Fear is predatory. Fear is parasitic. Fear is therefore a tool for the power hungry. Fear is the true opiate of the masses. And that is why so many misguided people try to use it to get into our heads. And far too many people are just weak enough to let all that Fear take up permanent residence inside their skull.

On the Nature of Personal Pain

It is often nearly impossible to help anyone who is in the throes of violent, self immolating pain. The best one can do, rather, is to step far enough away, so that the flames are, at the very least, unable to spread. For there is no help like self help, and there is no self help without self awareness. And sadly, some people just seem to prefer the flames.

On the Nature of Exceptionalism

In the Real World, one simply cannot always "go along to get along." Because the Real World, quite simply, does not always work that way. Nothing does. More often than not, complexity and variety are the rule, not the exception. And only those who have the strength and sheer moral fortitude to stand alone in the face of adversity can ever truly be considered exceptional.

On the Nature of Superficiality

Think about it; if you really are "better" in some way than everybody else, you don't really need to advertise your virtues, because it's already obvious to everyone who's actually paying attention in the first place.

Like how, all the girls that aren't quite as pretty seem to have an irrational hatred for the girl who actually is the prettiest one in the class; a truth that is already painfully self evident.

In other words, if you've got to advertise all the time, or go out of your way to put others down to lift yourself up, you probably don't really have (or fear that you don't have enough of) what you're trying to sell the general public on anyway.

So "saving face" doesn't really generate face, or any kind of genuine social clout. In most cases, it just makes you fake. And only the dumbest, "fair weather friend" kind of people are going to play along or buy into all that superficial BS anyway.

The Only Truly Genuine Currency in Life

"Lying to save face" is deficit spending. It's borrowing from Peter, based on shameless falsehoods, to pay Paul. It's like spending counterfeit money to keep from losing something you obviously have far too little, or even none of, in the first place. Because "the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth," is the only truly genuine currency in Life.

On the Nature of Coping and Crutches

At some point, a "coping mechanism" can become "a crutch." But therein lies the rub. Because most people really aren't honest with themselves about where one ends and the other begins.

On the Nature of Bias

Actually, what I think is real, real interesting, is how, when certain groups of clearly biased people whine about not being treated well enough, they more often than not just end up putting their own prejudices and self-seeking tendencies blatantly on display in the process.