Beware of politicians who blame vulnerable groups for your problems - they’re the ones not talking about making your life better but about making someone else’s life worse.
Their target may be refugees or a religious group or an ethnic group or trans folks. But whoever the vulnerable minority is, the message is basically the same: you’re supposed to believe that denying these people their rights will somehow help you and your family. It won’t, of course. Don’t buy it.
@andrewstroehlein Scapegoating is a practice (nearly?) as old as humanity itself. It's our inherent inability to acknowledge and deal with what's lacking in ourselves. We will never mature as a species until we face up to who and what we really are. We can only hope that we mature before we wipe ourselves out of existence.
Seriously heard someone saying they don't listen to many black artists, because they aren't really into rap. Bitch please, feel free to share songs from Black artists from any genre. Here is one of my favorites, if you like this song please check out her other work:
And it would take a series of books to unpack it all.
So keep in mind: a microblogging platform is not the tool with which to do these concepts justice. Yes, MUCH OF WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY IS MISSING NUANCE.
BUT.
The thing is that nothing is going to save us.
Not AI. Not the right president. Not the self-recusing of that Supreme Court justice. Not more money. Not more jobs. Not better jobs. Not those drugs. Not that relationship. Not sex. Not alcohol. Not academia.
Not fitness. Not eating right. Not excellent health. Not the right books. Not that car. Not that bike. Not that boat. Not that set of clothes. Not that reconciliation. Not that therapy. Not that medication. Not that doctor. Not that gender affirmation. Not that school.
Not makeup. Not sex. Not exercise. Not religion. Not unbelief. Not weighted blankets. Not shoes. Not comic books. Not jewelry. Not accessories. Not pets. Not travel. Not buying a house. Not that curriculum. Not that gadget.
Not that god. Not that idea. Not that ritual. Not the right amount of sleep. Not that music or that movie or that soundtrack. Not that drink.
And so much more.
All the things and concepts and activities with which we fill our lives -- none of them are going to save us. They all PROMISE to -- they are the oasis meant to quench our thirst and fill us up. But they are powerless to follow through on their promise to make us whole and complete.
Everything in the universe -- every star, planet, meteor, fragment of space debris, land mass, ocean, animal, building, vehicle, human, flesh, cell, atom -- all of it is divided. All of it is lacking. Lack is at the core of the universe's nature; no one and nothing exists without it.
Our task is to be solid on these realities -- and to hold each other, comfort each other in the dark, and help each other learn to accept that we are accepted.
"The Gospel is, life is shit and you don't have the answers. And that's good news.... What is the meaning of life? ...Part of the meaning of life is to be able to set that question to one side , to be able to live with not having the answer....
"If I believe that the world is meaningful, that we'll end up playing harps in the sky for eternity, but I do not love, then I cannot help but experience the world as meaningless...
There comes a moment in the middle of a ramble when Boxnoggin’s fidgets have worked out and he just…settles into the work of accompanying a human. It’s taken years to patiently encourage the idea of walkies as a cooperative venture, but the rewards are vast.