A Cynical Revelation
I used to complain a lot in the form of theorizing, philosophizing. I used to sigh and huff and pout a lot in the form of writing poetry, lyrics that had no songs, meters that had no rhyme, rhymes that had no aim. I used to think a lot about myself in the form of hoping for the world.
Perhaps, I am still guilty.
To be honest, I assume I must be. Since here is the same place I have been since then, and this is the same thing I have been saying. Since all of my revolution, revolt, chaos, anarchy bullshit is probably just a nihilistic pouring out of my unhappiness. Just a new way to complain. A new way to whine. A new way to bitch about how I haven't gotten all the things I thought I wanted.
Or, perhaps, it is more than that.
Albeit, still naive.
Because there will be no revolution. There can't be. The forms we have now will persist, just as the cynics claimed they would. The systems we, at some point, established have devised a fool-proof way of taking control, and they will continue on the same course at all costs. Were the apparent forms of now to crumble, we would have a military state for a while, until the structures were rebuilt. Then, just as before, the system would reassert itself, retaliate, take stronger hold.
Technology is a monster the industrial era birthed without thinking it through. Advancement and the dumbing down of humanity is a force we now cannot rival with. Convenience is a commodity we will not even consider living without.
Don't get me wrong. The world, the power-holders will change at some point. But they will only be replaced by more power-hungry dictators who will take the reigns and drive us into the ground just as hard, if not harder. The rich will always be getting richer, the poor will always be with us. And the middling ones will always think they know better, while secretly only desiring to be the rich.
We are utterly cyclical. We have gone nowhere in 100 years. In 2000 years. In a billion years. More complex, yes, and more self-serving. Better and more efficient at death and destruction.
So, what is the use?
We are just complaining in high language. Just adding flourishes onto our disgruntledness. Putting fancy accents on our despair. Guilding our addictions in gold and layering our guilt in vapid gratification and painting our faces with lead paint.
Possibly, there is a higher, more vague purpose. A sort of transcendence. A seeing through the systems to the truth.
Or, perhaps that is just our mind's way of dealing with the intolerable reality that, as humans, we are an idiotic race full of loneliness and torment. That we are driven to kill, maim, and hurt one another. That we only seek personal pleasure above all else. Even through this concept of "transcendence" and "selflessness".
Isn't this where philosophers have gone and never returned from? Isn't this where cynicism and atheism have gone and made a vacation of? Isn't this where hope and a bright future fall out from under us like a trap door?
Consider this: all of the terrible predictions of our race dictated by those who had claimed to have "seen the truth" have not come true. We have not blown up the earth with nuclear warheads (yet). We have not pillaged every last resource (yet). We have not cut ourselves off from reality so much so that we can no longer walk freely in the open air (yet).
And, we probably won't. Some tiny, minor thing - probably said by someone who has transcended into the truth - will put us off it and we will only continue to poison ourselves slowly, diluting our real nature and trading it in for cheap substitutes. Never really knowing the full impact. Simply wasting away quietly, inmagnificently. Neither great nor evil. Just rather mediocre.
And time will carry on and the systems will change hands. And tomorrow will, for the most part, look just the same as today.
So, what is the point?
The point is that, regardless, we are all still connected to everything. And when we are shit, so is everything. So, we probably shouldn't be so goddamn shitty. That's all. Nothing else to it. Just that when we suck, so does the universe. And that's pathetic. And we could do so much better.
Perhaps, I am still guilty.
To be honest, I assume I must be. Since here is the same place I have been since then, and this is the same thing I have been saying. Since all of my revolution, revolt, chaos, anarchy bullshit is probably just a nihilistic pouring out of my unhappiness. Just a new way to complain. A new way to whine. A new way to bitch about how I haven't gotten all the things I thought I wanted.
Or, perhaps, it is more than that.
Albeit, still naive.
Because there will be no revolution. There can't be. The forms we have now will persist, just as the cynics claimed they would. The systems we, at some point, established have devised a fool-proof way of taking control, and they will continue on the same course at all costs. Were the apparent forms of now to crumble, we would have a military state for a while, until the structures were rebuilt. Then, just as before, the system would reassert itself, retaliate, take stronger hold.
Technology is a monster the industrial era birthed without thinking it through. Advancement and the dumbing down of humanity is a force we now cannot rival with. Convenience is a commodity we will not even consider living without.
Don't get me wrong. The world, the power-holders will change at some point. But they will only be replaced by more power-hungry dictators who will take the reigns and drive us into the ground just as hard, if not harder. The rich will always be getting richer, the poor will always be with us. And the middling ones will always think they know better, while secretly only desiring to be the rich.
We are utterly cyclical. We have gone nowhere in 100 years. In 2000 years. In a billion years. More complex, yes, and more self-serving. Better and more efficient at death and destruction.
So, what is the use?
We are just complaining in high language. Just adding flourishes onto our disgruntledness. Putting fancy accents on our despair. Guilding our addictions in gold and layering our guilt in vapid gratification and painting our faces with lead paint.
Possibly, there is a higher, more vague purpose. A sort of transcendence. A seeing through the systems to the truth.
Or, perhaps that is just our mind's way of dealing with the intolerable reality that, as humans, we are an idiotic race full of loneliness and torment. That we are driven to kill, maim, and hurt one another. That we only seek personal pleasure above all else. Even through this concept of "transcendence" and "selflessness".
Isn't this where philosophers have gone and never returned from? Isn't this where cynicism and atheism have gone and made a vacation of? Isn't this where hope and a bright future fall out from under us like a trap door?
Consider this: all of the terrible predictions of our race dictated by those who had claimed to have "seen the truth" have not come true. We have not blown up the earth with nuclear warheads (yet). We have not pillaged every last resource (yet). We have not cut ourselves off from reality so much so that we can no longer walk freely in the open air (yet).
And, we probably won't. Some tiny, minor thing - probably said by someone who has transcended into the truth - will put us off it and we will only continue to poison ourselves slowly, diluting our real nature and trading it in for cheap substitutes. Never really knowing the full impact. Simply wasting away quietly, inmagnificently. Neither great nor evil. Just rather mediocre.
And time will carry on and the systems will change hands. And tomorrow will, for the most part, look just the same as today.
So, what is the point?
The point is that, regardless, we are all still connected to everything. And when we are shit, so is everything. So, we probably shouldn't be so goddamn shitty. That's all. Nothing else to it. Just that when we suck, so does the universe. And that's pathetic. And we could do so much better.
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