Just had an eureka moment after watching the Michael Moore documentary, 'Where to invade next' and I think I figured out the root of..
Wait, maybe not the root, but definitely a part of the large problem we face with living in such an individualistic and material-focused society. It's cynicism. Distrust, caused by a number of factors.
If you cut to the real meaning of the word, it becomes a lack of faith that western culture has in its leadership and evolution. What caused this? The actions of mostly men. Just as Moore suggests it is.
Hmm. I enjoy finding solutions and answers to difficult issues, but I have to think a bit more about what could unify America and bring its people closer together.
It involves giving and developing respect. For sure. Desire, absolutely. And faith. Faith in always being able to do the right thing. The only thing. No matter how hard it may appear to be.
But. Cynicism gets into everyone and everything. Like sand on a beach.
So. People need to be the opposite of cynical. They need to have reason to believe, again.
How can this be done? By restoring trust between citizen and government. Corporation and employee. Parent and child. Husband and wife. Book and reader.
Trust needs to be restored, and the best way to do that, is to refine and define the values and traditions we wish either to adopt, or to move forward with. As individuals. And as a society.
I think there's progress being made, but not enough, and sometimes it's the wrong kind. Especially with the American election only a few days away and two absolutely horrible candidates that voters have to choose between.
The enemy we face.. Is a goliath. A giant that is large and fierce and intimidating with a great deal of power over us. Power accrued from the manufacturing and marketing, of fear.
American corporations, governments, militaries, ministries each all have more power, than any one of us. They have more power than any hundred of us.
And interestingly, they only have power, because it has been given to them by those who have been deceived into doing so.
And it is the great deception, that is at the heart of cynicism. Of evil.
Of a lack of faith. A lack of respect.
Got to think more about this. I'd like to polish it up for inclusion into my novel somehow.
Be socially responsible and all that jazz. Do my part.
Assuming it ever gets finished, published and then reaching a decent number of people who become inspired and interested in these kind of observations.
Hmm.
As with all great ideas, they are meaningless unless acted upon.
So therefore, I must be the change I seek in this world. Or country. Or America, to be specific.
I have to start here. With myself.
And live that change.
I can be too critical and cynical at times. But I always thought it was constructive and justified.
Maybe. Maybe it wasn't constructive enough. Maybe it was a product of helpless anger, that had me speaking ill of how terrible America and their culture / politics has become.
But, anyone would be critical if they grew up the same way I did. To see the things that they see now from what it was once.
Mmm.. Not sure where I'm going with this.
I'm critical of other people too. Not just movies and music and politics. But people I know. Family. Friends. Myself.
Online dating.
I'm a cynic. And I don't want to be.
I need to learn how to be critical without being cynical, so that I can improve and better my character. And by proxy, help improve and better others.
I think that makes sense.
It was my being cynical, that made Gina broke up with me. Or at least it played a big role in her decision to do so.
And I was carrying a lot of buried negativity, for years before I met her. Hiding it as well as I could. Always trying to tone it down within myself, but never quite succeeding in eliminating it.
Never really taking responsibility for it. Because it was never me that caused these feelings, it was them. As a child, I was optimistic. Passionate. Excited and enthusiastic until life intervened, and I was bullied, and my first girlfriend was the product of a die-hard bible-thumping family and she made me a lose a lot of respect for women and kick-started the cynicism I now have with relationships. I can easily point to who and what is responsible for me to have turned out this way.
It's so easy to be pointing fingers at everyone but myself.
But maybe, I should be taking a good hard look at why I allowed others to beat me down the way they have. Or at least, why I've allowed them to affect me to the point where I can't trust others, when I know that there are trustworthy people out there. And that even if trust is breached, I shouldn't have to go on like the rest of the lemmings out there who feel it's okay to abandon their sense of morality and embrace a questionable code of ethics for themselves. Just because the world is unfair, doesn't mean one is allowed to stoop down to the level of others. One must always be a beacon in the darkness, and the darker everything gets; the more important shining a light becomes.
Responsibility.
Thats my next step.
Believing in myself. Believing in the core of who I am, and scrubbing off the residue left behind by careless girlfriends. Parents. Friends. Society. My job. Films like Dickshark.
Washing it all off me, and carrying on.
And renewing myself.
Now I understand why I enjoy time off work so much.
It helps me recover my sovereignty.
It rebalances my perspective.
Naming this blog blasé ten years ago implies I've been dealing with the problem of cynicism for at least that long. I'm pretty sure it started with the election of George Bush, if I had to put it within a certain frame of time. So, 2000-2001 then. I still remember being extremely disappointed at how he stole the election, and then all he had done afterwards. Which is hilariously weird, since I don't even live in America and yet I feel so empathic towards Americans.
Hmm.
Interesting.
I'll have to keep thinking about this.
And I need to keep myself reminded.
Glad I got this chalkboard.
