Clarity and Self-Determination

[sigh] ... time and time again, I find that despite all I've done so far, the pile of work only seems to grow. Maybe it's something about the human condition. The more you understand, the more space there is for questions. Or potentials. Whatever. And two people can have in about the same goal, but a vastly different mindset when it comes to the pursuit of it.

That's ... what makes co-operation so important. A side-effect would be, that the more complex a matter becomes, and the more people that are therefore involved, the less significant any single one would seem to become. That is unless somehow ... our capacity to process and understand things grows along with us.
But that's ... science fiction, I suppose.


But yea, when we think of the tools we used to have - or, more to the point: Our ancestors - and the tools we have to day, there's also ... a growing capacity to do ... that kind of work. So, there's a potential that things might balance out somehow.

We could argue that with technological sophistication within a steadily growing society that can be led by handful of people, the establishment of an elite is inevitable. And that is certainly a form of nightmare fuel within fiction. And yea, history would back the idea up. About a 100 years ago, one such nightmare arose - and it's hard to tell how humanity at large was prepared for that. For me at least. I would think however that the correct answer is: Very little, if at all.

It is however since our abilities to share ideas grew, that this old, empirical, elite-centric thinking got shook up. A little? A lot? It doesn't matter really, not as much as what we got with what we actually have.


On the other side to all this, there's life. The existence of the little person. A cog in the system, or just lost somewhere on the floor or in some pile of spare parts.
Aaand ... is this too harsh of a change of topic?

Maybe it is. But ... something I've begun to notice, more and more, is how ... I would call it 'important' ... it is to be able to 'refocus', essentially. To like ... get out of your usual mode of operations and in a way take on an entirely different persona, more suitable for what's in front of you.
But I don't have anything more developed about this to tell you here.

Anyway - it also ties back into "the topic at hand".
So, if we can agree ... hmm. I mean, I suppose there are things that ... are so fundamental, that whether you agree with them or not makes a huge difference. And I suppose it goes as far as that beyond merely trying to harness some kind of mutual agreement, some politics have gone down the road of 'manifacturing' consent. Well, "duh".
How one might go about it doesn't matter all that much here. It does probably involve some really really hard twisting and bendinf of the facts. ... hmm ... well ... "duh".

Anyway. When it comes to good and bad, the issue with social structures is a bit of a mixed bag. I mean, a nation ran by a good King is as common to fantasy fiction as a nation ran by an evil King. And though the general structures would be pretty much identical, they couldn't be placed next to each other on the "good vs bad" scale.
And the same goes for the Rebels. Either they are the shining heroes that step up to save the day and end injustice - or vile terrorists that step up to ransack the lands and end justice.

And hence, good and evil are often well left ambiguous; Asking people to see beyond the colors. As ... the moment you try to be any more concrete - there's an example, somewhere, that takes it and flips it on its head.


However - there are what we might call 'common tropes'. And from what washes to the shore of my island of internetting - I found that actually they work out. In a way that almost feels comical.

I suppose that speaks to just how much time we've had living in prosperity, mostly free from "the bad guys". And sure, maybe propaganda was involved. It doesn't matter. While it was under the radar enough to still inspire forward and progressive thinking ... it was at least that.

That being said, if it wasn't Resident Evil it was probably some obscure Anime that introduced us to the concept of the faceless army, dressed in black and equipped with gas-masks.
And it is one of those things ... that seems fantastical and ... comical maybe. I mean, there are dark ... comics. But it was a thing that was actually real. Somehow. At least when it comes to the general ... I guess we could call it "feeling" that the images try to convey.

And yea, it would seem that the more one tries to Characterize the faces behind those masks, the more that one gets to Characterize some kind of universal evil. Which may very well include the banale.


And so, what I actually wanted to write about is on the other side to that.
I mean, when it comes to evil - or rather: The story of the heroes, tyranny or oppression seem like ... really good kickstarters for getting the reader/viewer/player behind the cause of the protagonists.
And so, yea, we have justice and liberty as words that are like ... meant to forever shine to lead our way into the brightest future.

But what are they?
Well, I guess ... to some they resemble the feeding ground for people like me. Which is ... like ... a thing to maybe keep on mind. At least occasionally. Because ... when people talk about "these degenerate libs" - they actually try to mobilize people into abandoning and opposing ... freedom and justice. Perhaps by some weird idea of "Law and Order".
But more to the point are freedom and justice ever so often concepts that are born from human needs that we might not have known exist. Tyranny spawns a desire for justice. Oppression spawns a desire for freedom. But so, today ... when there are "so many" people speaking about these things as though we were oppressed or tyrannized, one has to wonder: OK, what's ... the tyranny and the oppression?


Well, sure. There are nitwhits that felt oppressed because they were asked to wear a mask. And like that there certainly are unhinged people that seem to think freedom and justice are ideals that should allow them to rub their balls into other people's faces - who then shouldn't resist because that'd be discrimination.
Anyhow - that aside, the truth can be, I think, surprisingly simple.

If we want to accomplish greatness, in a good way, we have to figure out how to work towards and for the thing we want. Together. Developing a sense of cooperation. One that maybe requires sacrifices from us, but sacrifices we're willing to make, not told to make.
I mean, one of the thing that always bothered me when it comes to writing about ... "the civlization" ... is that there are a lot of "have to's" - things that some people will have to do so that other people can do other things. And if the outcome of it is great, that creates positive feedback that'll keep the wheel spinning.

It may seem like an overly romantic vision. "Fantasy brained" perhaps. But just like in fantasy ... the bottom line is simple. There's all the bad stuff ... and how one deals with the solicited compliance. Or how to put it. Not to say that two wrongs cancel each other out - as that kind of story tends to go - but to say that we can chose ... . At least ... ever so often, I suppose. And what comes of choosing right ... well, who can tell?

So, you may have read the headline and knowing what it implies you already understand where this is going. Unless you're on the more narrow side of "understanding its implications".

To that I can at this point however add, that so far I've mentally grown really distant from these things. So, instead of then opposing all the bad stuff that's alike from a compromised position, I can do so from a more healthy position.
But anyhow ...

To understand "the spirit of cooperation" and "the greater good", the average protagonist typically needs to go through an epiphany first. Unless they're the "classical" hero that's just ... "the good guy". And this epiphany thereby leads to a very simple conclusion - that is yet difficult to put into words. In fact ... the setting may be full of exactly those words, but practiced and realized in a very dark and twisted way.

We might call it "the spark".
I would put it so, as I have in the past, that we need to at first understand ourselves. And I'm very consciously not saying: "To understand what we want", because that one's easily dragged into cynicism, whereas being cynical about understanding ones self ... is probably just right on the nose.


Then, long story short, things happen and eventually the heroes find themselves in a situation where they have to give an inspiring speech that expertly summarizes what people are going through - putting their contemporary state into perspective and igniting a hope to fight for a better future.

Well, as long as they're not shouting "Sieg Zeon" or something along those lines ...

It seems like these days there's no shortage of tyrants and oppressors. Everyone can be a tyrant or an oppressor, even, and if it's just for not right away agreeing with everything the other person said.
I think however, that the main thing that has us feel tyrannized and oppressed is that over the last couple of years it has become more and more frustrating to watch things ... well ... not going our way. We might be majority opposed to a thing, but "woe and behold", it happens anyway.
And it's not like being opposed to a volcano erupting or a meteorite smashing down - something we have no control over. But ... stuff that actual human beings have to somehow be involved in doing.

But maybe that's too ... high profile.
I mean, speaking of the big events and decisions that people make in response to them is ... fair, or fine ... I think ... I mean - it should be - but at times it might be that talking, that ever so often just seems to go nowhere, that nourishes that frustration.

There's a lot of ... "whether we want it or not" going on. And that may have always been the case. But I suppose nowadays, more than ever, we're like ... directly involved. I mean, way back "whether you want it or not" would have been ... taxes perhaps. To keep away from the darker things. You might have had to give away some of your crops to fuel a system you're opposed to. But nowadays we're more like locked into treadmills - where true self-determination is something we might only ever see on TV.

But most importantly, I think we can see ... that things could be better. Though I guess there are different opinions on what 'good' looks like.
I guess ... being handed a gun to go haywire at the enemy can ... feel like you're being free. But getting shot certainly isn't the worse that could happen!

But yea. We learn, we apply our skills, we grow - those are good things we have there. But slap an "Arbeit Macht Frei" ontop of it ... and it starts to taste a little different.


Anyway ... self-determination isn't all about what we want. Collectively OR as individuals. It's also about what we need. Needs ... are imposed upon us. But there's more than just the physical/biological needs.
And so, understanding our selves also involves understanding our very own nature - the needs that emerge from it; That when aligned to the narrative also boils down to a kind of consistency. Something that we'd settle once ... to then develop a routine around it. So as opposed to the stereotype of the wild and chaotic Character that seems to exist solely on mood-swings and their whims.
And as I've stated before - often enough, I suppose - once we can see our needs being met, we can see away from them and towards other things. We can put our energy into the common good, freely; So that encouraging others to "think of the greater good" is more about encouraging them to take care of themselves.

I mean, maybe the epiphany, "the spark", is lost in here to some - like, maybe it doesn't make sense how understanding yourself ought to all of a sudden make things super awesome and happy like in some kids cartoon - you know ... "the power of friendship!"; So ...

First of all, it's not just that. It's the whole thing. And it's complicated. Understanding what "holds us down", understanding "how to not get played" ... understanding "what you want" versus "what you need" - it's ... all over the place. And maybe you're bound to stumble down the bad road - if you're not asking God for help.
So, more to the point: If we understand that the system we're feeding needs change, we maybe should try to get our heads out of it for a moment and think about what it needs to be. Not what this or that person is doing wrong or ... how this and that person is making you wanna do a fascism ... or such things.


At the end of the day ... to snap this into the current state of things ... we can label this as yet another attempt at advertising some sense of anti-capitalism.

Because ... that's what it is.