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Can passivity exist without eventual repression or injustice? totalitarianism or fascism?
This becomes tangled in being either for or against struggle, for or against violence, which are mystical, fantastical positions of abstract language.
To be pacifist or militant does not engage in the real world and, therefore, does not truly exist.
from Blase Bonpane
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To pursue the ideal, you must formulate a middle ground (a substance or medium) from which to lie in order to create the future.
This can be called the "aesthetic mode," which takes reality and then projects forward an image (fantasy) of how it could be reshaped to serve human ends.
Interestingly, the first past appears as a lie but can eventually become functional as an addendum to reality.
(from Shulamith Firestone)
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Secrets harbor a unique tension: the subtle thrill of maintaining normalcy while privately reveling in being an outsider by dent of privileged information.
"If only they knew…" becomes a tantalizing refrain, imagining the reactions it could provoke can become fetishistic.
Moreover, possessing a secret, especially one sanctioned by authority, subtly fuels the ego. This privileged knowledge allows one to feel superior without the need to overtly demonstrate it, effectively subduing the social expression of ego while internally amplifying it.
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In Animal Farm, there is a moment when the corpulent and gluttonous pigs invoke an enemy as a need for restraint. This harbinger required restriction and sacrifice.
When the populace recognizes that this artificially enhanced restriction encourages more opulent gluttony or ill-considered expenditures by the privileged leaders, we may declare, "We will not be fooled again."
And in desperation for reform, we enshrine our liar, our harbinger of revenge to displace their liar. In such repetitive ways we ensure trust is forgotten for tactical victories.
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"The liar is a person who uses the valid designations, the words, in order to make something which is unreal appear to be real." Nietzsche
Definitions form the foundation of lies, giving rise to deceit.
A definition provides a consensual meaning, while a lie deliberately distorts language to deceive for personal advantage, that is, to defraud for personal gain.
It’s not the "act of lying" that wounds; society and people can endure deception. Yet the "act of harm" that results (a breakdown of trust and disruption of social capital) leads communities to ostracize liars.
Intriguingly, professional liars dominate today’s landscape, forcing a tactical "loes-lose choice," where the allure of potential benefits allows a Faustian bargain; a begrudging, corrosive, temporary tolerance.
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We are excellent at deluding ourselves, a trait evolved for survival.
To survive difficult or desperate situations, we manipulate our state of mind: we create hope in the future to offset present misery.
On the other hand, clear-eyed assessment (i.e., grim realism) is pessimistic and/or cynical, disincentivizing survival by presenting a sober, truthful accounting that the odds are miserable. Our instinct, the survival imperative, encourages us to be irrational and to believe in our exceptionalism, which encourages perseverance against reality.
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There are numerous examples of cities/districts setting up radar detection and redlight cameras for “citizen safety,” which happened to generate over $100 Million in annual revenue.
Playing dirty, the city creates more infractions (and generates more revenue) by reducing the “amber time” -the time length of a yellow light- with the side effect of increased injury and accidents. Presented with this new data, devoid of the manipulated context, we have apparently become worse drivers, requiring more state intervention to save us from ourselves.
In this way, the state uses its system control (under the imperative of public safety) to make us less safe for more profit, then uses the results to encroach further into once autonomous territory.
(from Matthew Crawford)
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It’s often the case that there is no universally accepted best solution, so we must create our own path. What’s more interesting is the hidden motivations we produce and nurture that go against common sense, but that we dare not reveal.
Of course, we usually follow the norm when it comes to things like physics or social constructs, but when it comes to personal matters such as family, business, or sex, we often encounter conflicting desires.
However, when we find someone who shares our fantastical desires, it makes us feel alive, which is beyond common sense.
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A Taoist proverb says no one can tell a lie. This is because the lie reveals a different kind of truth, such as a desire not to be punished or face up the certain consequences.Buddhism suggests if we understood the consequences of lies, we would act morally all the time.
All true, but a justification for survival persists: once everyone in the world is lying and vindictive, does the truth set you free? or make of you an easy scapegoat?
Without an adequate network, survival is in question in an untrustworthy culture, and our personal life incurs tremendous suffering.
This is answered by another Buddhist teaching: you must vanquish desire because it leads to suffering. We find that the desire to be moral (honest) causes suffering until you can completely shed your desire for survival.
Back to lies: if a liar reveals a more profound truth through the lie, there can be no “lies” as they only tell a deeper truth. We have added a complex moral dubiety: we “lie/truth” for survival to alleviate our suffering, which causes more suffering, which can only be relieved by releasing the desire to live.
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Some people are not interesting, and that used to be a prized character trait.
It is easy to confuse having “character” with “being a character:” to be “interesting,” we exaggerate our smallest foibles, which amplifies our failures, but we can’t apologize as it is our only unique aspect of self, so we must double down.
We become cartoons of ourselves, grotesque clowns: humorous and sad, entertaining but not trusted.
