One of the major problems I see in many religious systems is the propensity for self esteem abasement. Hating the perceived imperfections present in the human condition becomes a precondition for entrance into the religious order, and the subsequent destruction of confidence produces a need to alleviate chronic anxiety.
Unscrupulous manipulators realize that dominating people becomes much easier where self loathing resides, but the side effects of a self-destructive mindset pose a significant problem. Thus, internalized individual abhorrence is directed outwards towards an endless parade of enemies, diverting the attention from the real problem; a lack of self acceptance and love.
Sometimes, the reluctance to face our own despised characteristics spawns the most virulent animosity toward others who display them. The reflection of our own imperfections arouse a violent revulsion; as if smashing the mirror can cure us of the traits we find repulsive.
I believe that many in the gender divergent community have struggled to obtain a realistic and compassionate understanding of themselves, and therefore have much to offer the misguided in respect to the importance of acceptance and empathy.
A house divided against itself can not stand, no matter how many props of hatred try and support it; perhaps only a foundation of loving embracement can build the people that our fractured and fracas-loving society requires.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Saturday, December 29, 2007
insignificant others
In much the same fashion with which the society at large diminishes, demonizes and dismisses the gender variant community, the predominant elements of the genderqueer populace deride those outside the boundaries of comfortable delineation.
Transpeople and those with whom they bond fracture the framework of gay and straight; and the splintering leaves slivers of animosity lodged underneath the skin of those framing the rigid castes of gender.
For those whose lives are invested in the proposition that gender is an immutable manifestation of self, the concept of fluidity may seem threatening; an undermining of the foundations of identity. While biological differences are indisputable, the relationship of physiological distinctions to social asymmetry is neither clear cut, nor without mitigating factors.
Society has fashioned roles based upon the supposed flesh dichotomy; and many have mistaken those constructions for elemental forms of the human condition. True, there is comfort in the belief that gender is preordained, and thus beyond our ability to effectively alter; but our lives demonstrate changing roles- from infant, to child, to adult- and these shifting behavior patterns are accepted as normal. Why then should the adoption of another form of conduct be judged impossible and offensive?
To diminish the validity of another's identity to shore up one's own smacks of definition by negation; it demonstrates a lack of self- understanding, and an empathetic ignorance of others. To link individuals or groups to undesirable attributes, and by disassociation from them claim personal virtue-this is neither logical nor prudent; it merely exhibits a lack of clear values by hoping to pander to common fear and revulsion. Morality comes not from a lack of vice, or a deficit of malignancy; it is derived from acts of charity and compassion, behaviors that demand personal risk and loss in pursuit of uncertain and nebulous gain. One can not build an ethical identity upon the razed ruins of another's respect, there must be a delineation of personal principles and a list resources allocated to raise such a foundation.
The unwillingness to sacrifice others to found ones' self, especially in a culture fond of cannibalizing what it considers outsiders, remains one of the greatest challenges for the gender variant to master. Hopes for a constructive, inclusive society however, depend on mastering such skills, and extending a gracious benevolence towards those fixated upon destroying people who fall beyond the pale of fearful cowardice they have erected within their own minds.
Without an appreciation of the mental and moral shackles that bind the craven to their destructive bigotry, and a willingness to perceive and acknowledge those failings within our own lives, we insure the creation of insignificant others, especially ourselves.
Transpeople and those with whom they bond fracture the framework of gay and straight; and the splintering leaves slivers of animosity lodged underneath the skin of those framing the rigid castes of gender.
For those whose lives are invested in the proposition that gender is an immutable manifestation of self, the concept of fluidity may seem threatening; an undermining of the foundations of identity. While biological differences are indisputable, the relationship of physiological distinctions to social asymmetry is neither clear cut, nor without mitigating factors.
Society has fashioned roles based upon the supposed flesh dichotomy; and many have mistaken those constructions for elemental forms of the human condition. True, there is comfort in the belief that gender is preordained, and thus beyond our ability to effectively alter; but our lives demonstrate changing roles- from infant, to child, to adult- and these shifting behavior patterns are accepted as normal. Why then should the adoption of another form of conduct be judged impossible and offensive?
To diminish the validity of another's identity to shore up one's own smacks of definition by negation; it demonstrates a lack of self- understanding, and an empathetic ignorance of others. To link individuals or groups to undesirable attributes, and by disassociation from them claim personal virtue-this is neither logical nor prudent; it merely exhibits a lack of clear values by hoping to pander to common fear and revulsion. Morality comes not from a lack of vice, or a deficit of malignancy; it is derived from acts of charity and compassion, behaviors that demand personal risk and loss in pursuit of uncertain and nebulous gain. One can not build an ethical identity upon the razed ruins of another's respect, there must be a delineation of personal principles and a list resources allocated to raise such a foundation.
The unwillingness to sacrifice others to found ones' self, especially in a culture fond of cannibalizing what it considers outsiders, remains one of the greatest challenges for the gender variant to master. Hopes for a constructive, inclusive society however, depend on mastering such skills, and extending a gracious benevolence towards those fixated upon destroying people who fall beyond the pale of fearful cowardice they have erected within their own minds.
Without an appreciation of the mental and moral shackles that bind the craven to their destructive bigotry, and a willingness to perceive and acknowledge those failings within our own lives, we insure the creation of insignificant others, especially ourselves.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Addled essence
Contorting the transition from child to adult, intoxicants prevent humans from becoming their essential selves, leaving instead a muddled shell of exploitable potential. Whenever heartfelt passions are deemed inappropriate, and their expression results in abuse and censure, the inclination towards suppression leaves one especially vulnerable to the emotional distance afforded by inebriation.
Outward displays of affection and empathy violate one of the supposed virtues of adulthood; the impartial, detached appraisal of interpersonal relations deemed vital to the rites and rituals of acquisition. Worse still, if one exhibits emotional attributes regarded as incongruent with an assigned role; the rendered judgment often implies not mere immaturity, but a deviant depravity.
The castigation that accompanies these perceived infractions of social convention may be exceptionally damaging when applied to adolescents; in striving to refashion their identity, the tenuous foundation of self worth leaves an acute vulnerability to criticism. Overwhelmed by the cascade of new responsibilities and obligations, besieged by alterations of form and physiology, battling internal and external conflicts; the need for an expeditious resolution to such troubles bears down with excruciation force. Thus, the temptation of chemical desensitization coupled with the economic incentive inherent in suppling such emotional obscuration lead many to the realm of synthetic negation.
Here, obliviating pain and contention denotes maturity; transitory annihilation of unique attributes and viewpoints serves the public welfare. The bogus comradery assumed by a shared burden of intoxication, coupled with the repression of genuine sentiment, lead to spurious conformity; baseless and debasing. Fleeting moments of fellowship couple with unremitting self reproach; feigned kinship dissolves into isolated contempt, furthering the schism between public and private self.
The void created by a desecrated spirit tears into the fabric of being, demanding ever larger amounts of dissolution to cloak the cavernous interior. When the hole has become more than the sum of its parts, the person implodes; suicide- intentional or by default. Standing at the edge of the chasm, spectators and specters mumble about incomprehensibilities behind their veils of imperceptibility.
Another muddled soul; the mystery invokes the customary denouncements that blinker the public from self reflection and culpability.
Another muddled soul, the prey of poison on an addled essence.
Outward displays of affection and empathy violate one of the supposed virtues of adulthood; the impartial, detached appraisal of interpersonal relations deemed vital to the rites and rituals of acquisition. Worse still, if one exhibits emotional attributes regarded as incongruent with an assigned role; the rendered judgment often implies not mere immaturity, but a deviant depravity.
The castigation that accompanies these perceived infractions of social convention may be exceptionally damaging when applied to adolescents; in striving to refashion their identity, the tenuous foundation of self worth leaves an acute vulnerability to criticism. Overwhelmed by the cascade of new responsibilities and obligations, besieged by alterations of form and physiology, battling internal and external conflicts; the need for an expeditious resolution to such troubles bears down with excruciation force. Thus, the temptation of chemical desensitization coupled with the economic incentive inherent in suppling such emotional obscuration lead many to the realm of synthetic negation.
Here, obliviating pain and contention denotes maturity; transitory annihilation of unique attributes and viewpoints serves the public welfare. The bogus comradery assumed by a shared burden of intoxication, coupled with the repression of genuine sentiment, lead to spurious conformity; baseless and debasing. Fleeting moments of fellowship couple with unremitting self reproach; feigned kinship dissolves into isolated contempt, furthering the schism between public and private self.
The void created by a desecrated spirit tears into the fabric of being, demanding ever larger amounts of dissolution to cloak the cavernous interior. When the hole has become more than the sum of its parts, the person implodes; suicide- intentional or by default. Standing at the edge of the chasm, spectators and specters mumble about incomprehensibilities behind their veils of imperceptibility.
Another muddled soul; the mystery invokes the customary denouncements that blinker the public from self reflection and culpability.
Another muddled soul, the prey of poison on an addled essence.
Pallid drone
Draining the individual life force from humans remain a primary concern of all gainful employment. By reducing a thinking, feeling, caring person into a drone who merely reacts to the given stimulus, a creature is created which has great value for the means of production.
The difficulty lies in the degree of dehumanization which will prove most beneficial to the demands of enterprise, and means by which it is to be achieved.
Certainly, the simple reduction of self worth remains one of the most useful tools for any situation. Destabilization of personal affirmation allows the creation of a gaping void, one that demands to be filled by outside forces. Thus, the individual finds itself beholden to outside powers for validation, and therefore unable to resist the guiding hands of manipulation.
Materialistic society at large furnishes much of this insecurity by way of consumption driven culture; an adroit profiteering of such insecurity entails linking self esteem to income production, especially at the individual's expense. The more efficiently the employee engages in their own exploitation, the "better" they are proclaimed to be. The epitome of this relationship occurs when the worker literally deconstructs themselves in a futile attempt to gain validation. Their families, spirituality, and outside interests all are to be discarded in the pursuit of affirmation; leaving them ever more unstable, and dependent on the approval of their economic masters.
Thus, the striving forwards leaves them backward, and their backwardness leaves them no way forward. Drained of life by work, and of work by life, they are running back to an emptiness in either direction.
The difficulty lies in the degree of dehumanization which will prove most beneficial to the demands of enterprise, and means by which it is to be achieved.
Certainly, the simple reduction of self worth remains one of the most useful tools for any situation. Destabilization of personal affirmation allows the creation of a gaping void, one that demands to be filled by outside forces. Thus, the individual finds itself beholden to outside powers for validation, and therefore unable to resist the guiding hands of manipulation.
Materialistic society at large furnishes much of this insecurity by way of consumption driven culture; an adroit profiteering of such insecurity entails linking self esteem to income production, especially at the individual's expense. The more efficiently the employee engages in their own exploitation, the "better" they are proclaimed to be. The epitome of this relationship occurs when the worker literally deconstructs themselves in a futile attempt to gain validation. Their families, spirituality, and outside interests all are to be discarded in the pursuit of affirmation; leaving them ever more unstable, and dependent on the approval of their economic masters.
Thus, the striving forwards leaves them backward, and their backwardness leaves them no way forward. Drained of life by work, and of work by life, they are running back to an emptiness in either direction.
Selective inattention
Growing up in a society burdened with incessant hawking makes protective ignorance an invaluable skill. The constant drone of the advertiser's demands wears thin the coat of kind attention, and demands instead a thicker cloak to shield the mind from scrabbling greed.
Ignorance thus becomes a cherished friend, a protective patron to dim the clamoring hordes demanding attendance on their petitions for time and money. One learns to circumvent the ever more insistent cries with an polished indifference that shines; battle hardened and nearly impenetrable to the daily onslaught.
Such armor comes at a price, however. The insulative properties isolate not only the malevolent but the deserving as well. One equates empathy with vulnerability, and vulnerability with weakness; thus measuring strength as the impregnability to the emotions and concerns of others. Eyes watch, ears hear, but neither perceives the import of the input, thus reducing sensory perception to unimportant static, irrelevant data that may be summarily discarded.
The same indifferent ignorance soon overwhelms one's own self; disregarding the soul's entreaties for human sustenance by squandering attention on trivial diversions. Growing the void with meticulous apathy, a headful of hollow becomes the goal rather than the byproduct one's life; leading the intentionally unwary beyond the pale of morality and humanity.
Ignorance thus becomes a cherished friend, a protective patron to dim the clamoring hordes demanding attendance on their petitions for time and money. One learns to circumvent the ever more insistent cries with an polished indifference that shines; battle hardened and nearly impenetrable to the daily onslaught.
Such armor comes at a price, however. The insulative properties isolate not only the malevolent but the deserving as well. One equates empathy with vulnerability, and vulnerability with weakness; thus measuring strength as the impregnability to the emotions and concerns of others. Eyes watch, ears hear, but neither perceives the import of the input, thus reducing sensory perception to unimportant static, irrelevant data that may be summarily discarded.
The same indifferent ignorance soon overwhelms one's own self; disregarding the soul's entreaties for human sustenance by squandering attention on trivial diversions. Growing the void with meticulous apathy, a headful of hollow becomes the goal rather than the byproduct one's life; leading the intentionally unwary beyond the pale of morality and humanity.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
What you want
What you want is not what you want; or more precisely, what you desire is not what you require.
It is much harder to manipulate the satisfied person; as long as the perception remains that needs are not met, there is room for outside domination. Thus, one basis for interpersonal control rests upon the perception of internalized inadequacies; convince an individual that their qualities are insufficient for humanity and the fear of destruction can drive them to desperation, grasping at any supposed "cure" for their monstrous condition.
Cultivating the dearth of confidence needs to be coupled with the disdain for diversity; when only the proclaimed perfect are allotted the right to exist without derision and damage, the penalties for any deviation become accepted as just and desirable.
People embrace the pleasure of dismembering the defective, equating it with the privilege of dismantling the inanimate possessions that inhabit the lives of the acolytes of materialism. Things are made to be broken and discarded when they cease to suit the whims of the owner; and the humans that fall short of the social standards of sufficiency transmute into objects of reproach, whose proper place becomes the rubbish bin.
Such a terrifying fate leads many to allow any form of control, any contortion of self that prevents the devolution from human into manikin; allegiance to whomsoever promises protection from the ravages imposed upon the designated failures of humanity. Seeking security leads to the adoption of a more deadly peril; an identity divorced from reality, a continuous refashioning of self to suit the capricious demands doled out by the consumptive culture.
The pleasure of rending others replaces the joy of being one's self; the lack of said joy reduces individuals to automatons devoid of the ability to informed consent. Desire has destroyed what one requires.
It is much harder to manipulate the satisfied person; as long as the perception remains that needs are not met, there is room for outside domination. Thus, one basis for interpersonal control rests upon the perception of internalized inadequacies; convince an individual that their qualities are insufficient for humanity and the fear of destruction can drive them to desperation, grasping at any supposed "cure" for their monstrous condition.
Cultivating the dearth of confidence needs to be coupled with the disdain for diversity; when only the proclaimed perfect are allotted the right to exist without derision and damage, the penalties for any deviation become accepted as just and desirable.
People embrace the pleasure of dismembering the defective, equating it with the privilege of dismantling the inanimate possessions that inhabit the lives of the acolytes of materialism. Things are made to be broken and discarded when they cease to suit the whims of the owner; and the humans that fall short of the social standards of sufficiency transmute into objects of reproach, whose proper place becomes the rubbish bin.
Such a terrifying fate leads many to allow any form of control, any contortion of self that prevents the devolution from human into manikin; allegiance to whomsoever promises protection from the ravages imposed upon the designated failures of humanity. Seeking security leads to the adoption of a more deadly peril; an identity divorced from reality, a continuous refashioning of self to suit the capricious demands doled out by the consumptive culture.
The pleasure of rending others replaces the joy of being one's self; the lack of said joy reduces individuals to automatons devoid of the ability to informed consent. Desire has destroyed what one requires.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
fear and cowardice
Fear is not the problem, the problem is cowardice.
Reason provides the tools to allow one to acknowledge the unknowable. It can be conceptualized, but not experienced, and its unfathomable nature defies the reach of reason.
What reason cannot grasp inspires emotion; the imperceptible evokes uneasiness. That which dwells in the darkness of ignorance threatens the serenity of the world view; that which lies beyond illumination menaces the ramshackle foundation of mind.
For many, the world is a fear fulled place.When one's understanding is limited, uncertainty looms within the shadow of every tower of ignorance. In such dismal gloom, the flame of hatred brings comfort; warming fear chilled innards, but providing scant light with such heat.
When seeking to deprive another of such comfort without offering suitable replacements, the reaction is often anger. Hatred becomes seen as a right, not a privilege; and thus coveted with fierce intensity. Anyone that would deny this emotion becomes the enemy- and becomes subject to whatever violence seems suitable.
To look beyond fear, to see it as normal and human; rather than a fatal weakness, lessens the grip of dread, and allows other options besides hatred to be seen as acceptable. Inflicting pain upon others to mitigate terror speaks of contempt and cowardice; not courage.
Accepting the limits of both reason and knowledge afford a more realistic view of the unknown, and a way to face it without harming others.
Reason provides the tools to allow one to acknowledge the unknowable. It can be conceptualized, but not experienced, and its unfathomable nature defies the reach of reason.
What reason cannot grasp inspires emotion; the imperceptible evokes uneasiness. That which dwells in the darkness of ignorance threatens the serenity of the world view; that which lies beyond illumination menaces the ramshackle foundation of mind.
For many, the world is a fear fulled place.When one's understanding is limited, uncertainty looms within the shadow of every tower of ignorance. In such dismal gloom, the flame of hatred brings comfort; warming fear chilled innards, but providing scant light with such heat.
When seeking to deprive another of such comfort without offering suitable replacements, the reaction is often anger. Hatred becomes seen as a right, not a privilege; and thus coveted with fierce intensity. Anyone that would deny this emotion becomes the enemy- and becomes subject to whatever violence seems suitable.
To look beyond fear, to see it as normal and human; rather than a fatal weakness, lessens the grip of dread, and allows other options besides hatred to be seen as acceptable. Inflicting pain upon others to mitigate terror speaks of contempt and cowardice; not courage.
Accepting the limits of both reason and knowledge afford a more realistic view of the unknown, and a way to face it without harming others.
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