Effective individual behaviors rely on empathy and denying short term gratification for long term prudence. Empathy breaks down on large scales for most people, and denying short term exploitation to build a better world is not something even the best of us can reliably do. Good vibes aren’t useless, but they are not enough to make necessary changes.
As far as relinquishing power goes, my eyes are wide open. It’s necessary in theory, but I don’t respect laws that prevent people from living well. I respect the enforcement, but only because I must work to avoid it. I recognize that the only way to stop some bad things is violence, and that all rights must be protected by someone. It’s undeniable that violence, although often avoidable, is necessary to exist. Human made laws and concepts without enforcement will be trampled on and basically don’t matter.
Oh, I’m not saying violence isn’t necessary at times.
But violence is the outflow of the underlying conflict - and that conflict can often be resolved, or won at an earlier stage.
I’m also not saying something stupid like ‘if only people worked together, things would just be better!’ You can never rely on someone, particularly not the world at large, to never do the bad thing (whatever that is).
But the entire issue of empathy breaking down on larger scales is an individual abd collective psychologocal issue, and is precisely the area I’m leveraging.
However, this can’t be leveraged in the direct sense (show more pictures of dead puppies, and say ‘vote for me, I’ll end puppy mills!’ really only goes so far, with an empathically exhausted populace that can’t scale up their presence because they’ve already been emotionally squeezed dry. The actual emotions themselves need to be felt and understood.
The point of power that people don’t generally notice that they are ceding isn’t material. It’s more fundamentally based in their psychology and motives. By the time their consideration gets to a massive scale, they’ve emotionally checked out - and I don’t blame them, there’s a lot to consider, and groups that are linked together with the practical/emotional bond (i.e., that have a ‘real’ bond between the individual and culture) have historically also been very inflexible - though very embued with vitality.
That inflexibility isn’t fundamentally necessary, even though it’s even present in our current ‘culture’, where people are often bound to the culture at large by A) lying to themselves, ‘and if enough people just got together…’ blah blah blah, or B) accepting a lie and ‘facing reality’ saying you have to forego the empathic bond on a large scale.
That said, building a culture where there’s a flexible, practical bond flush with emotive empathy and the energy that comes from that is difficult. But much of cultural knowledge is passed on not by empathy, but by the presence of empathy when a power conflict is won or lost.
At the very least, I have a tool that gives me a lot of control in my own life, and over others who would cause conflicts with me, often enough without direct conflict. But it’s more than a tool to win, it’s a way of re-linking the empathetic mind to others. I think I’ve got the seed of a new culture. …but I’m ok with the fallback of ‘I have a thing that benefits me and me alone,’ though to me that’s clearly the less valuable circumstance.
I suppose that if the world is right, then my mind will change. …and if I am right, the world will change.
Oh - and to be clear, I’m not trying to stop the things that already exist in the world from existing. I generally like or need those things. But I am creating a way of life that makes the world worthwhile to me.
![[META] Never change, lemmy.ml](https://i.imgur.com/1pxAyiq.jpg){kind=link}
Effective individual behaviors rely on empathy and denying short term gratification for long term prudence. Empathy breaks down on large scales for most people, and denying short term exploitation to build a better world is not something even the best of us can reliably do. Good vibes aren’t useless, but they are not enough to make necessary changes.
As far as relinquishing power goes, my eyes are wide open. It’s necessary in theory, but I don’t respect laws that prevent people from living well. I respect the enforcement, but only because I must work to avoid it. I recognize that the only way to stop some bad things is violence, and that all rights must be protected by someone. It’s undeniable that violence, although often avoidable, is necessary to exist. Human made laws and concepts without enforcement will be trampled on and basically don’t matter.
Oh, I’m not saying violence isn’t necessary at times.
But violence is the outflow of the underlying conflict - and that conflict can often be resolved, or won at an earlier stage.
I’m also not saying something stupid like ‘if only people worked together, things would just be better!’ You can never rely on someone, particularly not the world at large, to never do the bad thing (whatever that is).
But the entire issue of empathy breaking down on larger scales is an individual abd collective psychologocal issue, and is precisely the area I’m leveraging.
However, this can’t be leveraged in the direct sense (show more pictures of dead puppies, and say ‘vote for me, I’ll end puppy mills!’ really only goes so far, with an empathically exhausted populace that can’t scale up their presence because they’ve already been emotionally squeezed dry. The actual emotions themselves need to be felt and understood.
The point of power that people don’t generally notice that they are ceding isn’t material. It’s more fundamentally based in their psychology and motives. By the time their consideration gets to a massive scale, they’ve emotionally checked out - and I don’t blame them, there’s a lot to consider, and groups that are linked together with the practical/emotional bond (i.e., that have a ‘real’ bond between the individual and culture) have historically also been very inflexible - though very embued with vitality.
That inflexibility isn’t fundamentally necessary, even though it’s even present in our current ‘culture’, where people are often bound to the culture at large by A) lying to themselves, ‘and if enough people just got together…’ blah blah blah, or B) accepting a lie and ‘facing reality’ saying you have to forego the empathic bond on a large scale.
That said, building a culture where there’s a flexible, practical bond flush with emotive empathy and the energy that comes from that is difficult. But much of cultural knowledge is passed on not by empathy, but by the presence of empathy when a power conflict is won or lost.
At the very least, I have a tool that gives me a lot of control in my own life, and over others who would cause conflicts with me, often enough without direct conflict. But it’s more than a tool to win, it’s a way of re-linking the empathetic mind to others. I think I’ve got the seed of a new culture. …but I’m ok with the fallback of ‘I have a thing that benefits me and me alone,’ though to me that’s clearly the less valuable circumstance.
I suppose that if the world is right, then my mind will change. …and if I am right, the world will change.
Oh - and to be clear, I’m not trying to stop the things that already exist in the world from existing. I generally like or need those things. But I am creating a way of life that makes the world worthwhile to me.