Oh I totally get where you are coming from. It's ridiculous that groups of sheep are happy to see destruction and mayhem run unchecked as long as it's in the name of their cause. It happens with religion too. It's okay to kill as long as it's the "will" of their god... it's been going on since the dawn of civilization but that doesn't mean it's right or that we should stand for it and just let it happen.
I got chewed out once for remarking that there was a peaceful march where there was no vandalism, chaos, mayhem, violence or litter generated. Everyone marched then dispersed and felt they had done their part in having their voices heard.
When I mentioned that this is the way to do it and not be a hooligan I was called a racist bitch for drawing a comparison to the people that act like barbarians and feel that it's their right to burn down a library or city hall. It's just so bizarre and at the time (this was about 8 years ago already) I didn't realize how deeply ingrained this psychology had taken root. Was quite disgusting to be honest.
Often nowadays pockets of society are guided by the content they consume, becoming products of their environment; an environment that now mostly exists in the palm of their hand, on a screen. Disconnected from reality; offered only a glimpse of their choosing and of course pulled along by more suggested content based off previous behavioral patterns. Little cults in a box feeling connected but often disconnected from everything else to the point it just seems absurd so and so would think such and such while a hundred applaud with likes, instantly. Challenge those views and there's a hundred more shoving the same prepared and preapproved scripted argument in your face.
All groups do it but if you point it out, people think you're talking about the other team, agree, and go back to being that way, completely oblivious.
So it used to take something like a Jim Jones to steer people over a cliff. Now people just do it to themselves. Sure maybe someone or some organization offered an idea but the people are the ones doing all the heavy lifting, expanding upon it and spreading it all to one another. Then becoming self destructive to themselves and one another but unable to feel the pain.
Yeah, these are strange times.
It's exactly that - cult like. It's just so bizarre that people can't see it in their own behaviour and will happily get onto their little soap box preaching to others that their way is the right way. I think society has lost the plot, generally when this kind of thing starts to happen, it's a long walk off a short cliff for sure.
It's very nice to meet you by the way. Thanks for your reply!
The kicker: Not one cult member in the history of cults knew they were in a cult.
Nice meeting you as well.
That just shows the absolute level of brainwashing! Technically society is just one big cult too.
Society can be viewed like that, yes. We're all born into this world and we cannot leave. But I think that's where it ends. People can make choices. When it comes to processing the world around us, I believe the first branch or fork in the road boils down to two types, of course. Simply labelled Observers and Consumers. The observer sees their environment; the consumer becomes their environment.
That is a brilliantly succinct way of dissecting it. I like the way you think. I've just been reading the comment thread with that Amirl character on his own feed and it's a perfect example of choices having been made but not wanting to take the ownership of said choices.
There's a lot about society at the moment that I don't like and pulling the race card and throwing tantrums when people don't get their way is one that really fucking irritates me. It's pathetic and shows just how little of the world people like that grasp. They don't have a leg to stand on but choose to get up onto their little soapboxes trying to pull people into an argument that is based on bullshit assumptions. I don't have time for people like that because they are as toxic as they come. Trying to help them is futile and they will simply self destruct when their tantrums don't have the desired effect of garnering support they so desperately wanted to empower them and make them feel that the behaviour was justified. It's pathetic.
That would be a consumer. Trying to suck the energy out of everything and everyone and almost annoyingly oblivious. Can't see a damn thing. Like they're walking down that road with their head down and earbuds in. Everything new is a shock. The observer would have seen ten steps ahead and never put themselves in that mess to begin with. Observer can still make mistakes. Then would see solutions. A problem solver, not a problem maker.