We see people, groups, organizations, and products that all claim to be our saviors. Aside from religious cults and the like, we can observe this type of thing in politics quite frequently. "This candidate will bring change." "My politician is going to make my country great again." I could come up with a bunch of other thinly veiled references to recent presidents but it is unnecessary, I think. We can see the same type pitch being made by some religious figures and many cult leaders if we wish to use the more "on the nose" sort of example but things do not stop there. Companies will tell us about how this product or that item will "save" us from some unpleasant task. This isn't all for nothing either. These forces which seek to influence us are not foolish. They are not stupid. They understand that most people would like to be "saved" from something and that many people are willing to sacrifice quite a lot to achieve their desired salvation. This being the case, it is wise, I think, to be suspicious of anyone or anything that offers salvation because those who seek to exploit will often cloak themselves in the guise of saviors to reap the rewards of misrepresenting themselves.
.jfif)
There are two primary benefits for those who try to present themselves as some sort of savior. The first is rather straight forward. Someone, some group, or some company, identifies a problem that people suffer from and offer to fix it, for a price. Of course, the solution often doesn't work but that doesn't matter to the charlatan who duped us because the price has already been paid. On the more harmless end of the spectrum, we can see things like bad infomercial products. "Do you like [insert food] but are tired of all the [insert inconvenient thing about that food]? Now you don't have to worry because of the new [insert product that does not work]." Essentially, the savior angle is a marketing technique and in many cases, it does little more than lead a few people to waste a little bit of money. However, this can be far more destructive when serious matters are at stake. Some sophist may play savior and be elected to a high office and abuse his or her power, be incompetent, or be unstable. You see, the problem is that promises of salvation, whether they are in regards to, some undesired task, a political situation, poverty, happiness, or anything else, are often impossible to deliver on and the people making these promises know this, which makes them unworthy of our trust or support.
The second benefit for one who poses as a savior for his or her own gain is the loyalty of the people who believe his or her lies. Those who would mislead and exploit us know that we will feel indebted to anyone or anything that we believe "saved" us from something. If we think this politician saved us from some overblown nonissue, we will be more likely to follow his or her other agendas because we owe a debt of gratitude. In some cases, this can become a cult following in both the figurative and literal sense and that can lead to all the horrific outcomes that we associate with fanaticism.
The way to guard oneself from the potential negative outcomes associated with false saviors is to question anyone who comes to us with some amazing offer. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Why would a some political leader change a system that has enabled his or her rise to power? If He or she makes promises that no on can can fulfill, it is likely that he or she is being dishonest with us. The same goes for everything else in life. We all want to hear what we want to hear but we must fight the desire to believe that someone has come to save us because that desire is a liability that can and will be exploited. It is better, I think, to remain suspicious until we are given concrete evidence to suggest that a savior is what it seems to be.
Peace.
All the images in this post are sourced from the free image website, unsplash.com.
nice
Es más fácil engañar a las personas con mentiras edulcoradas, qué despertarlas con una fría y dura verdad...
¿Porqué?
Por ese temor inoculado desde el seno materno, de necesidad de ser guiado y protegido por un ser superior.
There's also this term called 'virtue-signaller' or something. Anyway, I get suspicious of people going out of their way to put themselves on a higher ground. What's the catch? lol. These days it's just really hard to know who's the real hero.
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I feel like this is one of my greatest hits that always comes up when discussing why I advocate for the limitations of government. Most voters start out within the two parties in this country but as someone who (regrettably) ignored politics completely until only a few years ago, the outsider view made it easier to objectively view the failures of both parties due to their existing within the system. I think my earlier break with religion helped prime me for the realization as well. Once I shifted to a more objective filter to apply to life, my well being was able to heal with my hard work; I want so badly to help others achieve the same but it can be difficult until people have their own awareness of the real issues with placing blind trust/"faith" in these "savior's". I have found the best way to help people seek out the info is to be the best example while sharing what has made sense to me with the hope that an observer feels motivated to ask questions or research themselves. I hope to emulate your writings in my life, as I am always ending your posts with a resounding "yes!" ;*
Haha Thank yon.
"I have found the best way to help people seek out the info is to be the best example while sharing what has made sense to me with the hope that an observer feels motivated to ask questions or research themselves."
I agree with that approach. If you know who you are talking to I think it helps to target the points that best suit their values. I would do that lot if I was arguing for legal weed or something.
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Nice write-up! "Saviors" come in many forms indeed, and while a generally intelligent / skeptical person might think they're immune to this sort of manipulation from people or advertising, it's interesting to consider sometimes things can be false saviors too.
Just one common example: most people think money is the answer to all their problems, but I'm sure we've all seen and heard stories of people who win a lottery or become very successful only to find themselves still unhappy or unsatisfied. But people still put their faith and self-worth in their own riches, and are often willing to make great sacrifices to get more of it. In that sense, people can treat money as a "savior" too.
But of course, making money is part of a healthy life, it is not inherently bad just because some people have a warped perspective of it. Just depends on the person, like some people might have no desire for riches but look to drugs/alchohol to "save" them from something.
Agreed. It isn't just foolish people who fall for that type of thing.
Money is a great example that I didn't think of. If someones problem is not being able to eat then it will make things better but it won't fix everything and chasing it can be addictive.
It reminds me of the lines from the Dylan song, "It's alright Ma":
Nice post.
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Thank you. That means a lot.
just a short comment on this one: Jonestown comes to mind as being on the extreme end of dangerous deception.
Yeah Jim Jones is definitely a great example. He certainly had the highest body count for a cult in recent history. I kind of think that incident may have been part of what led the government to respond to the whole Waco thing in the way that they did. They remembered the last cult that had gotten out of hand but the response caused essentially the same result in the end with a bunch of people dead.
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The big mouths that say "I help you" make me laugh. Santa's only in the stories.
So much yes to this.
I realised earlier this year how much I was getting sucked into this maelstrom myself.
Thanks for the reminder.
No problem lol. It is an easy trap to fall into, I think.