by Noxsoma
There are 275 days left of Abstract Year. Here’s a brief recap; This is my second year out of work. And my second year of traveling around the world volunteering to teach English. I give each year a theme and this one is called Abstract Year. It started 12-17-17 and ends 12-18-18… Today is 3-18-18… so I’m mentioning it.
Okay, you can skip this part.
My world view comes as a result of having been lied to all of my life. Every step of the way. My parents didn’t do a bad job, but they lied. My teachers lied about history… whether they knew they were lying or not. My Navy recruiter lied. The government lies, the news media lies… and full disclosure… I have done my share of lying as well… for entertainment purposes only.
I’m no longer shocked by the low down shyt that goes down in the name of God (religion) or country. As I have written, I am willing to believe the worst in people and the worst of humanity.
However, on the flip side; I have to ask myself why I believe “bad” is “bad”?
The Marina in Singapore, March 2017
Um, because I was told that it was bad to be bad. And I got a list of bad things that I’d be punished for doing. I was conditioned. Yet there are individuals who do stuff that I was told was “bad” and they get rewarded. How does that work? If we live in a violent society, as Darwin surmised, in which survival depends on not only being the fittest, but the most clever and most devious, we cannot allow concepts like “good” and “bad” to get in our way.
You can see the circle forming here.
Within the society in which we live (exist) there can be no absolutes; everything (and maybe this is me using an absolute) is a sliding scale. The lies that are told for our protection vs the protection of others (reputations, positions, etc.) and those simply to impress someone.
Personally I feel as if I have no illusions about politicians, celebrities or even local leaders. I’ve lived through pedophile priests, and rapist/coaches and doctors. I’ve seen what people do for money. Back in the day Flip Wilson hosted a TV show called “Anything for Money” or something like that. He put it right out there. It was the 1970s so it was tame by our standards. But if “my” contacts are correct, some horrible “truths” are about to be unleashed on the public.
Some people might be horrified, but others might just have been engaging in the same behavior, on a local level.
"Manscaping" services in Little Indian, Singapore.
This is where I find the best stuff.
No offense to my readers, but humans by and large are a pretty low species. I include myself. I’m no better. I, and I guess others out there, simply choose not to engage in such behavior.
And I’ll leave it there. It’s getting judgmental...another human failure.
Feel free to defend the human race, in comments…