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The Greatest Enemy: Self-Reflection

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posted on May, 15 2012 @ 05:08 PM
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I never type these things angry. I never really post rants while red-faced and breathing flame. I just post stuff that kind of irritates me, or gets me upset in some way. And there's something I was thinking about, that kind of frustrates me. You'll see why by the end of this post. This thing, that I was thinking about...conflict. But it's not just conflict itself. It's how it presents itself, how we react to it, and how we actually can create it. There's conflict everywhere. And you know, that's the way of the world. No matter what era you're from, no matter where you live, no matter who you wake up with or go to bed with, no matter what you do or what you say, there's always someone that's going to do something that will upset you. That's what I want to post about here.

There's always an enemy, it seems like. And you know, that doesn't bother me much. If there's an enemy, there's a purpose. George Orwell was a genius when he said, "War is peace." People don't like to think of it in those terms, but it really is true. Without war, without strife, people feel like they aren't getting anywhere. It creates a purpose for a species that has to feel like it's in motion. And again, that's not what bothers me. There's times when an enemy is needed. I think that was half the story in The Dark Knight. Sometimes, we need an enemy to blame, or we start blaming each other. After that, we fall apart from the inside. Either we have burns, or we have cancer. One can be treated with salve and antibiotics, the other can go either way, because it has to be treated from the inside out. It's a lot different than treating the outside. Sometimes, you can just cut something off. Not so easy with an ulcer. That's why Gotham needed a figure that wasn't one of them. An outside illness. That's the good, necessary kind of enemy. Goldstein kind of enemy, that unites the people. If you don't know who Goldstein is, I highly recommend reading "1984" by George Orwell. It gives a LOT of insight on the mass psychology of society, and even trauma psychology....insight that is really useful in today's world. Anyway, enemies. Sometimes, they serve a purpose. Sometimes, they're needed.

But there's those times when we have an enemy, and suddenly more enemies pop up. Whether it's by design, or God just likes to f*** with us, I don't know. None of us do, except for the people up at the tippy top of the tree. And they don't tell us anything. And these enemies, they're all around. And we have to be on our guard, you know? We have to be watchful. We have to be ready. But like I've said many times, we're a species of extremes. Either we grow really freakin' lazy, or we're paranoid as all get-out. And since we like to have conflict, so it feels like we have purpose...hell. We suddenly have enemies everywhere. And maybe we really do. But that's the trouble, see. WE DON'T KNOW. We can't tell friend from foe, because we're too ****ing clever for our own good.

I keep saying, "Balance is key." Everything is beautiful in balance. If it's beautiful and it's not in balance, it was missing something to begin with. But we're not a race of balance. You can see that every day. And since we don't do balance very well, we see shadows around every corner. We don't know who to believe. We're too smart, and we turn against each other to get the upper hand in a world where the upper hand means our own downfall in the end. We continue to fight because we all think we're right. We continue to struggle because the thought of giving to someone else is too abhorrent for us. We're a survivalist species, and we have to take for ourselves.

Do you see what I'm saying? We're constantly on the look out for enemies, and so busy guarding our backs that we don't bother to watch as we trample our brothers trying to get out of the line of fire. That we take the extra loaf, just to be safe, and never notice that the guy behind us hasn't eaten in three days, and all he wants is a crust and a fire. We shout about conspiracies, shout about oppression...but every time we turn around, one of our brothers has been left behind. One of our own has fallen. And we don't care, because we are exactly like the people we have grown to despise.

We lie, we cheat, we steal. Deny it all you want, but there's been times when you did just that.

So here's my point. In a world where everyone is an enemy, I think we're doing a poor job of watching the sneakiest, cleverest, most despicably backstabbing enemy of all. The one in our blindspot, the one we defend, and the one we will protect to our dying breaths. The one that sees how well the tricks of the trade work, and will emulate them for his/her own good. The one that is most afraid of dying, and will do anything to stay alive and well.

The government? Pfft. The government is a limited group of individuals who are just as easily dragged from their offices. There's a bigger enemy, one that can turn tail on us at any moment, for whatever reason. Do you know who I'm talking about? No? I'll tell you.

We should be watching ourselves. Sleep on it, and you'll know I'm right. But I don't care about being right...as long as you see that while we have enemies, we have to be careful so as not to make more. Just because we're being oppressed, does not make us innocent. Just because we're bereft, does not make us deserving. And in your self-righteous tirades, make sure you don't cut your neighbor down. We're all in this together.

That's all I have to say for now.


edit on CTuesdaypm202018f18America/Chicago15 by Starchild23 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 15 2012 @ 05:20 PM
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There's also a saying:

You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies.



posted on May, 15 2012 @ 05:22 PM
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reply to post by EvilSadamClone
 


I hadn't heard of that one, but I like it.



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