As a precursor to this societal rant / blog, I did this largely motivated by overwhelming stress and frustration, so I'll say beforehand perhaps I'm being unreasonable; however, I still felt it good to get my feelings off my chest.
I realize most of the "old but gold" aren't around PSO-W, but I still consider it a substantially more reasonable community than a lot of other places.
Bear in mind I only really do gaming journalism, so writing about general topics are totally out of my skillset. With that said, I wouldn't mind generating discussion or feedback off of this, and definitely wouldn't mind someone opening my eyes if they find me completely wrong.
Anyway, with that said...
[MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT INCOMING]
When I was a teenager and people came to me for things, I used to be able to attack the problem at the core and be extremely honest and actually fix things rather than push them off and give temporary comfort with a pat on the back.
What is wrong with the adults of this generation that you have to coddle, make people always feel they are the victims and it’s not their fault, and tell them they are perfect the way they are? Is this really the way we resolve things? What does it say about our generation that people come to people with problems and feel assaulted when given legitimate feedback? How are we going to excel if we just coddle everyone and tell them it’s just fine and just constantly point at others for blame?
Are we to just constantly play the blame game and say it’s “always someone else’s fault” because it’s the easiest exit? Why is “being the best YOU you can be” a dead aspiration in this generation and we just settle and huddle in our comfort zones? Everyone’s just gotten so complacent that I feel I’ve grown up in the wrong area or time era.
Our labels are completely and utterly fucked, and anything that could better a person but gives the recipient the slightest discomfort is a crime and the offender mislabeled a sociopath. Everyone withdraws into their own small-gated community, leaking whatever half-truths suits them internally to perpetually circlejerk in an environment where no one is technically right, but also cannot be invalidated.
Perhaps life has gotten too easy. Perhaps “getting by” is much easier than people lead it on to be and we replicate problems and share stories of them just so we have some justification to our actions because we lead “tough” lives. After all, if you’re not working towards acquiring credentials and hitting goals, what better way to fit into society pressing you into tackling a struggle than fabricating one and exaggerating its significance?
We’re so hard-pressed to be “dealing” with “the struggle” that we actually tackle things this way, and then when a meaningful one comes along, we don’t resolve anything. We just “deal”, push it to the side farther, and farther, and farther, until it haunts us until the very day we lie on a death bed.
Is this really the society we want to become? One of constant instant gratification and perpetual procrastination on the true problems at hand? We can pretend an issue is resolved, but it will still linger, and we’re trading long-term prosperity, growth, and security for short term consolation and convenience. It’s really a damn shame, and as long as we sit in small cliques that only agree with what we agree with and refuse to open our minds to the world around us, we’ll be sitting in societal purgatory.
I doubt this blog of mine will make a difference on any significant scale, but someone needs to speak up and not be chastised. Stop paying mind to hand-fed irrelevant issues like your favorite celebrity or what “some bitch said at work” and spend an hour of your day pushing towards a goal with some substance. It starts with being a better you, and then becoming a role model, and then spreading the word.
The next time you’re going to run from a conversation or go rant to your buds about how someone was an asshole for what they said, consider the significance of that person and consider if they have honest, legitimate advice that can push you forward. If tools aren’t available to make you a better person, meld your life situations into one.
But whatever you do, DON’T shut back into your little box, DON’T close your mind to outside ideas, and DON’T shove off responsibility and blame it on someone else. We may feel like we are connected to one another, but we aren’t. We’re shut off in our own cliques that make us comfortable, pointing fingers at other cliques in a never-ending proverbial and societal war.
The temptation is greater than ever in this day and age to ignore problems and block people out of your life without giving them a second blink to consider what they might have to say is right, and you really do have some shit to sort out. We can avoid confrontation at all costs, block people on social media, ignore our texts, not answer the phone, you name it.
But let’s not do that. Let’s consider that everything someone has to say, even it hurts your feelings, has some meaning to it and it’s coming from a human being too, not a monster. The term “no pain no gain” could never be more accurate, and it applies mentally as much as it does physically. Not every trait about yourself is something you want to hear, and it’s not always going to feel good to hear that. But ultimately, it’ll help you grow as a person if you absorb it and try to adapt around your flaws and work to fix them in every day life.
Let’s come together and make a difference, understand and respect people even from outside groups, stop pretend we’re victim for every piece of feedback we get, grow some thick skin, come to term with our flaws and consider them lessons for growth, and build a better humanity.
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