RE: Is "Be the part of the change you want to see in the world!" bullshit?
February 2, 2024 at 10:40 pm
(February 2, 2024 at 9:36 pm)Ahriman Wrote: Yes. And that's a problem. The only people who would actually make meaningful changes in this world, are all assholes. And assholes don't know how to be effective leaders. It's as if this world is specifically designed for the meaningless "rich good, poor bad" paradigm to be what everyone thinks is the truth.
Yeah, as the man said: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity." Same as it ever was.
If you study the social/political movements around the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, it's very instructive. There was wonderful optimism in Europe after the French got rid of their king. They thought they could institute a government of Reason and bring in a golden age. But pretty soon it turned into a bloodbath that nobody wanted. Then they thought a new kind of king could make a difference, so they got Napoleon as king -- not chosen by heredity but, supposedly, by skill and merit. And of course they regretted that soon enough.
The history of Napoleon's men in Spain is a lot like that of the US in Iraq. When they first went in, the local intelligentsia hoped for the best. The old leadership was stale and superstitious, so they thought Reason would rule in a just and peaceful manner. And that optimism lasted about a week. Look at the new boss, same as the old boss.
The smart people in England reacted in an interesting way. The ones who had been most optimistic (e.g. the Romantic poets) turned inward. They gave up on improvement through politics, and mostly decided that change can only occur on a personal level. We have little to no affect on the society around us, but we have a great deal of power to change ourselves.
This is how I interpret the meaning of "Be the change you wish to see in the world." If you think the world is cruel and greedy, you have to make yourself as kind and generous as possible. If the world is evil, you make yourself good. And you do this knowing it will have no impact on society at all.
