Saturday, 12 August 2023

Always Connected for Better or Worse







By: Jonathan Seidel

Being before Stoic  


Individualistic pride travelled deeply in the pioneering adventuring. Seeking autonomic expression in the twilight of veiled destiny. The cardinal asset is the self’s individuality. While the collectivist hunt sat in silence, the pursuit of progress dodged a significant arrow. The leap to betting on oneself alone in the world paid off in a solitude lifestyle for the rest of humanity. The shift back to communities. Awaiting a reconnection of a new united order is crawling with needy vibes. With the prudence and pestilence. A narrow vision that must be opened by self preservation. 


Stoic markers are not the boldest claim to growth but nor are collectivist armouries. Ideological prose place a significant weight on the dogmatic impulse. Stoicism seeks to cope and collectivists seek to fix. The wrong side of a tribal dispute is a death sentence. On the one hand, introspecting and enduring are limiting aspects of insurance. On the other hand, group mindedness can result in exclusionary detail. It is a hard line and identify two different approaches to the ethical dilemma. The autonomic theme derails the unifying defence. A deserter alone to decide for himself as opposed to the settled group who decides as a group the best course of action. Are we looking for Hobbesian chaos or the Leviathan. Band together for our betterment. Moving back into town after a nice stint solo for a comforting peace amongst others. 


Groups are restrictive. The traveller finds a home with other like-minded individuals at best. Yet his mobility is sanctioned by the group’s aspiring order. The wild is dangerous; it is better to concede some freedom for more security. To give up guns for sanctuary in fort Pierce. Paintballs flying everywhere and the hunt to oust every student is protected by a walled off passage. Rules obeyed not only for submission but safety. The jungle is a dangerous place and shelter is the secure area away from the unfettered location. Community is a strong shelter. It is not solely a military defence but an offensive building mechanism that diverts the wild away from life inside the city. In the Middle Ages, travelling between cities was dangerous especially at night. Cities themselves were havens but in between was a road of dangerous foes. Bringing escorts sought to protect their goods along the way. Yet the protection provided paled in comparison to the city itself. Soldiers occupied posts to keep danger out. Communities were a brokerage of collective safety. 


Inside the city is a haven from highway robberies but even in the city danger lies within. While in the Middle Ages the divergence between internal and external was more consistent, it does not mean that safety was secured absolutely. Robbers internally did damage. The impoverished roamed the streets. Safe in the confines of his boxed home. The streets are a danger. Borders secure nations but inside it is free-flowing. Alone at the mercy of the realistic picture. Communities are intended safety nets but are insularly disconnected from the medieval security inside the castle gates. Countrymen were friends insofar as tribalism remained uniform. Jews were attacked by Christian neighbours and protestants were sacked by catholics. The group belief was a danger to identification. Scant individuality tormented those unbelievers. It wasn’t only a matter of damnation but a social enterprise. Assimilating with a religion placed one in a political apparatus to succeed.  


Individuality removed from all externalities, from all belonging became evident in the modern age. Judgement even today still manifests in the stereotypical landmines suffocating existential progress. Race, gender and ethnicity hold back the individual from pursuing their dream. Manners of discrimination dethrone the libertarian motif but such issues are not easily overcome. Implanted with memorial education trans-generationally fails to overturn the falsities branded into parental lectures. Despite the modernisation and legal equality, ethical indifference is highly touted. Hateful rebuke and mortified disgust contextualise the obstacle. Engraved sermons cannot easily be outdone. The lineage of discriminatory measures undermining social acceptance is weaning in the face of polarisation. By virtue of fated birth there is little that can change fate. Nazis didn’t care that Jews converted or SJWs that Jews are anti-zionists. Being part of a tribe is call for polemical attitudes.


To be a part of a tribe in any sort of capacity. Whether it be a nation or a race. The negative attitudes result from the polemical nature haunting descendants. The reckless affirmation of forgone accusations belittles potential change. It is an unchangeable facet of life and yet one that comes with extensive baggage. It does not bellow from the external observer. Fated to a tribe no matter how dispersed still maintains some allegiance. Their generational commitment presents an honorary endorsement from the newcomer. Others expecting a specific direction. Diverting from that path causes all kinds of angst distilling their expectations. Angered and frustrated by this autonomic move, greedy and unilateral. Parents expect children to follow in the vision they propose. Deviating is disobeying. A tribe has aspirations for its constituents, failing to meet those standards is scorned with death stares. Those who follow their own path are seen in a negative light. Expectations ruined is a manner of expulsion.    


Stigmas encourage distasteful rhetoric to the tribal member. He cannot escape who he is. Even in our modern day he is judged and persecuted for that fated reality. Outsiders call him names and insiders shake their heads. He is displaced if he breaks free. The deserter is a lonely man with no community and yet a part of a community at the same time. He cannot shed his skin. He can run away but he will always be defined by his birth. His family may forgive him but his broader community may not. Even his family may turn their back on him. Some changes are unforgivable, relationships irreparable. Yet he will be doxxed as a part of that tribe. Exiled or not he is forever tainted by his familial tree. For better or worse he will be linked to his fate. Inquirers will question his integrity. Choosing a personal path is calculated yet reviled. The communal link may not be friendly but it is undeniably present. There is no denying fact even if fiction distorts perception to the negative  over benefit of the doubt.


Being is interconnected. It is an eternal truth that will engulf him till he dies. He belongs somewhere. There are instances of lonely folk with no family or connections to call for help. Yet for many there is a support system. Belonging somewhere is a quintessential comfort to the human conscious. Alone and hungry is terrifying. Belonging connotes care. Essence is wound up to a communal metric. A foundation that designs a map of concern for the patient. Alone for a few seconds before aid comes to the rescue. He will not be lying in a hospital bed alone. His family rushes to his bedside to raise his spirits. His essence binds others to his existence. It is those others who are compelled to assist him. Belonging is a two way street whereby those on the other end come through when needed the most. Simplistic existence is no laughing matter but it limits the level of essence inhabited. A person’s network is their essence, it is their linkage to others.


Essence does find allies in the tribe. The tribe is exclusive. His essence is restricted to those in his wider circle. He belongs to a group to which others are not privy. It is this exclusivity that his foundation borders on polarised assets. It is the tribe that inherits his necessities. He is a valuable piece treated with such dignity. Maybe not by other tribes but insistently by his tribe. His belonging comes with the territory. It is his essence that disrupts fluidity to otherness. His essence is extensive but delimited. His plain existence seeks to shatter that mould. We are all humans he shouts but his tribal affiliation does not hold up in the variety eclipsing identification. His inability to escape or alienate his past reveals a dire instability of human progress. Honing in on tribal perceptions places him in a bind. He will forever be placed in his tribe and blamed for it. The member cannot rescind his affiliation. It is engraved in his DNA. It is who he is. He tries to project a post-humanistic perspective and is shunned for his fated existence. 


He may choose to adopt a hybrid of his fate and future. A Spinoza-like tactic. Yet the danger persists. His family will act hostly toward his dramatic diversion from the positivistic line of thinking. He will still be conceived as part of the tribe. No matter how he changes, others will struggle to accept him in his nuanced form. It is his attempt to bridge the gap that will harness a new age. Most will revile him but he may find a few comrades looking for a new middle. Those like him are generally few but have powerful voices if projected adequately. The nuance between fate and destiny shadows a perceptive taste. An outlier in the outfield. He is now stuck and must take a stand as the new foundation. He will find a new community that fits his bill. He is not searching for an existing community but an imagined one. One either non-existent or in the start-up stage. His views are his own but he needs others to affect change. It is one thing to change personally, there is another that can change the system. 


Being and belonging bring a proto-version to the table. An introspective layout of potential communal construction. He must first find his path for himself. Recognise the niche naivety and purge on. It is the lonely journey to nowhere. Rcognising the looming failures of the pre-existing narratives. Change happens from critical thinking and honest reflection. The new community is not hampered by past beliefs or meta-narratives. The goal is to grow and develop casually. His essence can be a source of great pride to those who support and their teachings. Through negation it can be a useful tool to affirmation. Belonging is a necessary concept but at times it’s running towards that is the most impeccable. The creation of a new community based in autonomic expression. One coinciding with the shared values and virtues. One aware of past baggage but utilising for the betterment of society. 

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