It was on a Sunday. The last Sunday before the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Cable news was much better than average — even CNN was challenging proposed economic policies. Things were looking bright, and it almost seemed like spring in November. Unfortunately, the brightness only lasted that day, of course. The next day, everything was back to “normal,” as the dumbing-down effect started over again, the day before the election.
It’s well understood of any establishment to despise volatility, and to push agendas while trying to keep motive hidden. An understanding on their part that is really a misunderstanding; bad leaders don’t usually see the bad effects of the system they promote; they always make things worse for themselves in the long-run. And to research these systems that revolve around conceit, motives for abuse become increasingly prevalent.
This mentality I’m thinking of comes with people who’ve adapted off the notion that they’ll never get ahead unless they take full advantage of their surroundings. A spoiled mentality, where society seems to only get in their way... until they see the advantage of manipulation. It is inherently a result of something unadulterated; it is said that nothing is ever enough. The notion of being ‘larger than ordinary people’ no longer matters, going further down this road.
Little by little, what came from a spoiled demeanor works to establish something always dishonest in means; some going down this road end up not believing much in their efforts, and easier does the venture into power get when they have come to the point of having trouble honestly believing in anything. As for much of what’s written for Mass Articulation, I know a lot on this subject from first-hand experience — either seeing it, or executing it. I know right from wrong; it seems sometimes like I have to act like a sociopath to get ahead, but I reassert myself that it only seems.
The main evil is abuse, centrally. All abuse, regardless of self-infliction, always comes back to damage everything else. Even though I’ve never ingested any alcohol beyond the small percentage of wine in a jar of marinara sauce, I have binged on regular household items, such as chocolate; even minor substance abuse can hardly be excused. What makes something abuse is that it is known and understood to be wrong and destructive; however, acknowledgment of abuse is not guaranteed, and some destructive actions may be temporally necessary for the sake of survival.
Morality can sometimes be difficult to tell from immorality, and so some people tend to go the amoral route — an internal fall-back, but an ignorance that leads one to not see one’s wrong-doing. Given a personal dilemma, a decision comes after the amorality to choose between the moral and the immoral, hence the old depiction of an angel and a devil on someone’s shoulders. An abuse doesn’t come just in malice or violent behavior, but to also in trying to shed culpability, also known as “shrugging it off.”
Verbal abuse can do more damage than physical abuse. It all comes down to the capacity of minds to be set in mood for their capacity to turn destructive. Down that road, there is the fragility of one’s scruples. The end of the road hits either attempt of suicide, or the extreme abuse of others. The only positive in the matter of abuse, is the acknowledgment of it, and for one’s capacity to be geared for a reversal of the damage and the cause.
Know your problems and take care of yourselves.
There’s no excuse for self-abuse.