But some of us endure the pain of the whip. Some of us run, not because the whip is ever cracking behind us, but because in running we can become better, faster people. Even if the whip were gone and the master removed, the troubles of that master would fall upon us. Only by strengthening ourselves can we rise up to defeat the oppressive master, and be ready for the challenges beyond. And there will always be challenges.
There will always be pain - so much pain, whether it is the current master or another, or even the world.
To live is to suffer; to survive is to find some meaning in that suffering.
We cannot break the bars by rattling them endlessly until the jail keeper intervenes and adds a second lock. We can only do exercises quietly through the night, suffering by our own hand beyond what the cell places on us, until the day we can pry the bars open.
And when that day comes - and when we fight the jail keeper -
When we are defeated
We must struggle against the new cell, the new keeper, with less food, until the day we can revolt yet again. And we must find meaning in that revolt - the meaning of making ourselves better.
Victory is the ultimate cure - but it must be administered judiciously. It is an addictive salve - victory makes the victor stupid. Victory makes the vanquished malicious. But in becoming stronger, someday we can seek to become stronger than the jailer, to place the jailers in the dungeon and set the innocent inmates free. To turn the whip on our oppressors.
The Christian would then say to “love thy enemy”
We are disgusted by the idea, and think, “but strength is to conquer.” But we have already conquered. Think! Think of what it is! Your oppressor is now firmly beneath you, but in the same place as you were before. Should we make them malicious, make them resent us -
Make them revolt?
Or show compassion to those who can accept it and become indebted to us?
But for those who can never learn - let them be justly destroyed by your wrath.
This is how we should seek out power. Not by mindlessly rattling the bars, no… But not by sitting quietly by either. We must quietly, gently become stronger, by embracing the suffering - channeling it - then nature will switch the stronger will for the weaker, as ice inverts in a freezing pond.
as great as it sounds how are we to “gently become stronger” when the “jailors” deny us the means to? When we have to struggle for basic necessities, how are we supposed to grow to become better versions of ourselves?
Millions of people are being forced back into the struggle for survival, not under nature this time but under another man’s system.
Becoming stronger is also not an individuals’ quest, it’d take collective action to abolish current systems, and that requires a degree of loudness, silence between individuals only creates opportunities for “the man” to create divisions between us, rendering our efforts fruitless.
I’m also a fan of relishing in the idea of striving towards revolt, but it’s never as simple as enduring until you’re strong enough. You need to talk with your inmates, help them, so they help you, so together we have a chance against the jailors.
Dude/sis go write a philosophy book
For serious. I was wondering why there were so few comments on this post, but with that first one there’s no need for other comments.
Yeah, I’m proud to share a name with this great thinker
Lol thanks, most of this is my own take on Nietzschean morals, ideas from “satanism” / nontheistic morality, and other concepts from high school philosophy. I’m literally just a high school senior lol, but thinking of minoring in philosophy at university.
I’m literally just a high school senior
Seriously? Keep reading and writing, man. You’ll do well in university.
There’s still so much for me to study first… I’m still learning my own beliefs, my own philosophy, trying to understand those before me. But I suppose that’s the journey of every student of the art. I’m literally a high school student. I might minor in philosophy as it is really important to me.
If you’re interested in the ideas I have I can recommend a few sources. The LaVey “satanic Bible” (really more of a nontheistic moral exercise from a skeptic) has a lot of great ideas, and I’d describe myself as Nietzschean in my moral thinking. Study Nietzsche. His original materials can be a little dense (I sadly don’t speak German to read the original and it doesn’t translate very well to English).
I listen to The Nietzsche Podcast by Untimely Reflections on Spotify. He does a really good job of summarizing and expanding upon Nietzsche’s works, sentence-by-sentence. And get a philosophy book. Any good overview, I’ve only studied at highschool level (albeit my highschool curriculum uses mostly college resources).
And most importantly… Think. Just sit down, be quiet. Meditate. Ik it’s kind of cliche but it actually does help. When you read a concept - close the book. Sit quietly and ask yourself “what does this mean? What do I believe? Does this change it? Could I be wrong? (Always, always be open to changing your entire world).”
If you choose to, I hope you enjoy this field of study as much as I have! It’s an extremely rewarding process - and ongoing throughout your life. It doesn’t matter your “specialty” or “calling” - philosophy affects us all.
That’s absolutely true, but you can’t break bars or chains by getting stronger. You can learn to open the lock and blend in, turning the cell into a home, or you could learn about what’s outside, and how to survive in a world you’ve never seen
But for most people, that’s not even possible. The truth is, there’s no warden, and the jailers are just in a nicer cell block.
We did this to ourselves… There’s no dichotomy, there’s no paradise built on our suffering. There’s no one benefiting, even billionaires spend all their time jockeying for position and respect, and they’re as poisoned by the propaganda they push as the rest of us
We’re all tangled up in imaginary rules. That’s the prison. It’s all made up, and we can, in fact, all just… Stop. We can just change the rules. We can play a different game
Banding together and helping free each other is how you grind your way out
Some of us don’t run from the whip at all. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Wer sich nicht bewegt, spürt seine Fesseln nicht.
Ok, but end of the day physics holds you to the ground. The only true form of freedom exists within.
It’s impossible to isolate the internal from the external. You can disassociate to minimize the effect of the external, but it still has an effect. Total freedom isn’t possible for finite beings, but we can remove the cages built to exclusively benefit others. Those limitations can be renegotiated or broken to benefit everyone as much as possible.
Buddhism teaches about enlightenment but generally speaking I’d agree. The closest you will ever get though, if only momentarily is being contented for a short fleeting period of time. Drug seekers, gamblers, adrenaline junkies, etc. All seek this out.
