Uplifting stories are both exciting, heartfelt and completely toxic, largely because in their efforts to speak on the resilience of individuals, they downplay the malicious behavior of others. We have all heard these stories: someone starts out in unfavorable circumstances, there is a myriad of barriers in their way, and through seemingly sheer will, they triumph over adversity. In the end, we cry and find inspiration, never considering that things never had to be that hard in the first place. Effectively, we justify cruelty as form of inspiration and tell ourselves that everything will eventually make sense if we do our best to keep pushing.
What has that mindset created? A world full of bullies, eager to give their playbooks to anyone who will listen, which has made society objectively worse for everyone. What happens when someone is consistently criticized, emotionally beaten down, deprived of any type of approval that would make life worth living? Eventually, that individual gives up, believing both that everything is their fault and that there is nothing to be gained by having any sort of ambition. Hopelessness leads to desperation, which is one of the reasons that violence has risen in the empire. If there is no point to anything, then people have nothing to lose.
We have to start recognizing that it is reasonable to hold people accountable for putting up barriers where none should exist. Refusing to pay living wages to force people to live on debt, starving people to force productivity, and arbitrarily raising costs have not built more character, and such actions are rapidly destroying what integrity we have left. There is no valor in constantly overcoming oppression, and the goal should be to end oppression, not dress it up in scrappy underdog stories that fail to be honest. If we want to improve the world, lies need to be less interesting and honest needs to have its day.
Chasing A Dying Empire 