I used to want to rant about people every day and twice on Sunday not because it felt good–it never feels as good as one wants–but because I thought it might spark some justice. As I got older, I realized that there was a certain kind of malicious indifference permeating the masses that allowed cruelty to exist without holding it accountable. People have allowed themselves to believe that having “different experiences” with the same people gives permission to excuse any injustice that is discovered. Now, I rarely use names unless it is a specific politician because using names makes it easier to designate villains, but keeping things anonymous means it could be anyone.
Throughout the dominant narrative, there is an important realization that intent does not override impact, as many people allowed themselves to believe. For centuries, people needed to believe that if they wanted to be good people, then they inherently were good people, regardless of what they did or failed to do. Even if there were several questionable actions, they decided that the desire for goodness became reality, ignoring how their behavior might affect others. By being anonymous, my hope is to spark self-awareness about how some actions are perceived, and to stop normalizing problematic behavior.
Furthermore, not using names takes away credit from “good” people and “bad” people, most of which are designated by the dominant narrative and not for the best reasons. If someone mentions a highly beloved celebrity, it becomes impossible for several individuals to have a rational, authentic conversation about actual things that celebrity has done. “Bad” people have also been created by perception rather than actual behavior, thanks to heavy media consumption by the empire. Allowing people’s actions to exist separate from their identity gives authentic impressions, rather than edifying possibly “good” or “bad” reputations.
Essentially, keeping people anonymous focuses on outcome instead of intent, which is has always been considered more important. Bias is introduced the second a name is mentioned because the dominant narrative has always focused on appearances instead of how those appearances are created. Consider that Victorian England is always revered as a time of grace and beauty despite the revelations of how that “grace and beauty” was created. Conditioning the masses to believe that looks are more important than behavior and effort has been the most successful brainwashing of the twentieth century.
Society will have to raise its standards for how people truly behave instead of hiding behind the delusion that “everyone is ultimately good.” Looking at our own behavior allows us all to be kinder and less dismissive of how our actions effect others. It will take some learning to stop telling others to “suck it up” just because someone has an unearned positive effect on multiple people.
Chasing A Dying Empire 