Social Revolution Part 2: Gossip, Building Up, and Solidarity

Hello Readers,

In order for the world to change, we have to understand the importance of gossip and how much it contributes to a breakdown of society. To do this, we have to engage how societies are built on shame, how gossip binds cliques of people together, and finally how gossip gives us a hated other to build ourselves up. These three things though they feel good in the group setting do not contribute to an overall solidarity that embraces love of neighbor even those neighbors who are distant in any way (age, experience, etc). The end goal of this reflection is to engage the possibility of using language to build up the community and spread good rumors about people, and favorable parts of people's appearance (defined as the symbolic representation of the unseen self, and has physical, mental, and spiritual components.)

To start, we have to examine how societies are built on shame, both religious and political. Shame is a component of society because all societies have mores. Shame occurs when people are judgmental toward others who do not meet certain mores. For example, if someone does not follow a certain rule, such as not mowing your lawn in your boxers on a Thursday, then society will punish the person mowing the lawn by words, shunning, etc. It's important to note that shame while it can happen for laws, it moreso happens because people are different and do not follow unwritten rules of conduct. Examples would include someone who does not fit in a specific gender role set by society. Shame; therefore, is an important part of society for many people, because it tries to build and keep a status quo. However, shame cannot have a part in love, because it does not let people appear and be a mutual interface with each other in a communal experience.

Part of shame is gossip. Societies of people that have a status quo gossip about others who are not in their status quo. If I sit down on a bus and am not talking to anyone, most often I hear some form of gossip. For people in a society (read community), gossip is almost natural, because we either have to talk about the heretics and how they are destroying the world, or we have to talk about that weird stalker kid who looks creepy and might like me. We talk about the other so as to distance ourselves from the other. The other is the hated other who becomes the scapegoat for the clique to build themselves up. In this way, gossip builds community in a clique sense because common people that have a common status quo can spread bad rumors about people not in their clique. However, this is problematic as we don't learn from the other, and are not challenged by the other, if the other is not embraced in our arms, and loved like God loves all. The reason we need a larger community is because cliques break down, once the common theme of gossip is gone, and the community pleasure received from gossip is gone, these cliques break down unless something else happens to expand a friendship. In other words, the clique does not allow for an embrace of the unknown, and without the embrace of the unknown we can never truly love anyone, because we will only love their appearance as it is given before us.

So we see the problem before us. A clique and a status quo form because people like the appearance of a certain way of society and do not want to embrace the unknown. The opposite of this behavior is to have an openness to the other and seek to build up people and work to have solidarity with them. When we build up the other we are praising their appearance for the joy it brings us and the community. Positive talk of people's appearance is a good thing because it embraces a symbolic representation of an unknown and lets it flourish. For example, when we praise someone who has a strong appearance in caring or leadership, we're praising not just that role that a particular self/person (self keeps the mysterious quality I'm looking for in talking about this topic.) has in my life, but how that appearance extends into other relationships. In this way, praise offers gratitude to the other and elevates the other to inspire more service and love. Praise also puts us in solidarity with others because we are elevating others and embracing the unknown self. This allows our love of others to grow and helps us to grow past the clique and embrace real community as we can only love the unknown, otherwise we become too attached to appearances and our love becomes idolatrous and narcissistic.

In closing, we have to nuance our vision a little bit. There are people that do real harm to the common good, and to protect others from real danger is something we are morally obligated to do. But we have to discern the difference between real harm and existential discomfort. (Of course, these are not mutually exclusive necessarily but there is a difference between someone being weird and someone raping people.) Also, there are people that drive us crazy. Everyone has pet peeves and issues with others. We have to allow for outlets with close friends to help us engage people who drive us crazy. There's a difference between talking to a confidant about people driving you crazy and spreading rumors amongst a whole group of people where there is no expectation of silence. These things being said, our goal in solidarity should be to continue to grow more patient and more loving in the mutual interfacing we experience consistently with the world. When we love more and build up more, I think we'll find that less things drive us crazy, especially as we understand and gain solidarity with the people around us and far away...

Aristocrates.

Freestyle Lyric Poetry Thingy

Yo,

Today is a day where 3 line sentences with words we don't understand are for chumps seeking advanced degrees and those in the establishment (keeping in mind I'm seeking an advanced degree.) There will be no long sentences, no paragraphs, no form, just words that show reality, that present life and seek life to it's fullest. Here we go...

Sisters and brothers,
I'm here to tell a story today,
One of suffering and sorrow, joy and grace,

I'm here to tell about a world which bleeds.
It cries out for healing.
But none is to be found,
at least not as we appear to see.

Brothers and sisters
Power is everywhere,
and it seeks to corrupt life itself.

The world bleeds because of leaders and because of me
Because I don't respond to the world which bleeds.
Because I fall victim to power, and greed.

When we talk about evil,
we're not just talking about actions and deeds,
we're talking about our hearts
the pride, the anger, the greed,
these things which consume us and others,

It's not just the big bad world we have to fear,
it's those in power anywhere,
our politics, our TV, and even some religions
it's all those things we're supposed to trust.
Our communities which teach us these fears.

It's those in power who teach us to fear the BIG BAD OTHER
Those who look different,
Those who think different,
We should all be afraid, because they're not me

These others have opinions and feelings
But they're not to be considered by me,
Because I have the truth, I have reason,
I don't need the opinions of others.
Because what I have is objective
or at least that's what others tell me who claim it.

But racism, genocide, abortion, war,
This is why all these exist
because what's human is what someone else makes it
and those who don't fit die and suffer freely.

Even lesser things like teasing, bullying, and intimidation
stares, glazes, and screaming,
all happen because we don't listen
we talk because we're right, and fight because we're justified.
and is okay because our leaders tell us so.

In all this, where is the hope and grace
where is the love we feel and the joy we're told about
is it in ourselves or in our things
is it in believing the leadership and fighting blindly for them?

No, no it's not.
Hope and grace is in the love we have for ourselves
It's in the love we have for God.
And it's in the beautiful combination of the two.

Because many will claim God to justify their hate
but in the end, God cannot justify the hate,
because God sees through the hate
and raises it with love
raises it all in with love
raises it with a cross of giving love.

It is in this cross where we see the consequences of hate
We see people in fear drag innocence to crucifixion.
because of darkness and leaders infected by it,
and in response they affect the people
and this is what the story tells us.

So how do we deal with the intrinsic evil in the world
how do we give hope and love
does it start with ourselves, our leaders, and our large groups,
or does it start with me?

The question comes, "Can I love first?"
from a learned man, a Marion,
because that's where it starts
hope comes from me loving you and you loving me
and when this happy harmony comes
we can love the community which approaches

With this hope, we can engage the leaders
the leaders who spread fear and hate for the other
those not like me, or you, or we.
They build community by similarity and strawman
making human themselves and others not.

but we can build community different,
because we can model it on love of you and me
we can find God's happy harmony
and participate in life with God

This community of love, can appear in being,
can appear in what we see before us, if people choose,
if people choose hope and tolerance over fear and hate,
people can live in community.
People can really be people.

Because love is not about a feeling, or what a person is good at,
but rather something special about each person,
a uniqueness which cannot be repeated,
because every history is different,

which we need to respect,
because we can learn from difference,
about you but about me too,
and we can stop the intrinsic hate
we can stop the racism, genocide, war, abortion
manipulation, fear, malice, torture, and more

Though being is bleak, we have hope,
because though we see many examples of others and me failing,
there is always redemption beyond our control,
and a love which gives mercy,
which we can spread, and which we need to spread
because we can hoard it and keep God's love for ourselves,
or we can be that love for all to see.

We can separate love of God and neighbor,
or we can unite it,
and if united in the love I have for you,
then it becomes a sign for all,
of God's love for you and me.

And that's all sisters and brothers...
The reason for our hope is that we can always try again,
and we always have redemption.
Though things around us may seem angry, and fear related,
we can always love.

And that's it y'all, I'm out.

Aristocrates