obviously we should still make jokes but lifes so darn short why do you have to make it weird. being completely honest with one's self fucking owns and everyone should do it more often

  • glimmer_twin [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    That’s been one of the more cool developments of the last year or two I think. The left has become a bit less irony poisoned and realised that we can be sincere - of course we can. Being on the left implies that you have some sort of fucking empathy and care for your fellow human beings.

    • Lil_Revolitionary [she/her,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I think you have to figure that out. I just blurt stuff out while emotionally vulnerable than reevaluate those statements when I'm calmer, seeing how that's going for me.

      • HarryLime [any]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I was just joking. But Confucius argued that there was no "true" self that you have, and that your real self is merely the collection of your habits, which you have to actively cultivate. I think there's something to that.

            • MarxGuns [comrade/them]
              ·
              4 years ago

              You'll have to forgive my lack of a source as I haven't actively studied Buddhism in decades. But I was thinking that Gautama mentions it at some point. I think it comes up a lot more in the Zen traditions too.

            • WhatDoYouMeanPodcast [comrade/them]
              ·
              4 years ago

              I definitely remember Alan Watts (Not an expert on Buddhism*) saying something to that effect, but lord help me it has been a minute so I would never be able to back that up. He said that was the big secret of ego and the folly of trying to rid yourSELF of it. Trying to grab onto your sense of self would be like a light illuminating itself or scissors cutting themselves. It's a limitation of language, folks.

              A lot of very good people have stopped seeking self. The radlibs told me, Chapo, how can we do this? And, folks, millions and millions of thoughts of self-doubt were behind those fears. I have those thoughts too actually. Oh yeah yeah... "Chapo it's not fair that we're winning so much." But really, folks, we let go of things we can't control. Let's make our minds quiet again!

              • Actually, I think he was a learned academic on Eastern theology for what its worth
            • mayor_pete_buttigieg [she/her]
              ·
              4 years ago

              It's an idea that follows from easily from the real Buddhist basics, and is common to most Buddhist philosophy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta

    • shadygamedev [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      The void.
      I keep meditating and it always end at the void. Scriptures say there should be a higher level than that where the true self resides, but I just don't know.
      I think if people could at least see themselves as the void instead of such lame ass singing, dancing egos, maybe society would be somewhat better.

    • Lil_Revolitionary [she/her,they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Coming out as trans has helped me go through my thoughts pretty well. I had to (and still do) tear down all the walls i put up to be the person i thought I was supposed to be, and now i gotta figure out what's underneath. Fucking crazy, yo

    • MagisterSinister [he/him,comrade/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Irony’s a good way to cope sometimes

      That's why it's so prevalent. It's a way to keep going in spite of the disgust and estrangement.

      • Straylight [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Rampant irony undermines authenticity, meaning and thus solidarity. However I realize many are leaning on it heavily so let's gently take them by the hand and counteract alienation

        Signed, a comrade so earnest I literally never posted on the subreddit

  • Zuzak [fae/faer, she/her]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I get contrarian sometimes (online moreso than in person), and I honestly don't know how to turn it off. I guess I've gotten a little better about it but in the past it's sometimes felt like the more I talk to people from one side the more inclined I am towards the opposite. It took me a while to come around to the idea of "left unity" even being a desirable thing at all. I feel like maybe part of it was growing up privileged and book smart and thinking that my opinions and thoughts mattered for their own sake. In reality, being able to share your knowledge with others or bring them around to your point of view is often just as important as being right in the first place. I don't know. I guess there's something to that Marx quote, "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Kinda easier said than done 😕

  • Speaker [e/em/eir]
    ·
    4 years ago

    If I posted completely unironically on this board I'd be banned for being too cool, so I'm gonna stick with tactical irony.