Celebrating the Human Body, Victim-Blaming, World's Most Notorious Interview
Existential Espresso Vol. 74
What I’ve been reading:
Walt Whitman’s poems
I was recently inspired by one of the Sisyphus Society members (thank you, Adam) to start reading poetry more regularly.
It didn’t take me a long time to decide that I wanted to start with one of the most important American poets, Walt Whitman. Knowing that he was both inspired and praised by one of my favorite thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a sign that I might find another kindred spirit in Whitman. And I did.
I Sing the Body Electric is my favorite so far. It’s an ode to the human body—a rather sensual ode. I understand how this might not be according to everyone’s taste, but for me, as a lover and admirer of the human body, the sensuality only made me relate to Whitman even more.
I have perceiv’d that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh is enough,
To pass among them or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly round his or her neck for a moment, what is this then?
I do not ask any more delight, I swim in it as in a sea.
There is something in staying close to men and women and looking on them, and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well,
All things please the soul, but these please the soul well.
What I’ve watched:
Tucker Carlson interview with Valdimir Putin
Is it necessary to say that I’ve watched this interview as an interested and concerned citizen of the world and not as a supporter of the war? Anyway, there’s your disclaimer.
My main insight from this interview is that it only shows the horrendous state of Western mainstream media. (I don’t think that the mainstream media in the East is any better, but I’m not that familiar with it.)
I say this because Tucker Carlson is being praised as a hero of journalism for doing something that was considered pretty basic not too long ago. That’s how low the bar has been set today. Acting like he has exposed himself to any real danger by going to Russia, or as if him being accepted back into the US was a real question, is laughable.
But I do agree with one thing that most people who have watched the interview are saying. Seeing a leader who can hold a train of thought for 30–40 minutes (another thing that should be considered basic for any statesman) seems impressive when, on the other side, you have the leader of the world’s greatest superpower who is unable to construct one coherent sentence and has become an object of ridicule in his own country.
What I’ve been thinking about:
Victim-blaming
There seems to be a new buzzword dominating the online space: victim-blaming.
I acknowledge that there are people who are victims of some form of abuse. I know people who are victims of abuse. Blaming them for what they’ve had to go through is one of the lowest and most despicable things a human being can do.
But, as with many other serious terms, this one has been hijacked by people who think that Starbucks getting their order wrong is trauma and that everyone who disagrees with them is a narcissist.
In online discussions, which I (have to) engage in on a daily basis, every call for personal responsibility is being labeled as victim-blaming by at least a handful of people.
I've realized that a lot of these outraged people don’t have an abuser; they think of themselves as victims of life. The “abuse” they have suffered are the misfortunes and pains of life most of us go through, and their “abuser” is life. Life itself has conspired against them, and they cannot take any personal responsibility, not only for their actions but for their attitude as well.
These people might deserve our compassion as much as anyone else, but it’s hard not to notice they are doing a deservice to the victims of real abuse.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
Free Resources:
My free ebook: The Lost Art of Reading
Paid Resources:
The Art of Showing Up: A Clear and Practical Method for Mastering Consistency
The Gold Pill: Timeless Ideas for a Life Worth Living
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Breaking the infra-red line of autocratic censorship, as Julian Assange has found, will always require courage.