Excellent post. Like you, I grew up in a religious rural town, so by my teens I was an atheist anarchist, at least according to me. Then I moved to California and became a conservative Druid. I'm not sure that it's an enjoyment of being out of power in my case, as much as a frustation with what I see as obvious problems with those in power (and those frustrations will exist in some form no matter who's in charge).
But the principle holds. It's worth questioning how much what I consider "myself" is a reaction to something around me, versus authentic. As you mentioned via Sun Tzu, maybe we can get at this by watching what stirs the personality to action, and the nature of that action, and contrasting it with those movements that seem to well up from within ourselves and change only in particularity with circumstances.
It seems that those who find themselves unable to pursure their individuality due to restraints from the powers-that-be tend to define themselves in opposition to those powers, and logically so. But had they free rein, they likely would take some other, unrelated route. Getting out of that place, away from that group is helpful in that it gives us a new one to react to, and thus a contrast by which to examine which are reactions, and which are deeper currents. Pushing away from first, one thing, then another, until we gain the experience to act in a positive sense, rather than a negative, oppositional sense.
The current political situation is certainly ripe for it. An old guard forced a number of individuals to react a certain way, and having attained a taste of power, they're now forcing a different backlash. Meanwhile, there are those who simply prefer to be IN power, and have found ways of belonging to each group in turn and using it to their advantage, and still others who are struggling to find their own place clear of the fracas.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-03-10 04:58 pm (UTC)But the principle holds. It's worth questioning how much what I consider "myself" is a reaction to something around me, versus authentic. As you mentioned via Sun Tzu, maybe we can get at this by watching what stirs the personality to action, and the nature of that action, and contrasting it with those movements that seem to well up from within ourselves and change only in particularity with circumstances.
It seems that those who find themselves unable to pursure their individuality due to restraints from the powers-that-be tend to define themselves in opposition to those powers, and logically so. But had they free rein, they likely would take some other, unrelated route. Getting out of that place, away from that group is helpful in that it gives us a new one to react to, and thus a contrast by which to examine which are reactions, and which are deeper currents. Pushing away from first, one thing, then another, until we gain the experience to act in a positive sense, rather than a negative, oppositional sense.
The current political situation is certainly ripe for it. An old guard forced a number of individuals to react a certain way, and having attained a taste of power, they're now forcing a different backlash. Meanwhile, there are those who simply prefer to be IN power, and have found ways of belonging to each group in turn and using it to their advantage, and still others who are struggling to find their own place clear of the fracas.