26-30 Blankets

Blanket statements
Keep people warm
Because it's cold out there
And the cold makes it hard to think rationally
Generalizations are like insulation to our mind
Cozy, if you will

People use myths to justify their actions.

People love to hear about the accidental discovery
The misfit genius
The lazy savant
The child who saw through the illusion
The crackpot who turned out to be right all along.
The grandfather who smoked every day into his 90s
The belief that people will love you for your "quirkiness"
The old man who fooled everyone
The robber who got away with it all because of his foolproof plan
The seemingly useless becoming suddenly pivotal
The fringe inventor who proved everyone wrong

But more dangerously
The belief that “all x are bad”
“x” being any ethnic group, tax bracket, age, religion, sexual preference.
Just to name a few.
The list is quite endless
A way to elevate the ego
Even when all else is lost
“Well at least I’m not x”
the ego will say
until the grave

It’s a weird vein of self-reveal
Giving people license to be themselves
When maybe who they are
Isn't great
Giving people license to not improve
But on the other hand,
letting people off the hook
Letting people take a break from hating themselves

So I can see a place on the lighter end of the spectrum of possible damage
where this level of self-delusion provides positives.
For a while

But

We need to look at our blankets
Examine them and toss them aside
They can be toxic
Gifts from bad people
Given to us to keep us weak
Given to us to keep us controlled
Given to us to kill us

We need to stand uncovered in the cold light of day
Clear, uncovered, and awake


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