What can you say to someone who finds themselves in this situation to make them at ease with it?
>There is an old Eastern fable about a traveler who is taken unawares on the steppes by a ferocious wild animal. In order to escape the beast the traveler hides in an empty well, but at the bottom of the well he sees a dragon with its jaws open, ready to devour him. The poor fellow does not dare to climb out because he is afraid of being eaten by the rapacious beast, neither does he dare drop to the bottom of the well for fear of being eaten by the dragon. So he seizes hold of a branch of a bush that is growing in the crevices of the well and clings on to it. His arms grow weak and he knows that he will soon have to resign himself to the death that awaits him on either side. Yet he still clings on, and while he is holding on to the branch he looks around and sees that two mice, one black and one white, are steadily working their way round the bush he is hanging from, gnawing away at it. Sooner or later they will eat through it and the branch will snap, and he will fall into the jaws of the dragon. The traveler sees this and knows that he will inevitably perish. But while he is still hanging there he sees some drops of honey on the leaves of the bush, stretches out his tongue and licks them. In the same way I am clinging to the tree of life, knowing full well that the dragon of death inevitably awaits me, ready to tear me to pieces, and I cannot understand how I have fallen into this torment. And I try licking the honey that once consoled me, but it no longer gives me pleasure. The white mouse and the black mouse – day and night – are gnawing at the branch from which I am hanging. I can see the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tastes sweet. I can see only one thing; the inescapable dragon and the mice, and I cannot tear my eyes away from them
>>8099916
just be yourself, bro
>>8099921
spittin truth desu
>>8099921
I think this is THE problem of the 20th and 21st century. No piece of literature is worth anything unless it says something about the issue contained in that fable.
Everything else is a distraction.
Living in the 21st century is like finding yourself in a store with all the money you'd need to buy anything you want, but finding that nothing in it is worth actually buying. What's the point of fighting for social or economic equality if even if you achieved it you'd still have nothing to live for? The presumption is that unhappiness exists because people lack the means to get what they want. I'd argue that unhappiness exists even where the means are plenty because there's a lack of goals worth pursuing.
just like that speech Kahn gives in King of the Hill at Buckley's funeral. Except whereas the honey doesn't comfort him here, the berries in Kahn's story were the tastiest the man had ever eaten.
I suppose the man in Kahn's story was able to appreciate the little things in life even as he stared into the abyss and his certain demise. I suppose that's all he could do, really.
>>8099972
I say this because I've noticed that this very profound problem of existence has crept into the lower strata of society. The problem arose, first of all, with the death of God, which means that it crept up among the intellectuals who tried to make sense of existence without thinking that there's something on the other side of the abyss, viz., heaven. These were the greats of the 19th and 20th century. As time went on, even the plebs have started to catch on to the problem, and you see this same problem finding it's expressing in low brow works of art--I mean, in the productions of plebs. I've seen a lot of movies where this problem becomes the central focus. A lot of TV shows too. You mentioned King of the Hill. I've seen it in Rick and Morty, Simpsons, Futurama, even Sponge Bob for fuck's sake.
The solution of the problem has historically been God, but that's no longer an answer today or tomorrow. So what do we do? What have we done? I'd argue that we've all began to feel this itch, but we've gone about scratching it in the wrong way.
Energies have been, and are being, spent in the direction of justice. We've interpreted the problem in a moralistic way. We've presumed that the abyss is a product of injustice, hence we've also reasoned that to the extent that we can eliminate injustice from the world, we can also eliminate the discomfort of having to stare into the abyss. If we can only bring about that utopic -ism state of affairs, then the problem will disappear. If only each gave according to their abilities and each received according to their needs, then...! If only the Jewish subterrenean influence were eradicated from the world, then...! If only the patriarchy were destroyed, then...!
If only.
If you have a thorn in your ass, your butt won't be any less sore from scratching your head.
>>8099916
What work is this from?
How do I start with Tolstoy?
>>8099945
>with all the money you'd need to buy anything you want
Not really, it's as you described, but first you have to slave your life away to buy just a few items.
Glad you've been born into privilege though, might want to check it every now and then.
>>8099916
Tolstoy was an old fart who spent most of his life not wanting to admit that babby's first Middle Eastern cult was a load of intellectually and morally stifling garbage.
He was a good writer, though.
>>8099945
>finding yourself in a store with all the money you'd need to buy anything you want
I wish
>>8099945
>What's the point of fighting for social or economic equality
equality in and of itself is a shit-tier goal and you should be ashamed of yourself
