What About Pilgrim’s Tradition?

There seem to be two dominant opinions towards the future, towards progress:

When I was young, (various cultural experience) was terrible and scarring; if I had to do it, then so should the kids.

Versus:

When I was young, (various cultural experience) was terrible and scarring; let’s stop doing that shit.

And it would be wrong, and glib, and dismissive to discount the first thought, because it is the first thought: “If I have to, you have to” is a primal and ancient undercurrent of human existence; it keeps things even, for the most part.

But you can take a deep breath and sit in a quiet room for a second and stop being primal. There’s not a need to tat every tit; we can choose to let a pitch go by, but I don’t know if that’s what people want anymore. It might be the exposure to more voices; it almost certainly is temporality bias (the time I live in is the most interesting); or, it could very well be the end of the world. Everything changes. Nothing lasts.

Cruelty is easier than compassion, and it is a quicker hit to the mainline. Life will become slick and your kindness will find no purchase; your attempts to help, to connect, to love will just bring humiliation and the blankets all to yourself. You can always makes someone feel bad, though. Set a goal, and follow through: I’m gonna ruin some fucker’s day. You could bat a thousand before lunch.

Let’s stop doing that shit.