Have You Considered How Much Effort it Takes to Remain a Toxic A*****e?

When you take a step back and examine the insanity we have to deal with, it’s mind-boggling that toxic, conservative jerks have managed to install themselves as the rulers of the world.It always starts out the same, they come marching into the room all full of themselves. They recklessly knock over precious items leaving them to shatter into a million fragments on the floor. When they recognize the destruction they’ve created, they point and laugh and ridicule you for your sense of loss.All of that is bad enough, but that’s just the beginning. The part that makes this malicious, is that these toxic, self-absorbed a******s are extremely sensitive about their own feelings. They have fragile little egos. They demand to be “respected.” They have to see themselves as “winners.” So they dedicate the sum total of their life’s labor to exploit their fellow human beings.They bleed us dry, and they think they have a right to do so.Their mindset is astonishingly complex and deceitful. They have layers upon layers of self-delusion. The whole structure is so ridiculous that it would take an astonishing amount of brainpower to map it all out. The final result would look like a fever dream from M.C. Escher.The manipulators depend on this. They want us cowed and terrified. They want us frustrated to the point where we throw our hands into the air and say, “Fine, have it your way.”To which they reply, “I will have it my way thank you very much.”But we shouldn’t lose fact that their initial choice is to make being detestable their fundamental identity. They think it’s funny that they’re awful. They find laughter in the misfortune of others. They never even consider stopping to help. They just stomp along leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Everything they ruin is something they claim as a trophy or further fodder for their fragile self-image.These awful people are weaklings, and they only get away with it because we all become conditioned to not even recognize them. Living with them is like living with a boil. You’re aware it’s there. It is vaguely uncomfortable, but really you just want it to go away.But again, this is not where our malicious tormentors stop, not even close. Remember, their first decision is to make themselves detestable. Once that choice has been made, they will absolutely refuse to change it. But because they need constant support for their fragile self-esteem, they insist on gathering up the company of others.As a consequence of their first choice, they already know that nobody will voluntarily endure them. So, they become wholly committed to depriving others of their basic autonomy. They do this as instinctively as if they were breathing, and they never waste a single second pausing to contemplate the morality of their actions.It’s not so much that they’re deliberately choosing evil, it’s more that they don’t bother to consider it.We live in a society that has this ideology as its fundamental mechanism. We all know that this is the only country in the world where white supremacists stomp into schools with military grade weapons to murder thousands of children every year. Yet, our collective response as a society is to go, “meh…”“Meh?” Are you f*****g kidding me?“Well, that would happen anywhere.”It doesn’t though. It literally doesn’t.The United States is beholden to a concept of a toxic, patriarchal, traditional family. This is despite the fact that most children who endure sexual abuse have to survive the attacks of their own fathers.Adult women are most in danger of suffering attacks from their spouses, and boyfriends. After that its fathers, brothers, uncles, grandparents, cousins.Yet, despite all this, the media pressures us to spend time with people we know to be toxic. If you try to ghost your horrible family, the casual observer will claim that you are the one who has somehow done something wrong.“You only have one father.”“Yeah, well, one has been too many for me.”Again, there’s this fundamental model at work where people believe it’s acceptable to be an awful human being. Why wouldn’t they think that? We elect unquestionably terrible men into the highest office of the land. But because these are pathetic individuals who spend their lives disguising the fragility of their own pitiful egos, they spend their lives insisting that our memories are flawed. They waste their energy attempting to make us doubt having seen proof of their essentially corrupt character.“That never happened. You must be mistaken.”It’s almost unbelievable that they do this. It’s astonishing that they can get away with it. Rather than just work hard and show some character and actually achieve something, they instead spend all their efforts forcing the people in their sphere to deny the evidence of their own senses.And somehow, more often than not, they actually succeed?You’d think this would be an easy bubble to burst. You’d think all the downtrodden people in this country would be happy to rise up from the muck and demand a better social ideology.But I guess the mass of human beings are content to lead lives of quiet desperation. They’ve been given mud bedding, and now that they’ve snuggled in and warmed up the waters, they’re reluctant to move away.So, this is our task. We have to make the people rise. We have to encourage our fellow citizens to trust the evidence of their own eyes. We have to disregard the squeals of our tormentors as they’re finally treated to a double portion of accountability.Why should our children always be the ones who are punished for the mistakes of our oppressors?You’d think this would be an easy trend to reverse.You’d think.You all make this newsletter happen! Thanks for your sponsorship! I have payment tiers starting at as little as twenty dollars a year.Upgrade at 30% offUpgrade at 40% offUpgrade at 50% offUpgrade at 60% offI’m so happy you’re here, and I’m looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you tomorrow.My CoSchedule referral linkHere’s my referral link to my preferred headline analyzer tool. If you sign up through this, it’s another way to support this newsletter (thank you).I'd Rather Be Writing is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to I'd Rather Be Writing at walterrhein.substack.com/subscribe