Evil today and other stuff

I watched The Social Network on the flight back to the university. It made exactly the impression on me that I had predicted: an intensification of the already deep loathing and contempt I have for Dat Social Networking Site. I have not analyzed the movie or my feelings very deeply (I tend not to analyze feelings very deeply, which is probably not the most rational thing to do), so all I can offer now are half-formed expressions and vague thoughts, and the reader (if any) must forgive me for that. I dislike Dat Man even more than I did before. I certainly hope young people are not encouraged to think him a role model - he is unsuitable to be a role model. He is worse than amoral, he is a monster.

And the other stuff, the stuff that I promised in the title - there is none, because I'm a fucking liar. Actually, I don't bethink myself a liar. I try to be as truthful as I can; but I am not as steadfastly moral as others. I am not horrified by the idea of lying, as long as it not harm anyone or be pathological. Rigid self-discipline is something that appeals to me only in theory. I think it would be impossible to sustain it in the real world; and if one succeeded in sustaining it, one would not be the better for it. Indeed, there are probably dozens of people in the world today who practice rigid self-discipline and uphold noble ideals. But we don't hear of them, and they rarely play any part in shaping the world. That argument - if it be an argument - presupposes that being influential is desirable.

I suppose Dat Man (alluded to in the first paragraph) also desires to be influential. And what a man he is! I would rather lead a simple, comfortable life, pursuing knowledge about the world, and working honestly in whatever profession I choose once I have enough knowledge to make a considered decision, surrounded by friends and kin - not influential, perhaps, not well known - but happy. And that's coming from someone whose thoughts and manner have unconsciously given his friends the impression that he is a cold, emotionless sociopath.

I have let the cat out of the bag, it seems. I have confessed to not being ambitious; and such a confession is tantamount in today's world to an admission that one is content with mediocrity and the status quo. Far from it. Though I don't like committing myself to an ideology, I am sympathetic to libertarians and laissez-faire capitalists (though I also think they are right who say that there ought to be some minimum level of protection for the poor, so that they are not left to languish in such squalid states as are impossible for people to imagine who have not experienced it themselves), because they are pragmatic. They are not blinded by weird, creepy ideals about community and kinship. I don't think people are capable of loving everyone as they love their family and friends; and I think any claims to the contrary are to be regarded with suspicion.

Few things frighten me more than insincere emotion. The image of the family that seems blisfully happy on the exterior, but false and stiff when one looks closely. Self-delusion is frightening.