The Fragility Of Contemporary Warriors
Our daily life is heavily influenced by the ideology of war. Although physical battles sometimes appear, in reality, most of the time we fight those battles in the symbolic sphere. But they are no less ferocious for that. In reality, on many occasions we are conceived as warriors who defend their own life and personal fulfillment.
Western thought patterns gravitate to ideas like ambition, success, autonomy. The attributes of great warriors are valued: strength, courage, determination and overcoming adversity. Anything that sounds fragile is viewed with contempt. The downside is that this way of thinking comes at a high price.
Contemporary warriors
Today’s society asks us to have tough and resistant skin. Well, as they say, we are not going to achieve otherwise what the contemporary world orders us: to be successful. We are insisted that victory is reserved for the “strong”, those who are capable of fighting hard for their goals.
In principle, it is insisted that the battles are fought not against others, but against certain abstract aspects such as “adversity”, “will”, “circumstances” or similar concepts. But sooner rather than later, all those abstracts take shape in real people.
So we finally ended up fighting against people with our own names or against ourselves. Adversity is now “the boss”, or “the lender” or even “the brother”, “the spouse” or “the father” … Without even realizing it, we end up thinking and acting like warriors even in the areas that should be completely oblivious to that logic.
The counterpart of living as warriors is that we can’t do it without also incorporating a whole collection of everyday paranoia. Generally speaking, paranoia is defined as a fear of imaginary dangers. More specifically, the paranoid man invents persecutions, plots and damages that exist only in his mind.
These everyday paranoias lead us to see a world divided between friends and enemies. Allies or opponents. And since reality is viewed with so much tension, we also develop a strong overvaluation of autonomy: it is best not to depend on anyone, ever, for anything.
The high price of fear
The current battles are fought in the framework of many couples who fight each other to dominate or not to be dominated, rather than to love each other. Also in the workplace, where others are literally destroyed by gossip, scathing criticism or cheating.
Schools and even entertainment venues do not escape this undeclared war. Competition is frowned upon and schemes are aimed at putting the world on the winners and losers arena.
There are many people willing to overwhelm the world with their way of being, their ideas or their purposes. They exalt their self in everything they do. They set themselves as an example for everything, they want to be a model for something. The paranoid, in one way or another, feels the center of the world. That is why he imagines that others do not lose sight of him, envy him and want to hurt him.
That leads him to live in the midst of anxiety, fear … He is not able to build a relationship of genuine affection with anyone. This would alleviate his irrational fears, but it is impossible for him to lower his guard. A true warrior never does.
In order to enjoy life it is necessary to break the armor. If you do not recognize your weak points and accept them for what they are, a trace of humanity in you, you are condemned to live between war and the paranoia that it entails. Life will go away without having tasted the honeys of a spontaneous smile or a gratuitous act.
The downside is that this type of paranoia is profitable for the society in which we live. They lead people to work twelve continuous hours for several years, whether the prize is more money or an increase in social status. They also allow for competition among workers, rather than solidarity. It works perfect for a society that needs to produce more to earn more, it is not known exactly for what.
Image courtesy of katiew.
