I remember when a friend of mine had some news he wanted to tell his inner circle. He decided to start a business and the responses were overwhelmingly positive except for one comment. It wasn’t that bad but it was disguised, sly, hidden and subtle. The comment was “Well done, hopefully you’ll make some money”. I felt it was in bad taste because he implied that he was doing this for the money. He shifted the focus of the news of starting the business to making money.
The comment was passive aggressive. That is what cognitive dissonance is about. Saying one thing and doing another. It is poisonous praise. It is being conflicted, it is being split into two, it is confusing, it is inconsistent. Like God loving us and sending us to hell. What a suspect anology Christianity.
I think that passive aggressive language and behavior works so much because it is indirect and leaves much to the imagination. Being passive aggressive is popular today. Like that one person who always comes late for meetings and always apologizes, like “alright man we get it, you superior to all of us”. Or that one guy who takes an eternity to respond to your texts despite the fact that his been online all day, we see the power play my man.
Deep narcissists are masters of passive aggressive behavior. They want to keep you dependent on them. They are deluded because we always see what they are doing. They think they are clever and slick but we see. Everyone knows a deep narcissist.
Carl Jung has taught me to accept people as they are, accept them as facts, don’t take things personally because we are all repressed and we tend to project on to people a lot. We also have shadows and biases. Being a human being is hard work.
The Underground Railroad series by Barry Jenkins is a masterpiece. It is uncomfortable, disturbing, difficult and painful. The depiction of slavery is earth shattering! Its so raw, exposed and unapologetic. The imagery evokes the feeling of dread and fear. The oppression is heavy as a 10 ton truck and the situation is just hopeless – it is what it is. Slavery is the most horrific event that has ever occurred in our history. It’s so barbaric and lacks any conscience. Our ancestors had it bad. It was brutal. From the whips that devour your bloody mince meat back. To the fires that consume the body turning it to a coal. The total disregard for human life is heartbreaking. How are you better than me as a human being because your hue is diluted? Why are you offended by my melanin tone? Why do you have to humiliate me and disregard my right to life? Why is your God prejudice and so selective? We see characters lose hope – it’s difficult not to lose hope, optimism is like aircon in hell. We witness suicide, we see hunger devouring the very essence of a man leading him to his death. Cause what’s the use? Why eat? For what? For who? I am tired of laboring in the name of slavery. I have made my peace with the Lord, they can’t do anything to my soul no more. They don’t care about you, you just a nigger, an animal with no reasoning faculties, genetically built to serve the white man. You just mere property like tools and we need you to procreate so we can sell your children to turn a profit. Don’t tell me about love, niggers don’t have that capacity, this is strictly mechanical and a white man will be present watching you as you lay pipe. You can’t even run away, they chase after you and once caught punishment in the form of flesh eating whips awaits. Suicide is difficult, you are always monitored, all they want is a daily dose of your spirit like concentrated syrup until it runs out. The hangings, the violence, the killings, the hate, the ignorance, the fear, the horror, the suffering, oh the suffering, each scene was like a dagger to my soul. It never got better too, the good hearted characters who assisted the protagonist on her journey always died horrific deaths because slave owners always win and slavery is justified. The good and heartwarming scenes never last, there’s always a shadow that ultimately engulfs the protagonists present turning her world into disarray and scrambling for survival.
I was relieved when Cora shot dead Ridgeway, he was a bad man and I hated him like a recurring nightmare. I don’t understand the hate in his heart, his father did his best to show him the way. We are all one, we are one spirit, try to see yourself in another person. Yes, there is a order and everybody has a role but what about your humanity? Why do you have to conform to the norm when you are haunted by it’s conditions? Maybe I will never understand, maybe he had a slave catcher mentality and being an observer of the series, I will never quite understand that psychology. I would have shot Homer dead too. To many times in the story he has been the difference. He is a loose end, he knows too much. Granted he was under Ridgeway’s frame and had to serve him but he was complicit, he knew what he was doing. He even committed murder to save Ridgeway. Still I understand the decision to spare his life, Cora didn’t have any beef with him and if she killed him she would be hanged and this time around the killing wouldn’t be justified. I feel sorry for Homer now that Ridgeway is dead cause what’s he going to do now? He is just a nigger kid, how’s he going to survive? He was dependent on Ridgeway in more ways than one. He was like a father to him. How’s he going to navigate the world alone? He is going to have to regress to a slave to make it through, now isn’t that poetic justice? Isn’t killing Homer mercy? Maybe not, we all deserve a chance at life and he is resourceful, just maybe he’ll be okay. Cora has showed us its possible time and time again.
I salute the makers of the craft, Barry Jenkins and his team delivered an absolute masterclass. I imagine it was difficult creating that, the mental strength required to play the role of Cora cannot be underestimated. Full credit to Thuso Mbedu for delivering perfection. I am pretty sure she had support, a psychiatrist, psychologist or some sort of professional had to be on site at all times. Playing a character with so much depth can be scaring and psychologically distressing. Who knows what’s hidden in the deep recesses of your subconscious. She had to go to dark places and inhabit them. She had to disconfigure herself and willingly go under the sword. She had to combat the shadows that were well hidden by time. She faced the monsters in her closet. She captured the essence of being a slave. She was a slave. She is just an amazing artist. But it’s not just her, everyone performed at such a high level. Unbelievably there was no weak link, everyone was a solid 10. The visuals, the pictures, the camera work, the slow motion takes, the deliberate use of silence, the costumes, the score, music and soundtracks, the fire, the singing, the slaves, the sets, the characters, the actors, the brutality, the violence, the beats, the dialogue, the sequences and the overall story – it is content on another level. The genocide scene at Indiana was hard but expected now that we were so late into the story, you can never really trust these white folks, they have never been friends, I was disgusted but not surprised by their actions, nothing they did surprised me anymore. Watching the show I became pessimistic and cynical, I learned true human nature. It was a difficult story to tell and execute and they excelled with flying colors.
To create something of significance and value, you need a tribe or community of people pulling in one direction. They don’t have to share blood, heritage or anything binding biologically, they just have to be like-minded. I like the example of Henry Ford. What he did with the automobile industry was amazing. In that time, cars were available but they were expensive and reserved for the wealthy and affluent. Henry Ford had a dream of making the automobile affordable for the average American. He came to the realization that he would need economics of scale to mass produce and save costs. The revolutionary thinking never stopped there. Essentially he started Capitalism by getting investors involved and creating the assembly line. The Ford company started mass producing cars but he also realized sales would be slow if there wasn’t a system in place. He created the modern 9-5 work week. This way employees would produce the vehicles mid-week and purchase them on the weekend. It was a success.
Ford grew and made money for his investors. I think that’s a beautiful example of Capitalism, that’s where everything started. I think the socialist economy is cool too. Countries like Sweden are beautifully run. There’s a lot of peace of mind considering everyone has access to the best schools, hospitals and other facilities. Systems like that guarantee peace of mind. Of course it can go bad like it did in the 20th century but I see a lot of positives. It’s a fair and just system. The only problem I see is parting with 50-60% of my income tax.
I also like what Mark Zuckerberg did with Facebook. I love the culture he instilled in the company. I love how clear their vision is “make the world more open”. Essentially to connect everyone in the world. To help him in his cause, he got the best people by his side. Today Facebook has over 2 billion active users. That’s powerful, it all started with a tribe, a community of students.
Steve Jobs once said “the customer doesn’t know what he wants until you show it to him”. His point was that you must create a need and simultaneously fill it. The sentiment that no one really knows anything has been around for millennia. Nassim Taleb explores thoroughly this on his book “The black swan”, which I highly recommend. The book explores unpredictability, once off events and biases. The internet for example is a black swan event because no one could have predicted it prior to the 20th century. The Covid pandemic is another black swan event, nothing like this has ever happened before, it literally stopped life! We didn’t know what to do or how to react. If you had asked people in Henry Fords time what they wanted, they would have replied a faster horse. How about a horse that won’t die if you don’t feed it or leave it out in the cold? This is the genius of the automobile. To know what people want is to know what you want. I want a great product or service that will serve my needs. I want great customer service. I want ease of use and I want convenience. I want service, care and respect. If you can fill those needs, I am a customer. A big innovation might make your offering popular but what I listed are the fundamentals. If you can do the fundamentals really well, you can attract a lot of customers. This doesn’t require market research. Of course, I am governed by biaes and they dictate my life but human nature still rules. If you can understand people’s motivations, that is, people are narcissists and think the world revolves around them, you will do well in business. Cater to the narcissist in the best way possible, this is a psychological urge everyone yearns for – “Just make me feel special, that’s all I want. Make me feel good!”, that is what people want.
We grow up. Time lapses. We wrinkle. We lose our youth. We lose our wit. The neon lights lose their intensity. We assume old age. We get trapped in old memories. We replay our regrets. We forget to love. We are forgotten. Seasons change. The stars change their locations. Life goes on. We plant seeds. Those seeds metastasize and create offsprings. We are retired. No one cares about us anymore. The beauty vanishes. The enthusiasm wanes. The smiles turn to frowns. The bones stultify. We are wrapped in a loop. Boredom cripples our souls. Distance prevails. Nothing matters anymore. We are rueful, so many could haves, so many should haves, unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. We become wiser. We learn patience. We become compassionate. We become kind. We practice love and preach it like a Gospel. We learn to be humble and appreciate the magnificence of life. I used to love you but what I loved is dead buried in the past. You were a moment of weakness, my repressed desires of longing, my projected image played out like a halogram, a period in deaths graveyard. I am not sure I’d feel the same way now, we different people, with different values influenced by phenomena in different cultures. I’ll never forget you Countess Olenska, you were once what I wanted most.
She used to be someone important to me, my inspiration in a world dulled out by grayscale, she was the color that brightened by landscape, the portrait I held in high esteem. I used to love her, at times she was all that I thought about. I used to fantasize about our life together and how we’d be so happy, the fairytale life completed by the beautiful stife. I thought we were destined to be together but I was wrong. We were simply the lyrics that never made the song. I blame myself, I get carried away and build sandcastles in the sky, with no base, no foundation. I made her up in my mind and she came alive and took up a role that soothed what was lacking in my life. She was a lie, a work of fiction and I didn’t know what was real anymore. Her theatricalies and antics took over my life and dominated my outlook on life, she inspired me, gave me new eyes to which I could gaze over the world like an astronaut, she was out of this world! My muse, I loved her but she loved somebody else so we could never be. Time passes by like an illusion and she has a life, a family and responsibilities. The cloak of invisibility disappeared and what remained was the disappointing truth, she ceased being my muse. She served better to my life as a construct, an ideal, a symbol. I used to love her but now I don’t.
Outliers are the best people in the world because they are individuated in one particular skill. They are the masters of their crafts. They see things a bit different. They are passionate. They are enthusiastic about life and they have a lot of fun. People like Lionel Messi, considered the greatest soccer player of all time. 7 Ballon D’ors, 6 European Golden boots for his goalscoring exploits, 9 La Liga Golden boots, the only football player ever to win the Laureus best sportsman of the year award. The most goals scored in a calendar year 91. The most goals in a season 73. The most most goals in a league season 50. More national goals than Pele. The player with the most trophies, free-kick goalscoring records, assists and other countless and impossible records and achievements to break. Leo Messi, a great man. Thank God for Messi.
Outliers are people who work hard to perfect their crafts. They horn them and perfect them. They dedicate labor, love and a lot care for their crafts. They have attained mastery by dedicating more 10 000 hours of focus and dedication. Outliers engage in deliberate practice every day dedicating more than 4 hours to the crafts even when they don’t feel like it. They are disciplined and never make excuses. They are humanity’s best.
Negotiating with niggas don’t work, sometimes you gotta take what you want by force. If you swelling up nigga then we can combat, let’s go! Being nice with niggas don’t work, sometimes you gotta invade their privacy and haunt their subconscious minds. By being a recurring nightmare that’s how you get their attention. Showing compassion to niggas don’t work, they’ll think you weak and will take advantage of your kindness. They take you for granted, that’s why sometimes you gotta rearrange faces and deliver that punt kick. Complimenting and showing love to niggas don’t work, you supplying the ego and fuelling their narcissistic tendencies, that’s why sometimes you gotta deliver that low-blow to cut them down to size. Sometimes you gotta start a war and crush a nigga. Finish the job, no second chances, no apologies, pull the trigger aiming for that headshot. Don’t show compassion, the time for talking and politics is over, it’s all about casualties, missiles, bullets and bombed up infrastructure. Sometimes you gotta be a terrorist to prove a point. I don’t mind being the bad guy, the world needs a Vladimir Putin. Are you going to retreat or die for what you believe in? Don’t show your teeth to niggas, that’s a sign of submission, a mean mug works best. Going the extra mile for a nigga is pure stupidity, if you want loyalty get a dog. My advice is just don’t be too nice to niggas.
Why you controlling alcohol my nigga? Is it your way to measure your worth? Does it give you superpowers, the ability to run through walls? Maybe it does, after all it numbs your pain and makes you feel like superman. Maybe you can fly, add that with some weed and you’ll definitely be high, floating through the clouds and landing on the moon, transfixed and intoxicated by the view of the globe. Maybe alcohol makes you feel like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, maybe it offers a blueprint for reaching Mars, the red planet, the promise of a different existence. Did I hit the nail on top of the head? Make me understand please. Why you controlling alcohol my nigga? Is it greed? You want to finish the whole bottle? Or maybe alcohol is a natural resource that’s on its last legs. Oh I get it, you bought it and so must rule over it like a dictator imposing oppressive legislature. If that’s the case drink alone my nigga, don’t make everybody an accessory. How am I doing? Is the nail in? Please help me understand. Why you controlling alcohol my nigga? Is it a magical concoction that slows down the aging process? Does it guarantee eternal youth? Why you hiding the bottles my nigga? Is alcohol the secret of immortality? Will it magically make all your problems disappear? Maybe it will, after all too much consumption does lead to a blackout.
Relax, everyone is having a good time. Suspend your urge to control, the effects of alcohol are only temporary and you piss it out in either case. Is it wise to alienate and severe relations for a fleeting experience? Why not use alcohol as an agent to connect and unite people? Why hog all the superpowers that it gives to you? Why not let everyone lift-off to Mars without any restrictions? Why not give everyone the magical concoction of youth and immortality? Why not give everyone the gift of forgetting? Is it because of economical reasons? Then drink alone and save costs. Don’t overwhelm us with your problems and financial burdens. We are connecting and having fun, don’t bore us. Don’t be the guy who controls alcohol my nigga.
antakalipa 