I Was Just Trying to Help

Let’s explore some of the implications of the Doctrine of Leverage and all my blather about Christlike charity and moral sacrifice. We understand the necessity of standing back and suffering the empathy of those who hurt without taking action because we can only give what we have, and only what the other will take from us. It hurts, but that’s how God works in this world.

You can’t fix stupid, and in many ways, Western Civilization is hopelessly stupid. If you steel yourself for the worst, it won’t drive you insane when the worst shows up on your doorstep. Sooner or later, it will be there.

The title of this post is the last tangled end of a horrific mess. We know instinctively it is wrong, but may not have consciously thought out how it is a mere fig leaf over the nastiest funk to ever infest the earth.

The Anglo-Saxon roots of our Western society has “blessed” us with a filthy grade of arrogance. That arrogance is merely a harsh fulfillment of childish anger at having no clue how things work, and a petulant refusal to learn. Instead, we are taught to demand and demand and fight until we force reality to act in accordance with our whims. That there are conflicting lessons that moderate that tendency does not wipe it out, but serves only to drive it into the shadows where it lurks ready to pounce.

Meanwhile, the arrogant rage sneaks out in all sorts of ridiculous disguises. This perverts what little good will our human nature still retains after the Fall. We seek to palliate our mixed desires by insisting on helping people who don’t want it. They don’t want it because they suffer the same arrogance that drives us to help. It’s this thing of “my shit is better than yours.”

Ancient Anglo-Saxon nobles would prove their greatness by extravagance, even to the point of bankrupting themselves. But unlike the more noble ANE version of the same ethic — sacrifice because this world really doesn’t matter — the Anglo-Saxon version is pure hubris. They won’t remain in poverty long. They’ll just go out and steal it from someone else tomorrow.

This is what’s behind our false ethic of, “I can do it by myself; I don’t need your help!” It’s also behind the companion false ethic of, “Well I say you need my help and you damn well better take it!” It’s childish competition.

So we have a large weight of bullshit we must wade through when those in authority rush to defend the old, “Well, I was just trying to help.” There was no sacrificial love whatsoever in that help. Instead, it was the arrogant insistence that the helper is surely superior to the one they tried to help, and damn you for pointing that out. It does little good to try explaining most of the time because nobody has any sincere interest in understanding why it causes tension. They’d rather enjoy the drama and reinforce the ugliness in Western culture.

Get ready, because it’ll be knocking on your door again today.