In Defense of Defeatism
My first suggestion! Not exactly what I would ask for but suggestions aren't asked for. Let's get a little personal, shall we?
It's incredibly easy to give up, isn't it? Of course the hard road is obviously more difficult. Work. Effort. Time. Why bother? Why try? Are we afraid of failure, or success? Do we want to put the effort in at all? I say we, because I am very, very much part of this group. I am a defeatist at heart, apparently. Part of me knew this, but it was brought to the forefront by a friend, the same friend that suggested this piece. Keep in mind, I have no intention of changing. Nothing so far has led me to change my lifestyle, and a friend pointing it out won't make a difference. I, like most defeatists, or fatalists if you want to go there as well, are most likely waiting for a sign from God himself to change who they are, and nothing less will suffice.
Older people will attribute this to being a "Millennial" which is a tremendous amount of bullshit. How many public figures do you know that have a startup that is now worth billions of dollars? How many people can you list that have designed an app that changes your life? Calling people Millennials is grouping people into an almost bigoted section. Defeatism has nothing to do with being a Millennial. Defeatism is.. learned. There are two different types of defeatists: those that are privileged, and choose the ideal, and those that have forced it on themselves. You can be both, of course, but you still fall into the defeatist category. Let's dissect both. Privilege: the best example I can give you is Elliot Rodger. This boy was born into a life of privilege. Son of a producer of mainstream movies, driving a BMW, simply mad because he had no social skills to get him laid - and he wasn't an unattractive boy, not the best, but I've seen worse get fucked. The point is, even at his age, he was a defeatist, and the worst kind that ended in tragedy. Forced: these are the saddest cases. There are mild people: "Oh my art is so bad." when it's not. "Oh my writing is shit." when it's not. "Oh my music is terrible." when it's not. I fit into this category, specifically the second example. Personal story time, I spent ten years following and reinforcing an artist's ego to no avail, and it led me to heartbreak. I thought we were more than we were, and he did not. Perhaps his defeatism contributed to mine, but in any case, you have to throw your hands up and say "Enough." Part of this type of defeatism is a cry for attention, the other part is basically beating yourself up.
Defeatism is comfortable. It's easy to sit back and shake your head at what you have created, or what you're trying to accomplish. As I said before: the hard road is more difficult. It's simple to try and fail and shrug and give the fuck up. It's easy to turn to your friends and look for affirmation, because you know they'll give it, right or not. It's comfortable, it's soft and loving and easy. Easy. Defeat is easy, when it's brought about by you alone. Well this was god damned depressing, fuck taking requests. Did I defend defeatism or did I cure myself of it? What the fuck.
RG










