Some pigs are better than others

One thing that I’ve noticed that’s changed from when I was younger is that I’m genuinely no longer threatened by people living lives different from mine anymore. That is, I’m not threatened by simply knowing that there are other people out there doing things differently, or believing different things, or simply finding solace or reassurance in things that I think are completely unfounded in reality or foolish. I haven’t stopped feeling that they’d be foolish for me; I just realize that it probably fills a gap in their lives. If there’s no harm, then live and let live.

Different StrokesI sometimes feel that people feel like they need to re-educate me to get me to stop doing what I’m doing or thinking what I’m thinking, not because they think I’m wrong, necessarily, but because even thinking about an alternative to what they already know seems like too much work or is too threatening. If I think what they’re doing or thinking is damaging, then I’ll possibly tell them and try to convince them otherwise. But if they just have a different view of e.g. risk than I do … then what do I care? Go ahead and die at 50. Go ahead and eat all that sugar. Climb that sheer rock face. Drown yourself in highly caffeinated energy drinks.

And why do we believe that a society should make people have to change? If they’re happy and useful where they are, then why should they have to try to be something different?

Like, why does a poor lady who everyone loves and who works at a diner have to try to get a better job someday? What is wrong with being a waitress? Why is the answer always to change, to try to achieve something supposedly “better”? We need all of these people, many of them much more than those doing so-called in jobs that are supposedly “better”.

I’m so happy for anyone I meet in a restaurant who seems to like their job. Why shouldn’t they be told they can be satisfied with that? Why do they have to try to become the manager? They are goddamned awesome at waiting tables. Why does our society not have an answer for them that doesn’t involve desperation at best and grinding poverty at worst?

Because that’s why they need her to get a better job—because they’ve long since internalized that certain jobs are not paid anything close to a living wage. You know, those jobs that we wouldn’t dream of calling “professions”. Instead of reimagining a world in which everyone were compensated in an equitable manner, in which useful jobs were compensated fairly and not with the absolute minimum that someone might expect when they’ve been thrown into the gladiator arena of a job market where those with power and leverage take the largest slice for themselves, despite contributing the least.

This is an elitist attitude where those with unearned privilege need everyone to believe thier fairy tales about how they think the world works. If the masses stop believing these fairy tales, they might rise up and make some changes.