I have stressed before that the yardstick of progress relates foremostly to the health of the population, and by health I refer not to fad diets but to something more holistic, encompassing not just physical health and beauty but that which is mental, emotional and ‘spiritual’. As much as I would like for this to be a straightforward matter, I am more sensible than to expect that this will be without debate, as people hold to varying ideals, and as so, each division is responsible for maintaining an open dialogue as to the perspective that each participant holds regarding progress and how it is defined. More important than being “right” or “wrong” is that each participant shows discernment and the ability to step outside the standards and examine all things from a more objective and detached angle, since not everything labeled as ‘tradition’ is outdated and irrelevant, like not everything labeled as ‘progressive’ is actually progressing us in the right direction (and vice versa), and we will require some degree of cognitive autonomy to be able to see past all the colors and associations which decorate the social consciousness to evaluate everything on its own merits and in line with its own potential for health and harm.

Our collective vision is philosophically and logistically complex, and to achieve this new design will sometimes require us to think in ways that may be labeled ‘unprogressive’ or even nit-picky in the eyes of the undiscerning. Sometimes when all of your friends are burping out vape clouds and swearing up and down that it is an innocuous alternative to whatever they think they could be doing instead, you have to be the one to abstain, acknowledging that its long-term effects on the body have yet to be studied. As an example it sounds somewhat silly—especially given how little the average individual actually cares about bringing harm upon their body and mind—though it nonetheless illustrates my point, and I fear that a lot of what we consider to be progress in the current hour is, in fact, setting us back in our awareness and psychoemotional health. It is not a far-fetched conclusion, considering that ‘health’ is far from being the priority of our trusted manufacturers who often seem to care more about profit margins and private parties. May we one day have the ability to distinguish between progress and newness; and may it occur to us that that which does not benefit humanity does not constitute progress, but perversion and regression at best. May we know this, and may we know it so well that the alternative seems to us as sick and unsound as it truly is. That is my prayer to a truant god.

As for me, I harbor my own personal concerns and grievances which may not resonate with all and therefore I make note of them without any attempt at enforcing them.

For one, I am deeply concerned by the degree to which the entertainment industry is cashing in on and deepening our collective romanticization of sociopathy, serial killers and inhumanity withal; and I worry that it goes beyond basic greed and ties in with the agendas of certain high profile sociopaths (with which the corporate world is perfuse... even as my phrasing tends to sound conspiratorial) to tenderize the image of these cold, abusive individuals. Moreover, I am deeply concerned to think that new generations are being bred to see romance and fascination in those who abuse and endanger them. What does this say about our current landscape that we are susceptible to such conditioning and what will it mean for our human relationships going forward?

Additionally, I am concerned by the degree to which our population has become reliant on entertainment—fiction in particular—and the subtle ways in which that reliance is affecting our perception of reality, weakening not only our expectations but our responses to the world which stands before us. I don’t think that the modern individual can appreciate how new of a development this really is. Yea, we’ve always had our plays and our books and our fables and games, yet until only a few decades ago, such things were luxuries on par with holiday excursions and not within arms reach at all hours of the day. And surely the masses are going to come down hard on anyone scrutinizing their play time, especially when most persons have nothing more to live for (or so they persist in telling themselves) than their mindless and incessant escapes into fantasy. This has undoubtedly factored into my approach to Comprachicos and its more mythopoetic components, willing that the population should one day come to look upon its own nature with all the same fervor that they now look upon their fictions. As the body of society comes under attack by sickness it naturally turns to a more unhealthy set of interests in seeking catharsis and/or in an attempt to normalize, justify and dare I say romanticize the sickness with which it is afflicted. It forms a dangerous cycle and we must do all we can to avoid such normalization and romanticization, even if it means existing in a state of agitation for which there is no immediate pacification. And so there shouldn’t be, as ‘negative’ emotions exist in the first place to make us aware of an issue; a threat to our existence.

Highly opinionated though I am, I do not recommend or support any attempts to police the people and restrict their activities. As was aforesaid: the use of force only creates imbalances in the fabric of our being without ever actually solving the problem on the level of the psyche. Consider the cigarette: there are many who smoked cigarettes prior to the spread of information regarding its harmful effects who might not have taken up the habit in the first place had they been aware of these effects on their health and well-being. Conversely, you also have a lot of people who don’t really care and aren’t deterred by the reality and that’s their choice and I’m not in the business of making their choices for them. I only care that all of the information is out in the open so that people can make informed decisions and it must thus be taken into account that in every age our trends will manage to outpace our scientific studies, wherefore we must actively exercise our own discernment over that which we allow into our hearts, minds and bodies.

I say all of this in anticipation of the fact that my philosophies will naturally attract those who think and feel as I do and I only want to make sure that I have expressed my thoughts on how to go about handling such matters appropriately. Almost all issues can be resolved—and agreeably so—by the relevantization, normalization, universalization and prioritization of emotional intelligence and self-awareness among our population, and anyone who views these means as a threat really ought to examine that which they defend so aggressively. And when it concerns the application of necessary force, all force must be applied to steering and/or diminishing the underlying associations rather than to separating the population from its still active desires. In other words, if you see an individual or group taking part in unhealthy behaviors—let’s say smoking a cigarette, if to continue with the previous analogy—you do not tackle the situation by infringing upon their rights and agency but through shifting the underlying associations which are perpetuated by society in association with this particular habit until they have been stripped of all appeal.

These are all matters that are generally labeled non-issues by the public at large and therefore I expect naught but resistance and mockery when expressing my distaste for these and their potential ramifications on our collective health. Yet this is the responsibility of the outlier: to catch the errors that the others missed and to bring it to their attention; and while I won’t seek to convince you of anything in this case, I must caution you all with the reminder that by the time the shadow is realized to be a mugger it is already too late; and so in protecting our collective health we must raise our barrels to the shadows all the same—the shape whereof is still indeterminate and bears all the potential of the worst threat in having not had its nature and influence studied in full. I speak thus not of fear and paranoia but a responsible discernment.

Again, these very specific grievances may not resonate with you, though I do hope that I have inspired you to examine your own environment and the elements to which you have become accustomed. One of the rarest and most valued abilities known to humankind is the ability to take a step back from all that we understand of who we are and what is taking place around us and question the sense of these things that are commonplace and rote, being seen and acted upon in every day of our lives. Very few individuals, it would seem, contain such an ability at the level to where they are capable of pulling this off without suffering some type of freak-out. It says naught about skill or intelligence, but relates to paradigms (and paradigm locks) and therefore seems best helped by humility and determination, as opposed to standard avenues of learning.