# 19: Why I'm a Radical Humanist
humanism
hu·man·ism
: devotion to human welfare
: a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.
American Humanist Association
radical
rad·i·cal
: very different from the usual or traditional : extreme
: favoring extreme changes in existing views, habits, conditions, or institutions
Miriam Webster
Contrary to what might be commonly accepted, kindness is slowly devolving into a flaw rather than a virtue. Sure, there is still good. People shake hands, hug, bulk order coffee for the office, but how often is this seen as the norm rather than an exception? Are we all actors, who put on smiley faces in public to hide our frightened, anxious personas, just as we juxtapose an stage actor’s persona in a play versus in public. They are almost different people.
Ask yourself: “How often do I yell in traffic?” Or “How many Facebook posts do I see a day that piss me off?” Numbers could be low, but the fact is that it is still a daily occurrence to most people. Every day in action small and grand, one prioritizes themself above all others. Anything that challenges this perception is a threat.
No one is as they seem.
People fantasize about the other through a selfish lens. “Why aren’t I as successful?” “Why do they not think the way I do?” “Who are they to complain?” Fantasies and ignorant assumptions.
It is easy to point a finger as the root of what ails you. In this climate, the logical pinpoint is another group of people highlighted with a little bit of aid from a regal, zealous spokesperson. Misguidance and division is a great tool to dissolve our humanity.
I hope you can agree that we are all humans. One could write enough papers and books about the struggle for marginalized people to fill the Library of Babylon. This is not a piece about the histories of said conflicts, about God or who is right, but as to why we divide ourselves in the information age. And how we can come together.
So why do I call humanism a radical idea?
Let me paint a picture.
Have you ever felt useless? Anything you might do will change nothing, you won’t be remembered for your actions. You fear you will leave no impact. It is a lonely existence. You are too flustered by changing the same tire over and over again while life, friends, joy swim by. Selfishness, it seems, is the logical conclusion.
We make ourselves the most important person in the room, instigated by fear of pain and weaponizing the flood of negativity in online spaces as validation for self-centeredness. Validation comes in many forms and is only expanding. “Othering” people, a subliminal form of victimization and dehumanization, generally takes root for sensible reason: we are hurt and seek a reason. It has fallen to a point where AI has sinisterly taken root in our ways of socialization. There is not a zero percent chance that you may come across someone who considers ChatGPT to be their best friend.
The obvious conclusion is to dive head-first into reactionary thought. We need change now, not tomorrow.
I love creating stories in my head. Am I not a writer? My dream is to either write a great script, or be able to tell my little sister a story before she goes to bed. In that way I envy the great unknown of pedestrians walking by me in the street. If I lack inspiration for a story, people watching is a common practice I fall back to. It can be done anywhere, from your porch, a park bench, a cafe, a movie theater. What lies behind the eyes of the man almost hit after jaywalking? The retiree walking five-plus dogs? The person across the room looking at a laptop in turmoil?
If you stop, watch, and listen, I came to realize that I truly understood no one, no matter how long I waited.
Is that not brilliant? Nothing feels more right.
Judgement and comparing is often the first instinct that storms in your head. Who are they compared to me? Am I better? Can I be?
Conner O’Malley, arguably the only comedian that matters, is one of those people I can’t stop watching, but can never share or let anyone know I’m a fan of without making friends and family worry. His satire is almost to real to be called satire.
The character O’Malley commonly portrays is a pent up so-called “alpha male” who has fallen into more pipelines that a hurricane. Obsession about being the only one who knows the truth, ravenously worship of false idols in borderline incoherent monologues that puts most zealots to shame.
To quote him directly in his latest sketch:
Slugs… Everyone’s a fucking idiot but me.
Conner is one of the few actively working entertainers acutely aware of the false idolatry of the culture wars, and hits the mark on the long lasting isolation caused by an alchemical solution of hypermasculinity and becoming “red-pilled”. The deranged hate has become the norm.
Hence why I call myself a radical.
In most spheres is considered a sin not to pray to an idol on another’s choosing. Conformity is mandated while freedom and equity is shackled. When I look in a room, I make a conscious effort to not see everyone as the same: less than me. Instead, I choose to live in classroom of difference with a curious open mind where all may thrive in their own skin. A vast infinite of human possibility expands the ability to face our faults, to avoid the illusion of self. A greater good for the most people.
Maybe, after all these years of learning and relearning, I could finally teach people how to listen and be willing to change their minds, or help them learn something new. To no longer emphasize usefulness, but contentment and understanding.