honestly?

some people actually believe that they can appease everyone by means of sacrifice. what they dont see is that most sacrifices go unnoticed, disregarded, or unappreciated. and eventually, those sacrifices are given a new name..."stupidity". only in very few and rare instances do sacrifices actually make a difference for the better.

i come from a culture that insists on personal sacrifice...the more extreme, the better. the entire country celebrates sacrifice, whether it's a goat or a married woman, without any real question or thought. it devalues personal autonomy, will, and desire, for god forbid we change from the sacrificial beings we were destined to be into...*gasp* the "selfish".

now here's the real axis of evil: sacrifice, stupidity and selfishness.

i've heard people say that there's no act of sacrifice that isnt a little bit selfish...because logic dictates that by appeasing someone else, u're making things better for urself in some way too. people say alot of things. it's all just a nice poo-poo platter of psychological bullshit to me.

but i do think freud was on to something when he talked about the power of fear. as a driving force, fear can motivate to sacrifice or be selfish, or both (one for the people), and fear has the capacity to spread stupidity like a wild fire. we consume in fear for not having enough, we give up in fear for not being good enough, and we conform in fear of the unkown.

fear keeps us from danger, keeps us safe; a basic human need. in a world today where we are so far removed from any of our instincts, it's almost fearful (pardon the pun) to think about how dilapidated our perceptions of fundamental needs have become.

we are stupid when we sacrifice and selfish when we dont.