These are weird times. You can feel it (see below). Something is about to change. With the knowledge of hindsight, that change will (undoubtedly) make sense to us. To date, I still cannot grasp the direction of such change. Is it possible that the abundance of opinions is due to that feeling of change?
Labour shortages are the talk of the town. These labour shortages have, however, something in common: relatively low paid jobs (eg, airport baggage handlers, nurses, police, restaurants, teachers). Other employers do not complain (eg, Axios). Why would you return to a low paid job during high price inflation?
Beliefs result in opinions. The opposite is not necessarily true. It’s similar to the (Dutch) saying: a sparrow is a bird but not all birds are sparrows. Lots of such opinions result from (i) anger, step 2 in processing grief (ie, the Kübler-Ross model), and/but are also due to (ii) Change.
I suppose this anger is due to our perceived lack of (political) power, despite living in a democracy. As Plato predicted in Republic (c.375 BC), democracy will come to the end of its lifecycle (eg, Plato’s 5 regime types, my 2021 blog). Today, people want leadership (eg, strongmen) rather than prime ministers.
Animal leadership is rooted in Knowledge or in Power (or both). Human leadership is, however, often based upon Love (eg, believers, devotion, fans) rather than Knowledge or Power. Hence, this kind of leadership often fails us (eg, Boris Johnson, Donald Trump).
Their failures energize our anger as we are likely to blame anyone else than those failed leaders.
The 2022 assassination of Shinzo Abe, a former long-term Japanese PM, fits in this pattern of public anger. The 2002 assassination of Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch politician, was also rooted in anger. Such assassinations will energize other angry and extreme believers (eg, 2011 Norway, 2015 Paris, 2019 New Zealand).
The Third Law of Motion by Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) argues that “for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction” (NASA). Hence, Plato’s 5th regime type (ie, tyranny) might be a reaction to the anger, following the 4th regime type (ie, democracy).
“I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger.” A quote by Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), a French existentialist philosopher.
You Can Feel It (2015) by Young Gun Silver Fox
band, facebook, lyrics, video, Wiki-band, Wiki-album
It’s coming around again, change is in the air
It doesn’t always need a name
You don’t have to see it to know it’s there
But you can feel it
You can feel it
You can feel it
In the air
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
From Platonic love to the five types of regimes described by Plato (in the book “Republic”) there is a long way. Let’s remember: Aristocracy, Timocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, and Tyranny. What does Plato have to do with the subject of the blog? What times do we live today? We should define a sixth system .Chaos !?
A programmed Chaos, amplified by war, pandemics, the greed of some important people , very rich and with a lot of power !
! From bad to worse ..this is the change. Pessimistic conclusion.
Simon de Beauvoir’s quote shows the chaos in her life, feminist, atheist and always alone (although in ” platonic ” love with Sartre) .