Researching fatalism, my first thought was that this is one of the “philosophies” of the nasty people of the world; an unreal “belief” system that is neither truly examined nor truly believed by the “philosopher”…a means by which the truly horrible and vicious can do whatever the fck it is they feel like doing, and then just chalk it up to X.
Basically, an intellectual keyword (that in reality means nothing to them) used by those that don’t believe in sh1t to present to everyone else – who can see they don’t believe in sh1t – so that instead of a generic a$$hole, they might appear to be a deep thinker, a “realist”, an honest evaluator of things, someone who “tells it like it is”, etc…
My actual, real-world experience with people like this, and people of similar “philosophies”, is that the VAST majority are just total a$$holes with enough intelligence to try putting a legitimizing word to it. Basically, 99 percent fakes and 1 percent philosophers. Not that even the real philosophers are RIGHT…but at least they BELIEVE in the horsesh1t they spew.
The following groups would fit under that analysis: Fatalists, Defeatists, Nihilists, Fascists, Sociopaths, Psychopaths, LaVeyan Satanists, Nietzscheans (although I must point out that Nietzsche himself was extremely intelligent…though I don’t agree with his philosophy; but in my experience there are VERY, VERY few actual believers, like every other example).
And of course endless variations/combinations of the above, typically in groups such as pseudo-goth scumbags, ‘Fight Club’ worshippers, serial killer groupies, people that cheer for the lunatic in movies like ‘Saw’…basically anyone that espouses harmful, selfish and/or uncaring behavior as a meaningful way of life.
Now, is the world all light and roses? Of course not. Noone is perfectly “good”, everyone has flaws…everyone has a “dark side”, vices, bad habits, faults…that’s obvious. No argument. But the difference is, people that AREN’T content to be users and abusers try to OVERCOME these things and behave in the fashion of a decent human being. They admit they are flawed, accept it, don’t feel “ashamed” of it since everyone is in one way or another…but then, with all that acknowledged, define themselves by their decency, by their positive and good beliefs, attributes, and actions.
That’s the point: It’s the INTENT, it’s the DESIRE, it’s the BELIEF that one SHOULD be a decent person…that’s what matters. That’s what separates decent people from scumbags. Then – taking that belief – trying to behave in a decent, moral, and civilized fashion.
Civilization is not dishonesty or repression of truth. Civilization is recognizing that, in order for the world to be at least somewhat harmonious, there must be certain generally accepted methods of behavior. Not to the extent of strict adherence in every aspect of life, not in an overly intrusive fashion, not in a way that undermines the differences that define us and make us HUMAN…individual, as opposed to a collective of non-thinking drones; just, simply, to behave in a decent manner. “An ye harm none, do as ye will” comes close to summing this up. Aleister Crowley’s “Do as thou will shall be the whole of the law” comes close as well, but this is often misunderstood to be something he absolutely was NOT saying: “Do whatever you feel like”.
He wasn’t saying that…in fact, that idea would probably be considered both simplistic and utterly ridiculous by him. He was saying, do what you truly believe is your will…your purpose. Don’t let other people tell you what to do, don’t sacrifice your principles and dreams, “to thine own self be true”. And I think, if people really THOUGHT about it…99 percent wouldn’t conclude “my purpose is to be a selfish a$$hole”.
Maybe 1 percent would. Maybe. If that.
“Why does there have to be Evil in the world?”
“…I think it has something to do with free will.”
I’ve talked to people, some quite intelligent, who have completely admitted to me that they don’t believe in ANYTHING…they just like doing fcked up sh1t. Period. And their attitude is: if people are stupid enough to take this for a philosophy, then they deserve to be treated like sh1t. And if they’re not…well, who cares…if they find them useful, interesting, and/or amusing then they’ll be somewhat courteous, if not they’ll be completely dismissive and rude, at best, and horrible at worst. The limits of even their “courtesy” to those they call “friends”, with the exception of a VERY few that they actually respect, are: as soon as this person loses the aspect that requires courtesy, the courtesy vanishes. They are no longer useful, amusing, interesting, etc…so they are discarded from the level of courtesy just as easily as a child discards an old toy in favor of a nice shiny new one – though unlike children and toys, they KNOW they’re doing wrong and that people aren’t toys…they just don’t CARE. Then there are the sociopaths that actually BELIEVE that the vast majority of people are simply toys, objects to be used, exploited, discarded…whatever their whim is at the time.
In conclusion: a quote, and what I believe is an appropriate clip.
“…didn’t believe in sh1t. None of ’em did.”
FAIR USE: CRITICISM – The above clip is a great example of telling one of the above-described types what they really are, and bravo Derek. Also, to criticize the clip itself, it’s a great scene. Also, if you try to get this removed you can go fck your mother.