11 ms·

The poster is complaining about the city dwelling intelligentsia being out of touch with the everyday values and ambitions of the 'common' man. This is due to l

by bgrn89 3y ago

The poster is complaining about the city dwelling intelligentsia being out of touch with the everyday values and ambitions of the 'common' man. This is due to liberal Western ideals apparently. To get the same effect for a US context, you could replace 'postmodern cosmopolitan' with 'urban coastal elite'.

Vektorceraptor 3y ago
No, not only the "ambitions of the common man", but of man or life itself, no matter if common or exceptional (if there is such a difference at all here). I'm living in Austria, and I feel that I have to leave this country. I want to move back to Bulgaria or somewhere else, where life is wild, natural and rough. The west has become tame and sick, and I got exhausted of it. I don't fit in this society anymore, and I can't be productive under its conditions. But you can't even say that out loud anymore, because that means "questioning the whole western ideology" and suddenly someone feels threatened, and myself becomes a criminal. I'm tired of a society where the fears of person A makes' person B a criminal, and of people lacking any decisiveness or spontaneity - and being afraid of spontaneous and decisive people. If wester culture is anything, then it is "fake". Probably the reason, why the author, "the rootless cosmopolitan" moved back to Bulgaria, and found again a sense of feeling home. I claim that the West has forgotten what "home" means. Western culture has become empty and fake - and I'm tired to explain the most obvious thing to so many people - and in the end, they don't believe you anyway. They really believe, they are part of something bigger, are very important and are going to be famous or something. Intellectual vanity and luxury and bragging. And someone knows, very well, how to define himself and where he stands. The question is not how to objectively categorize or define you, but rather how and what you have to say about yourself. edit: in Bulgaria, there is a common truth: life in Bulgaria is shit. But it is impossible to agree on the same truth in western societies, because that's the strong myth they rely on - that they are better, than the rest of the world. Do you get what I mean? Anyone who is dissatisfied with the west must be out of their minds. There are things that have now become impossible in the West. Simply expressing unsatisfaction has become a danger for the status quo or the state.
- iGo_by_Ganio 3y ago
  [dead]
- hydrok9 3y ago
  I find your views very interesting and that they resonate with me. are you in fact planning to move back to Bulgaria?
  - Vektorceraptor 3y ago
    Thank you. Feels good to know others think or feel alike. It's not concrete yet, but I'm thinking about it out loud. The last time I applied for a job, I applied abroad. I don't feel fully ready to move to Bulgaria yet, but maybe later. Most of my childhood Bulgarian friends were in the UK for many years, and some have returned. Well, I don't know yet... but it sounds nice.
- daemonk 3y ago
  I appreciate the perspective. There appears to be a lot of commonalities between your viewpoint and themes of classic Russian literature.
- woah 3y ago
  > There are things that have now become impossible in the West. Simply expressing unsatisfaction has become a danger for the status quo or the state. What? Expressing unsatisfaction is one the primary genres of social media post.
  - bruce511 3y ago
    Yes, social media seems to exist to create outrage. But so much of it seems to be outrage for outrage's sake. Like other things it seems to have no resonant permanence. it seems to be manufactured for a purpose, then abandoned, or worse, endlessly recycled. On the other hand, raising items of concern about some other things get enormous pushback (and quick down votes.) Things like- Does the military really need 777 billion dollars? Why are health-care outcomes so disparate? Why is the US so far behind socially (workers rights, maternity leave, et al)? Why is the answer to another school shooting more guns? Why is building housing in my neighbourhood so hard? How is our life and lifestyle contributing to climate change? Why does climate change even matter? In the US (and Europe etc) the comfortable middle class is so scared of change, any change at all, that they'll do anything to keep the status quo. And where there has been change there's a desire to rewind the political clock, to return to "happier times" (where, incidentally , wages were $10 a week, a detail lost in inflation discussions.) Change is scary. Suggesting things could change for the better scares a lot of people who are confortable-enough. So yes, Expressing dissatisfaction with certain things which seem to strike at the heart of that comfortableness is thus not OK. But clearly, since life is not perfect, we should create narratives explaining our current shortcomings. We need to blame -something- so better that we are presented with the issue (immigration! Gay people!) lest we start thinking for ourselves. So yes, social media is all about dissatisfaction, but it all seems terribly shallow, self-serving, and, dare I say it, manufactured.

by bgrn89 3y ago

Vektorceraptor 3y ago

No, not only the "ambitions of the common man", but of man or life itself, no matter if common or exceptional (if there is such a difference at all here). I'm living in Austria, and I feel that I have to leave this country. I want to move back to Bulgaria or somewhere else, where life is wild, natural and rough. The west has become tame and sick, and I got exhausted of it. I don't fit in this society anymore, and I can't be productive under its conditions. But you can't even say that out loud anymore, because that means "questioning the whole western ideology" and suddenly someone feels threatened, and myself becomes a criminal. I'm tired of a society where the fears of person A makes' person B a criminal, and of people lacking any decisiveness or spontaneity - and being afraid of spontaneous and decisive people. If wester culture is anything, then it is "fake". Probably the reason, why the author, "the rootless cosmopolitan" moved back to Bulgaria, and found again a sense of feeling home. I claim that the West has forgotten what "home" means. Western culture has become empty and fake - and I'm tired to explain the most obvious thing to so many people - and in the end, they don't believe you anyway. They really believe, they are part of something bigger, are very important and are going to be famous or something. Intellectual vanity and luxury and bragging. And someone knows, very well, how to define himself and where he stands. The question is not how to objectively categorize or define you, but rather how and what you have to say about yourself. edit: in Bulgaria, there is a common truth: life in Bulgaria is shit. But it is impossible to agree on the same truth in western societies, because that's the strong myth they rely on - that they are better, than the rest of the world. Do you get what I mean? Anyone who is dissatisfied with the west must be out of their minds. There are things that have now become impossible in the West. Simply expressing unsatisfaction has become a danger for the status quo or the state.

iGo_by_Ganio 3y ago
[dead]
hydrok9 3y ago
I find your views very interesting and that they resonate with me. are you in fact planning to move back to Bulgaria?
- Vektorceraptor 3y ago
  Thank you. Feels good to know others think or feel alike. It's not concrete yet, but I'm thinking about it out loud. The last time I applied for a job, I applied abroad. I don't feel fully ready to move to Bulgaria yet, but maybe later. Most of my childhood Bulgarian friends were in the UK for many years, and some have returned. Well, I don't know yet... but it sounds nice.
daemonk 3y ago
I appreciate the perspective. There appears to be a lot of commonalities between your viewpoint and themes of classic Russian literature.
woah 3y ago
> There are things that have now become impossible in the West. Simply expressing unsatisfaction has become a danger for the status quo or the state. What? Expressing unsatisfaction is one the primary genres of social media post.
- bruce511 3y ago
  Yes, social media seems to exist to create outrage. But so much of it seems to be outrage for outrage's sake. Like other things it seems to have no resonant permanence. it seems to be manufactured for a purpose, then abandoned, or worse, endlessly recycled. On the other hand, raising items of concern about some other things get enormous pushback (and quick down votes.) Things like- Does the military really need 777 billion dollars? Why are health-care outcomes so disparate? Why is the US so far behind socially (workers rights, maternity leave, et al)? Why is the answer to another school shooting more guns? Why is building housing in my neighbourhood so hard? How is our life and lifestyle contributing to climate change? Why does climate change even matter? In the US (and Europe etc) the comfortable middle class is so scared of change, any change at all, that they'll do anything to keep the status quo. And where there has been change there's a desire to rewind the political clock, to return to "happier times" (where, incidentally , wages were $10 a week, a detail lost in inflation discussions.) Change is scary. Suggesting things could change for the better scares a lot of people who are confortable-enough. So yes, Expressing dissatisfaction with certain things which seem to strike at the heart of that comfortableness is thus not OK. But clearly, since life is not perfect, we should create narratives explaining our current shortcomings. We need to blame -something- so better that we are presented with the issue (immigration! Gay people!) lest we start thinking for ourselves. So yes, social media is all about dissatisfaction, but it all seems terribly shallow, self-serving, and, dare I say it, manufactured.