Princesses, today I'd like to talk to you about good and evil, about the nature of the beast inside each of us, and why you should never, ever punch a Nazi.
In these pieces, I have often started with a big sentence like that, and then continued on to break it down and show you how it really was all a metaphor for something else equally clever.
This time, I just mean it.
Right now, today, in the world I live in, "punching Nazis" isn't just viewed as an acceptable activity, it's even praised by many people who think they are on the side of Good. Yeah, capital G good. The kind you can't argue with.
There is a smugness to that silly sentence. It's the battle cry of an army of lost souls who are truly confused about the nature of good and evil. I'd like to talk to you about it, and at least make sure that if you choose the path of evil, you do so with a clear conscience.
To start with, there is nothing inherently wrong with punching anyone. Go ahead and feel free to punch anyone who, for example, touches you without your consent. It will give them something to think about in the hours it will take me to reach, dismember, and bury them.
And that's never right. Violence is never right. There is always another way, like for example, calling me so I can reach, dismember, and bury them. Understanding this, understanding that violence of any kind is always evil, that's the single thing that matters if you want to be a good person.
It doesn't matter how nicely you act outside of that act of violence. You cannot balance it out, ever.
The amount of donations you send towards the less fortunate, your homilies, your beautiful words of solidarity, they simply turn to self-serving shit if you then use them to justify an act of violence.
Just like theft is the only crime, violence is the only sin.
This is the important bit. This is the difference between good and bad people: the good do not impose their might on others without regret. Bad guys violate everything without remorse.
There is a beast in everyone. It's chained up in your chest. It gets excited when presented with the prospect of PUNCHING A NAZI. It makes you feel big, it makes you want it. It makes you think that you are about to perform an act of justice: you, the righteous, taking down the wicked.
Except that the beast is a snarling moron. It's an animal. And if your intent is to indulge in your animal instincts, then please do so. But never turn around and pretend you were, for that moment of violence, anything more than an animal.
You see, right now, there seems to be no good in the world. There are those who feel it is their right to not help the less fortunate. There are hurt, wounded minorities rising from centuries of oppression with violence and vengeance in their hearts. Men and women of God whose main solace is to look down on those who will burn in hell. There are "good" people who mask up and go punch Nazis at night. (I'm not kidding. Google 'antifa').
We live in dark times. If there are any good left in this place, it has to be within us. And in every action we take.
Be mindful, princesses, I'm not telling you that you must be good. I "joked" about burying people who hurt you. I won't be right. I will be committing terrible acts of murder and desecration, but you I won't go around thinking I was GOOD just because they hurt you.
Righteousness is a violent feeling. It rises in your chest, takes no prisoners and makes you blind to the realities of your actions. It is a feeling twinned with the delusion that a higher power justifies your actions, no matter how heinous they may be.
Punching Nazis is a righteous feeling. The high that feeling brings is just as poisonous as that of any drug. Every time you indulge, you are feeding the beast and pretending your actions are worthwhile.
What does this mean in your life? Violent instincts are always evil. Evil does not mean you are wrong, it simply means that you must be clear in your mind and heart about what you are doing.
Why? Because the only thing that will make you sleep at night is accepting who you are. Nothing else will give you peace. Be good, never punch anyone. Be evil, and wreak havoc wherever you go. Either way, never lie to yourself about who you are.